History & Thought
Mon 25

- Pacific Time

Fiddler on the Roof Singalong with Chinese Dinner Buffet (In Person Only)

In partnership with Berkeley Hillel and KlezCalifornia

Sing along with the movie!

"Jewish Christmas?" You bet! Join us for a Fiddler singalong complete with a kosher-style Chinese dinner buffet at Berkeley Hillel.

Read more

Location

Berkeley Hillel

2736 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 94704 + Google Map
Wed 15

- Pacific Time

Michael Nutkiewicz—A Ukrainian Chapter: A Jewish Aid Worker’s Memoir of Sorrow (Zoom only)

Eli Gumener’s 1921 Yiddish memoir, A Ukrainian Chapter: Two Years in Podolia (A Kapitl Ukraine. Tsvey Yor in Podolye), is set in a region in southwest Ukraine. The memoir depicts the fate of Jews caught in the middle of the Russian Civil War and the challenges of providing aid to Jewish communities. Gumener (1886-1941) was Michael Nutkiewicz’s uncle and worked for all the major aid organizations in the interwar period. Nutkiewicz was unaware of Gumener’s story until he discovered the book in his parents’ library after they passed away. Translated into English by Nutkiewicz and published in 2022, Gumener’s memoir is a highly valuable and rare historical source that focuses on the two most devastating years of pogroms in Ukraine, 1918-1920. Eli Gumener was a communal activist right up to the time that he himself became a victim during the Holocaust.

Read more

Instructor

Thu 07

- Pacific Time

Fred Rosenbaum: Around the World with Fred (Zoom Only)

Most likely you remember the 1989 classic Driving Miss Daisy starring Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy and Dan Aykroyd. The film takes place in 1950s Atlanta. Award-winning historian Fred Rosenbaum will explore Black-Jewish relations in America's South at our next Around the World with Fred event.

Read more

Instructor

Mon 20

- Pacific Time Series

Rabbi Tsipora Gabai & Jim Mavrikios: Judeo-Arabic and the Jews of North Africa (Zoom and In Person)

Virtual Program

In partnership with Urban Adamah

Read more
Thu 09

- Pacific Time

Dr. Jehon Grist—The Jews of Spain: Their Story (In Person or on Zoom)

In this richly illustrated course, we’ll start by searching out the beginnings of Jewish Spain over 2,000 years ago, including the Roman and later Visigothic centuries. Then we’ll focus on the Muslim invasion and the Golden Age of Islamic Spain that followed. This was the era of La Convivencia, when Jews, Christians and Muslims lived largely in peace and shared and contributed to a common culture far advanced beyond the rest of Europe’s states. From there, we’ll chronicle the slow but steady advance of Christian armies, finally leading to the Expulsion of Jews (and Muslims) from Spain in 1492 and later years. We’ll close with a look at the fate of Sephardic Jews after the Expulsion as well as the fate of Spain in those centuries right up to today.

Read more

Location

Congregation Am Tikvah

625 Brotherhood Way
San Francisco, CA 94132 + Google Map

Instructor

Thu 05

- Pacific Time

Dr. Jehon Grist—The Jews of Spain: Their Story (In Person or on Zoom)

Virtual Program

In this richly illustrated course, we’ll start by searching out the beginnings of Jewish Spain over 2,000 years ago, including the Roman and later Visigothic centuries. Then we’ll focus on the Muslim invasion and the Golden Age of Islamic Spain that followed. This was the era of La Convivencia, when Jews, Christians and Muslims lived largely in peace and shared and contributed to a common culture far advanced beyond the rest of Europe’s states. From there, we’ll chronicle the slow but steady advance of Christian armies, finally leading to the Expulsion of Jews (and Muslims) from Spain in 1492 and later years. We’ll close with a look at the fate of Sephardic Jews after the Expulsion as well as the fate of Spain in those centuries right up to today.

Read more

Location

Congregation Am Tikvah

625 Brotherhood Way
San Francisco, CA 94132 + Google Map

Instructor

Mon 23

- Pacific Time

Prof. Eran Kaplan: Golda and the Price of Collective Hubris (In Person or Livestream)

Partnership program with Contra Costa JCC's Under One Tent

Read more

Location

Temple Isaiah

945 Risa Rd
Lafayette, CA 94549 + Google Map

Instructor

Tue 26

- Pacific Time

Prof. John Efron: The Yiddish Comedy Duo of Szymon Dzigan and Yisroel Shumacher

We are proud to partner in the Second Annual Eva and Martin Libitzky Memorial Lecture

Read more

Location

Magnes Museum

2121 Allston Way
Berkeley, CA 94720 + Google Map

Instructor

Sun 21

- Pacific Time

Dmitri Gaskin—Klezmer Music: Culture, Chords, and Chronology (In person only)

In partnership with Congregation Emeth

Read more

Location

Congregation Emeth

17835 Monterey Road
Morgan Hill, CA 95037 + Google Map

Instructor

Wed 10

- Pacific Time

Prof. Ariel Evan Mayse: Exploring Hasidism (In person or on Zoom)

Virtual Program

In partnership with and at BASE-Bay, Rockridge

Read more

Location

Base Bay Area

Base Bay Area is on the Berkeley-Oakland border in Rockridge. Exact location will be provided upon r
CA + Google Map

Instructor

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Join our email list

Stay Connected