HUC Connect April

APRIL EVENTS — PLEASE JOIN US

Wissenschaft - the Enlightenment's scientific approach to understanding our history and our world - is the foundation of HUC's mission and approach to Jewish learning. Please join us for stimulating lectures with our renowned faculty and guest experts whose scientific rigor, academic scholarship, and Jewish lens offer insight and inspiration on Judaism and women's studies and culture.

TUESDAY, APRIL 6 AT 6:00 PM ET

The Qu'ran and The Jews

Dr. Reuven Firestone, Regenstein Professor in Medieval Judaism and Islam, HUC/Los Angeles

Today, it often seems as if relations between Muslims and Jews are dominated by fear, resentment, and ignorance. Some Muslims believe that Jews are taught to abhor anyone not Jewish. Some Jews claim that Muslims are hostile to Jews because the Qur’an teaches Jew hatred and is inherently antisemitic. Delve into a thorough investigation of how the Qur'an portrays Jews through text study and discussion.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7 AT 12:30 PM ET

Opening the Ark: Bringing a Lost Polish Synagogue to Life

Abby Schwartz, Director, Skirball Museum, HUC/Cincinnati
Shmuel Polin ‘21, Rabbinical Student, HUC/Cincinnati

Participate in a virtual tour of the Skirball Museum’s exhibition of Shmuel Polin’s full-size replica of an Aron Hakodesh (holy ark) from Sidra, Poland, that was destroyed by the Nazis. The unique story of the reproduction of this sacred architectural artifact, its relationship to the 18th-century Polish ark that graces the Scheuer Chapel on HUC’s Cincinnati campus, works from the Skirball Museum’s collection, and related documentation bring to life the precious legacy of the destroyed wooden synagogues of Europe.

The Opening the Ark Project has been supported by Men of Reform Judaism, The Refusenik Project, Reconstructing Judaism, Jewish Learning Works, Adath Israel Congregation, and GoFundMe Charity.

TUESDAY, APRIL 13 AT 1:00 PM ET

Silkworms and Bookworms: Jewish-Christian Relations and Hebrew Books in Italy

Rabbi Joseph A. Skloot, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish Intellectual History, HUC/New York

Jews were early adopters of the technology of printing. Encounter the identities of some of these innovators – a small group of Jewish silk weavers in the city of Bologna, including Italian Jews, Ashkenazim, and Sephardi exiles, who produced an eclectic mix of nine books over four years, from 1536 to 1540. While these works have merited some attention from bibliographers, the printers themselves, and their place in the Jewish communal and commercial life of Bologna, are a new realm of scholarly and historical analysis.

Presented by the Klau Library.

THURSDAY, APRIL 15 AT 3:00 PM ET

Reflections on the Significance of Holocaust Memory in the 21st Century

The Roger E. Joseph Prize Lecture

Sara J. Bloomfield, Director, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Holocaust happened in another century and on another continent. Seventy-six years later, we live in a vastly different, rapidly changing world. Sara J. Bloomfield will speak about why the history and lessons of the Holocaust are not only timeless but timely, as we honor her with HUC’s highest humanitarian award, the Roger E. Joseph Prize.

The Roger E. Joseph Prize Lecture is sponsored by the Joseph Prize Endowment and the Joseph Family in memory of Roger E. Joseph, z"l.

TUESDAY, APRIL 20 AT 6:00 PM ET

Transcendent Melodies: Exploring the Music and Cultural Context of Ishay Ribo

Gordon Dale, Ph.D., Visiting Professor of Ethnomusicology, Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, HUC/New York

Through his creative weaving together of Jewish liturgy, Biblical verses, and reflections on religious life, contemporary Israeli musician Ishay Ribo has been embraced by Jews around the world. Delve into his songs to uncover their levels of meaning, and appreciate how this deeply religious music has transcended cultural divisions among Jews, both within Israel and abroad.

THURSDAY, APRIL 22 AT 1:00 PM ET

"If Flame Falls on Cedars, Women Leaders Will Put Out the Fire: The Biblical Deborah Reimagined"

Wendy Zierler, Ph.D., Sigmund Falk Professor of Feminist Studies and Modern Jewish Literature, HUC/New York

The Biblical Deborah has been adduced as a feminist model for women's leadership as far back as the earliest agitations for women's ordination at the end of the 19th century. But well before then, in Trieste Italty, the first modern Hebrew woman poet, Rachel Luzatto Morpurgo (1790-1871) placed herself in the shoes of the biblical Deborah as well as those of the erudite rabbis of the Talmud, subtly suggesting that women poets, pastors, and leaders might be able to do the job better than their erstwhile male counterparts. Discover the story of the biblical Deborah through the unique lens of Morpurgo's 1859 poem "Look: This is New," and learn how modern Hebrew women's poetry can serve as a vital source of new interpretation for our classical sources.

Presented in partnership with Lilith magazine.

TUESDAY, APRIL 27 AT 6:00 PM ET

The World of the Cairo Genizah: The Jews of Medieval Islam

Jennifer Grayson, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Assistant Professor of Jewish History, HUC/Cincinnati, and Xavier University

For centuries, Jews in medieval Cairo deposited their used writings in their genizah, a storage chamber for sacred books that are no longer useable. Egypt’s dry climate ensured that over 200,000 manuscripts did not disintegrate. During the 19th century, the Cairo Genizah came to the attention of western scholars, and its discovery has revolutionized our understanding of medieval Jewish history. Explore how this treasure trove of documents can help to shed light on the everyday lives of the Jews of the medieval Islamic world.

Can't join us live? All sessions will recorded and posted on our online learning archive.
Questions? Contact us at onlinelearning@huc.edu.