In person at the Magnes Museum in Berkeley.

In partnership with the Jewish Studies Program and the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies at UC Berkeley, the Jewish Film Institute, and the Consulate General of Israel, San Francisco.

Join Rachel Biale for the launch of her historical novel, Lost and Found, based on the true story of a Viennese Jewish family on the refugee boat with Rachel’s parents, all fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. Apprehended at sea by the British Navy, the family, with other refugees, boards the Patria, a large ship in the Haifa harbor, to be deported to the island of Mauritius. Moments after their arrival on the Patria deck there is an explosion; the ship sinks and their four-year-old boy disappears. The novel weaves a fictional narrative from that point forward, anchored in the family’s true story and built on historically authentic portrayals of WWII Haifa, a city shared (as it is today) by Moslems, Jews and Christians. Each community plays a key role as the drama unfolds.

In partnership with Temple Isaiah, Temple Sinai and Congregation Beth El

Qohelet (or Kohellet, Ecclesiastes) is one of the strangest and most revolutionary books of the Hebrew Bible. We will explore its poetry and philosophy in the context of biblical and ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature.

In partnership with KlezCalifornia

The Bay Area Community Talmud Circle is a growing, dynamic and welcoming community of adult participants engaged in modern Talmud study and active conversation. While the majority of participants are continuing students, anyone may join!  No prior experience with Talmud Study is required.  Curiosity, openness, and unconditional mutual regard are all one needs.

The Land-as-Woman is one of the most deeply rooted metaphorical systems in Jewish as well as Western and Middle-Eastern cultures, used to support the discourses of colonialism and nationalism throughout history. It has its origins in the Hebrew Bible. In modern Hebrew poetry modernist women poets critique a tradition that views women always as metaphors, never as literal subjects, developing a new erotics of the address to the land that calls into question patriarchal models of conquest and subjugation.

In partnership with Sha'ar Zahav and the Peninsula Jewish Community Center

In partnership with Congregation Kol Emeth and Sha'ar Zahav

The Bay Area Community Talmud Circle is a growing, dynamic and welcoming community of adult participants engaged in modern Talmud study and active conversation. While the majority of participants are continuing students, anyone may join!  No prior experience with Talmud Study is required.  Curiosity, openness, and unconditional mutual regard are all one needs.

Presented by The Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Chair in Jewish Studies in partnership with the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, and the Jewish studies program at UC Berkeley 

The Bay Area Community Talmud Circle is a growing, dynamic and welcoming community of adult participants engaged in modern Talmud study and active conversation. While the majority of participants are continuing students, anyone may join!  No prior experience with Talmud Study is required.  Curiosity, openness, and unconditional mutual regard are all one needs.