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Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM
Exploring the Cyber Shul
Engaging your Community through Cyber services
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Room 209
Community, How to, Introduction to
Technology offers the promise to help us extend the reach of our synagogues, shuls, and spiritual communities beyond the four walls of a building. But it can seem daunting and confusing to many, cold and inhuman to others. Done right, it's amazing, engaging and inspiring! Spend an hour with Ketzirah, who not only leads services with OneShul.org, but also is the Director of Digital Strategy with an advertising agency in her day job! Learn the technology that fits your needs and style!
Is God a Prerequisite?
An Enlightened Talmudic Conversation on God
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Room 228
Today there are many ways to be Jewish. We might assume that moderns can opt into or out of a God concept. But what does the Talmud have to say about it? We might assume that believing in God is a prerequisite. Together we will explore a Talmudic view point that does not posit God at the center to becoming a "good Jew".
Israel's Arab Citizens
A Fundamental Jewish Concern
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Room 237
Israel, Politics, Social Justice
Why should the status of Israel’s 1.6 million Arab citizens – 20% of the population within the ‘Green Line’ – matter to Israel’s Jewish majority or to American Jews? Can Israel be simultaneously the homeland of the Jewish people and a fully inclusive and equal home to its Arab citizens? How can Jewish-Arab relations in Israel be set right until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved? Bring your questions, preconceived ideas and doubts to a frank and open conversation with the CEO of one of Israel’s leading Jewish-Arab shared society organizations.
Looted Art, Stolen Judaica, and Restitution
Recent Developments
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Room 208
Culture, History, Social Justice
This session will begin with an overview of Jewish efforts worldwide since World War II to recover and restitute the millions of art objects, library books, manuscripts, and Judaica taken by the Nazis and their allies during the Holocaust. Dr. Fisher will then describe the work of the Claims Conference and World Jewish Restitution Organization in this area and recent developments.
The Arab Spring and Israel
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Room 229
The word 'historic' is overused but is certainly apposite when applied to the events that have swept the Arab world since late 2010, the so-called 'Arab Spring'. Makovsky will assess what these events really mean and why they matter. Has there been real change, and if so, will this be for the better or for the worse? And what will it all mean for the region, the West, Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
The Song of Deborah
War Commemoration and the Formation of a National Identity
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Room 232
In this session, we will study together the beautiful and distinctive Song of Deborah, considered by many to be the oldest piece of Hebrew poetry transmitted in the Bible. The questions that we will address are: How does this Song compare to war commemoration from more recent times? What kind of national identity does the Song construct for Israel? Why doesn’t it treat important tribes, like Judah, as members of Israel? How does it negotiate belonging for peripheral ethnic groups? And why does it depict women as the greatest warriors and leaders?
Vegetarian Shabbat Around the World!
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Alumnae Room
Community, Culture, History, How to
Come enjoy an amazing sampling of vegetarian Shabbat recipes from around the world! We will learn about different communities and their Shabbat traditions, and make Keftes de Espinaca (Sephardic Spinach Patties), Mock Chopped Liver, and Couscous Hiloo (Couscous with Dried Fruits and Nuts).
Voices of Rwanda
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Room 233
During the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, an estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed in the span of three months. In the eighteen years that have followed the genocide, international aid has helped to rebuild infrastructure and jumpstart the economy through development and tourism. By many measures, Rwanda appears to have overcome its past, but the traces of Rwanda’s history are still present, particularly in the hearts and minds of the survivors who live with its consequences every day. Voices of Rwanda was established to listen to the testimonies of these survivors and to preserve their stories for educational and research purposes. Join Taylor Krauss, founder of Voices of Rwanda, for a screening of testimonies and a conversation about the challenge of interpretation and how Holocaust testimony has contributed to understanding Tutsi survivor testimony.
We Were Strangers Too: Now What?
Jews and Immigration Reform
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Room 202
This engaging session invites participants to increase their knowledge of and connection to immigration issues through study of biblical, rabbinic, and other historical Jewish texts and through an overview of current immigration law and its impact on Pennsylvania's immigrants and refugees. We will open a frank dialogue about the role of the Jewish community in the current immigration debate and provide you with tools to continue that discussion in diverse Jewish and multifaith settings.
Women Rabbis
The Rest of The Story
Sunday 12:30 PM–1:45 PM Room 238
This session traces the story of American Jewish women's quest to become rabbis and their challenge to Jewish public life. We will delve into the inside story of how women made themselves a force for change starting in the 1970's and how their collective activism altered synagogue leadership. We will also discuss how the struggle to seek recognition as teachers, preachers, and clergy continues today for Orthodox Jewish women, and how support for women's formal leadership is exposing the fault lines not only between but also within the various streams of Judaism.
This session is dedicated to the memory of Paula Hyman.
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