in partnership with Congregation Beth El, Berkeley

In partnership with Congregation Netivot Shalom, Berkeley and KlezCalifornia

In partnership with the Jewish Community Library, San Francisco

In partnership with Urban Adamah (along with Jewish Studio Project and JewishLearningWorks)

In partnership with Manny's, San Francisco

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.

Part of our “What REALLY Happened on…” series

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."

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.

Superman, Batman and the Fantastic Four were all created by young Jewish men. In fact, almost all of the original DC and Marvel superheroes, except Wonder Woman, were created by Jewish writers and were drawn by Jewish artists. We will discuss the many theories of why this may be true. We will consider why, until five or ten years ago, the comic book industry was dominated by Jewish men and women, as writers, artists, pencilers and publishers. We will also look at the Jewish roots for some of these superheroes and supervillains, and the handful of characters who are identified as Jewish today. We may even read a graphic novel!