Join the Friday Morning Torah Study Group which has been meeting for 50+ years! Every week features a different teacher from among rabbis, scholars, Jewish educators, artists, and the lay leaders with which our community is blessed. Each session begins with the week's parasha (Torah portion) and emphasizes deep conversation and multi-faceted perspectives. We offer this program tuition-free, but ask that you please consider a donation to New Le... Read more

And Now Can Love Begin is an imagined memoir, ventriloquizing the author's parents, based on 100 love letters exchanged in Palestine from 1945-46. Join us as Rachel Biale describes a fascinating glimpse into an epistolary romance set just after WWII in Palestine by two Jewish refugees from Europe.

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Director Mark Streshinsky and renowned biblical scholar Ron Hendel explore Charpentier's David & Jonathan. From the power of Baroque opera to the theological dimensions of the biblical text, this event brings two perspectives of this relationship into dialog.

Join Professor Andrew Porwancher as he uncovers the close-knit and often surprising relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and the Jewish community. This lecture traces Roosevelt’s deep connection with the Jewish people at every step of his dazzling ascent. But it also reveals a man of contradictions whose checkered approach to Jewish issues was no less conflicted than the nation he led. Drawing on fresh research from his newest book, American Maccabee, Porwancher explores the compl... Read more

Each day reveals new developments and risks, and unanswered questions about the future. Veteran Haaretz journalist Bradley Burston will provide a briefing about the current situation and discuss possible scenarios for its unfolding.

Join us as Rabbi David Cooper discusses Burt Jacobson's search for the Baal Shem Tov. For three decades, between his radical political activism and his rabbinic responsibilities, Burt Jacobson, founder of Kehilla Synagogue, investigated and drafted notes on the teachings and life journey of the 18th-century founder of Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov. Those notes became the 600-page Living in the Presence, published posthumously last year. Jacobson's own journey is a key eleme... Read more

Resistance to authoritarian, oppressive regimes is as old as those regimes themselves. We will examine the historical record for resistance efforts and movements around the world with particular emphasis on the ordeal and role of Jews, as victims and/or defiers.

Sessions will be recorded, so if you miss one you can find the recording in our video library the following day.... Read more

“Hear the gay shouts of liberation in the tents of the just!” (Psalm 118:15). Reciting the festival liturgy on Pride Shabbat was an important innovation—first celebrated at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah in New York in 1973—and so was this early gay-inclusive new translation of the psalm. This session, in honor of LGBTQ Pride, will e... Read more

"Jewish Peoplehood" has recently been the nom de jour in the Jewish community. What does Jewish Peoplehood actually mean? Is it a historical phenomenon, a demographic characterization, or a genetically transmitted set of traits? Our three distinguished presenters will examine the meaning, validity, and usefulness of this term.

Program in memo... Read more

With the aid of audio clips, video, still images, and textual comparisons, Seth Rogovoy, author of Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet, will illustrate how Bob Dylan’s songwriting has always been profoundly rooted in Jewish writings, including the Torah, the Prophets, the Talmud, liturgy... Read more

The 1967 Six-Day War has impacted Israel in a profound way. Much has been said and written about the regional, geo-political impact of the war; however, its impact on Israeli society, economy and culture were also far-reaching, helping transition Israel from the socialism of its founders to a more individualistic, free-market society that has embraced the (American) West and its values. In this talk, we will explore how a new Israel emerged after the Six-Day War.

As awe-inspiring features of the landscape, mountains have an extraordinary power to evoke a sense of the sacred. Drawing on personal experiences and extensive research illustrated with spectacular photography, Edwin Bernbaum takes us on a fascinating journey exploring the many ways that mountains embody humanity's highest values and aspirations, with a focus on their singular importance in Judaism.