This three-session course will cover the history and lived experiences of Soviet Jews, their fight to leave for Israel and their current life in Russia. Beginning with the history of Jewish communities in Russia and the Soviet Union and widespread antisemitic laws, we will cover how Jews struggled to preserve their culture and to continue to exist as a Jewish community. We will learn about their fight for freedom, the Free Soviet Jewry movement and the great emigration of Jews and the social ... Read more

In partnership with Sinai Memorial Chapel, the Ben Zakkai Institute, and Bay Area synagogues

Jewish ways in death and dying: traditional and contemporary concepts and practices, the approach of death, dying and burial, grief and comforting the bereaved.

Sex and furniture, really? Really! Beds (of course), tables, lamps, and ornaments: rabbinic texts illuminate attitudes towards sexuality in key texts where furniture appears—either as literal objects or as metaphors.

A partnership program of New Lehrhaus

Read and study the Zohar, the masterpiece of Kabbalah. You may enroll in either of two sections—one reading the Zohar in English and the other working with the original Aramaic. Both are live on Zoom.

A week after celebrating Israel's Independence Day, we look at the current situation "through a glass darkly." Award-winning journalist Bradley Burston's new book "The End of Israel" details how, even before the horrific Gaza war that is still unfolding, Israelis had begun to question whether this year's Independence Day would be the nation's last. It also shows how Benjamin Netanyahu's policies enabled the war and documents a fateful and still-destructive choice Netanyahu made "to contort and sacrifice his country for the sake of his own political longevity." Burston concludes: "He chose. Israel lost. End of story."

Part of our “What REALLY Happened on…” series

A partnership program of New Lehrhaus

Read and study the Zohar, the masterpiece of Kabbalah. You may enroll in either of two sections—one reading the Zohar in English and the other working with the original Aramaic. Both are live on Zoom.

A screening of Yair Qedar’s documentary film on Spinoza followed by a panel discussion & refreshments. At the Dinner Room, GTU Library, Berkeley. Hybrid.

March 5 @ 5–7pm

This session is part of a five-part series called The Heretic in the Room. If you'd like to attend the entire series but cannot afford the full tuition you may contact programs@newlehrhaus... Read more

Biblical narratives retain a powerful hold on the Jewish imagination, yet many Jewish (and some non-Jewish) writers in the Greco-Roman era rewrote many of these stories despite their ostensible sacredness. What did the authors of these

In partnership with Sinai Memorial Chapel, the Ben Zakkai Institute, and Bay Area synagogues

Jewish ways in death and dying: traditional and contemporary concepts and practices, the approach of death, dying and burial, grief and comforting the bereaved.

In partnership with the the JFCS Holocaust Center's San Francisco-wide Yom HaShoah Commemoration and Day of Learning, and the Contra Costa community-wide commemoration.

Biblical narratives retain a powerful hold on the Jewish imagination, yet many Jewish (and some non-Jewish) writers in the Greco-Roman era rewrote many of these stories despite their ostensible sacredness. What did the authors of these