MORE THAN A MONOLITH
Presented by the Bamberger Family as part of The Dr. Fritz Bamberger Memorial Lecture Series
Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 2:00 pm ET

Ilana Kaufman, Executive Director, Jews of Color Initiative
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., President; Moderator

Experts meet at the nexus of diversity, faith, and American sociology to discuss how religious groups engage with identity and its intersection with race.

GRIEF, DEATH, AND MORTALITY: HONORING TRADITION AND EXPLORING NEW PERSPECTIVES
Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at 2:00 pm ET

Rabbi Elliott Dorff, Rector and Sol & Anne Dorff Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy, American Jewish University
Rabbi Elliot Kukla, Founder and Director, Communal Loss and Adaption Project (a project of SVARA); Moderator
Rabbi Melanie Levav, Shomer Collective, Founding Executive Director
Reverend Dr. Marcos A. Miranda, Founder and President of New York State Chaplain Task Force

What do religious traditions, including Judaism, have to say about the most pressing questions around mortality – both the eternal one and those unique to the world today.

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at 5:30 pm ET

Joel Kushner, Ph.D., Director, Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health; Director, Institute for Judaism, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity; Director, Jeff Herman Virtual Resource Center, HUC/Los Angeles
Eliana Rubin, Candidate, Master of Educational Leadership, HUC/Los Angeles; Moderator
Rabbi Nancy H. Wiener, D.Min., MAHL, M.Phil., Dr. Paul and Trudy Steinberg Chair in Human Relations; Founding Director, Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling, HUC/New York

The world of LGBTQ+ rights is changing before our very eyes. What challenges do we face, and how will we rise to the occasion?

REMIX JUDAISM

Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, JD, Raymond P. Niro Professor, DePaul University College of Law

Major themes of Jewish life, reviewed, rethunk... remixed.

LEARNING JEWISH/BEING JEWISH

Rabbi Helen Plotkin, Co-founder, Beit Midrash, Swarthmore College; Founder and Director, Mekom Torah

Studying Jewish tradition as an expression of the Jewish purpose.

TORAH IN THE TIME OF PLAGUE:
HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY JEWISH RESPONSES

Rabbi Erin Leib Smokler, Ph.D., Dean of Students and the Director of Spiritual Development, Yeshivat Maharat; Faculty Member, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America; Faculty Member, Institute for Jewish Spirituality

In Partnership with the Jewish Book Council as part of the “Acclaimed Authors” Series

Guidance and provocations for finding meaning in unprecedented times.

 
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NATURAL MYSTICS

Varun Soni, Ph.D., Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California
Gordon Dale, Ph.D., Inaugural Dr. Jack Gottlieb Scholar in Jewish Music Studies at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music; Assistant Professor of Jewish Musicology, HUC/New York
Joshua Holo, Ph.D., Dean, Jack H. Skirball Campus; Associate Professor of Jewish History, HUC/Los Angeles; Moderator

Discover how the lives and musical oeuvre of popular artists become synonymous with their respective faith practices, cultures, and countries.

ISRAEL, AMERICAN JEWRY, AND 45

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, Senior Rabbi, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue
Saba Soomekh, Ph.D., Associate Director, American Jewish Committee
Steven Windmueller, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Jewish Communal Service, HUC/Los Angeles; Editor of "The Impact of the Presidency of Donald Trump on American Jewry and Israel" Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., President; Moderator

HUC faculty and esteemed academics discuss the intricacies of American Jewish identity, Israel, and President Donald Trump.