HUC Connect Presents Judaism & Civil Society

Series Moderator:
HUC President Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2021 AT 1:30 PM ET

Scriptions: Jewish Thoughts and Responses to COVID-19

Dr. Leah Hochman, Director of the Louchheim School for Judaic Studies and Associate Professor of Jewish Thought, HUC/Los Angeles
Rabbi Michael Marmur, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Jewish Theology, HUC/Jerusalem

What do Jewish responses to the craziest year in recent memory look like? Scriptions offers a real-time snapshot of how we have grappled with the extraordinary challenges of recent months through essays penned by HUC faculty across the full scope of Jewish studies. Join Dr. Leah Hochman and Rabbi Michael Marmur as they discuss the motivation for this project and share insights and excerpts that will enlighten and inspire. Presented in partnership with The Jewish Book Council.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2021 AT 6:30 PM ET

Speaking Religious Truth to Political Power: Values & Voices 2021

Rabbi Andrea Weiss, Ph.D., Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost, HUC; Creator of American Values, Religious Voices
Hussein Rashid, Ph.D., Founder of islamicate, L3C
Elsie Stern, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

American Values, Religious Voices: 100 Days, 100 Letters is a national nonpartisan campaign bringing together scholars of diverse faiths to speak to our leaders in Washington, DC and a wider interfaith following about the religious texts and teachings connected to our American values and the pressing issues our day. Gain insight from these religious thought leaders who provide hope and unity during a time of hardship and division and challenge us to live up to our nation's highest ideals.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021 AT 4:00 PM ET

Confronting Hate in a Broken World: Lessons from the Career of Marc Tanenbaum

Dr. Georgette Bennett, Founder of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding
Rabbi Judith Schindler, Sklut Professor of Jewish Studies; Director, Greenspon Center for Peace and Social Justice, Queens University of Charlotte

As American society reels from the throbbing consequences of racism, the lure of white supremacy, and the resurgence of antisemitism, we will consider the lessons we can learn from the career of Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, a pioneering practitioner of interfaith communal dialogue, and how these ideas apply to our contemporary challenges. Presented in partnership with the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives.

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 AT 5:30 PM ET

Language and Racism in the United States Today

Sarah Bunin Benor, Ph.D., Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies, HUC/Los Angeles
Jared Jackson, Founder and Executive Director of Jews in ALL Hues

Examine the role of language in racism, which can be found in many sectors of society, from education to employment, from housing to media. Through Disney movie clips and experiments on accents, interrogate the notions of “standard language” and “grammaticality” with a focus primarily on African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans, and attention to other groups, including Jews.

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 AT 5:30 PM ET

Race and Identity Today

Kerwin K. Charles, Ph.D., Indra K. Nooyi Dean, Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Economics, Policy, and Management, Yale School of Management

Join a stimulating conversation about the impact of earnings and wealth inequality, the intergenerational transmission of economic status, race and gender labor discrimination, housing instability, and job loss on today’s society.

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2021 AT 6:00 PM ET

"Let My People Go:" Personal Reflections on Freedom and Injustice

Chester Holman III
Alan J. Tauber, First Assistant Defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia
Rabbi Andrea Weiss, Ph.D., Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost, HUC

After spending 28 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Chester Hollman III was exonerated in July 2019. His heartbreaking experience, the subject of the Netflix documentary “The Innocence Files, Episode 7: Wrong Place, Wrong Time,” offers a compelling perspective on the meaning of freedom and justice as we approach Passover. Probe the larger issues of injustice and racism in our justice system today in this conversation between Holman and his attorney Alan Tauber.

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021 AT 1:00 PM ET

Children and the Right to Vote

Daniel Weinstock, Ph.D., Director, McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy; Katherine A. Pearson Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy in the Faculties of Law and of Arts, McGill University
Rabbi Dvora E. Weisberg, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Rabbinics; Director, School of Rabbinical Studies, HUC

How does Judaism view the role of children’s authority in communal life and how does age affect political judgment? Discover how political thought intersects with Judaism’s rich textual tradition about the points at which children are deemed responsible for their actions and competent to make decisions and commitments that require mature intent and awareness.

TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2021 AT 6:00 PM

Jews of Color

In Memory of Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, Ph.D., on His Third Yahrzeit

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, Central Synagogue, New York City
Bruce Phillips, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology & Jewish Communal Service,
HUC/Los Angeles

When the Torah first calls us a People, coming out of Egypt, we are described as an erev rav, a “mixed multitude.” It’s time to refute the definition of Jews as a race – which has been used to justify antisemitism, violence, and even genocide – and adopt a definition of covenant as the foundation of Jewish peoplehood, one that embraces Jews of color and celebrates diversity and inclusion.

THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021 AT 3:00 PM ET

Intersectional Jewish Identities

Dr. Mijal Bitton, Scholar in Residence at the Shalom Hartman Institute

We often speak of American Jews in ways that elide their differences or that assume they are all Ashkenazi or white. But American Jews are characterized by vibrant ethnic and racial diversity that must be understood by those of us working to build inclusive Jewish communities. Through her sociological scholarship on Sephardic Jews in America and her own identity as a Latina immigrant, Dr. Bitton will help us consider what is required to nourish a Jewish American diversity project that is complex, rich, and compelling.

THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021 AT 7:00 PM ET

Not the Same as White: Latinx Students Talk About Jewish Schooling

Erik Ludwig, Ph.D., Director, Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management,
HUC/Los Angeles
Sasha Dominguez ‘20, Executive Director and Founder of Kol Connection

Why does race matter? Explore how colorblindness and perceptions of caring inform the way we think about community. Building on the narratives of Latinx students in Jewish schools, these experts take a bold stance on how intersectionality operates and why we should embrace it.

TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2021 AT 1:30 PM ET

Jews, Whiteness, Power and Privilege

Marc Dollinger, Ph.D., Richard and Rhoda Goldman Chair, Social Responsibility,
San Francisco State University

Are American Jews white? The question, answered differently by different generations of American Jews, gets at the heart of American Jewish identity. Have Jews remained separate and distinct from the rest of middle-class America or have they assimilated so much that they have become white? Come explore the contentious history and sociology of Jews and racial definition. Journey back through history and discover some (surprising) insights into the debate over Jewish whiteness.

Can't join us live? All sessions will be recorded and posted on our online learning archive.

Questions? Contact us at onlinelearning@huc.edu.