Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, 6/6/24 Stereotypes about Jewish physical weakness have meant that the crucial role of Jews in making American fitness culture has often been overlooked despite the 19th century tradition of muscular Judaism established precisely to challenge these assumptions. Join historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, author of "Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession" for an exciting talk and conversation about how and why Jews were so influential -- but understudied -- in shaping American fitness.

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, 6/6/24 Stereotypes about Jewish physical weakness have meant that the crucial role of Jews in making American fitness culture has often been overlooked despite the 19th century tradition of muscular Judaism established precisely to challenge these assumptions. Join historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, author of "Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession" for an exciting talk and conversation about how and why Jews were so influential -- but understudied -- in shaping American fitness.

Rachel Biale, 5/23/24 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.

Bradley Burston, 5/19/24 October 7th and the subsequent war in Gaza have deeply shaken the Haredi community in Israel and upended the long-simmering hostility between the Haredim and secular Israelis. Prof. Benjamin Brown, an expert on the Haredi community, will describe the response to October 7th and the war by a community that is often seen—erroneously—as insular and disconnected from Israel’s security and political arenas.

Prof. Erich S. Gruen, 5/15/24 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 versions have in mind when retelling sacred tales and is the retelling sacrilegious? Narratives considered include the Tower of Babel, The Abraham-Sarah-Hagar triangle, the (near) sacrifice of Isaac, the rape of Dinah, Joseph and his brothers, Tamar and Judah, and the Exodus.

Prof. Erich S. Gruen, 5/9/24 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 versions have in mind when retelling sacred tales and is the retelling sacrilegious? Narratives considered include the Tower of Babel, The Abraham-Sarah-Hagar triangle, the (near) sacrifice of Isaac, the rape of Dinah, Joseph and his brothers, Tamar and Judah, and the Exodus.