HUC Connect: Webinar

Arts and Culture

Experience the impact of Jewish material culture through the creativity of artists, composers, poets, architects, and writers who illuminate our Jewish heritage.

Regretfully Overlooked: Samuel Hirsch – Philosopher, Advocate of Emancipation, and Radical Reformer

Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 1:00 pm ET / 10:00 am PT

Judith Frishman, Co-Editor, Samuel Hirsch; Professor Emeritus, Jewish Studies, Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion
Thorsten Fuchshuber, Ph.D., Co-Editor, Samuel Hirsch; Research Associate, Centre Interdisciplinaire d’Étude des Religions et de la Laïcité (CIERL), Université libre de Bruxelles; Journalist
Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., Chancellor Emeritus; I.H. and Anna Grancell Professor Emeritus of Jewish Religious Thought, HUC-JIR

Rabbi Samuel Hirsch’s story is key to understanding the transnational history of Reform Judaism and the struggle of Jews to secure a place in history and society. En route from Thalfang via Dessau and Luxembourg to Philadelphia, Hirsch strove to strengthen Judaism to meet the demands of modernity and enable its survival in the modern era, leaving his mark on societal, religious, and philosophical debates in increasingly radical stances. As a Hegelian and a Jew he claimed that the actualization of freedom – so central to Hegel’s philosophy – was enabled by Judaism more than any other religion.

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Art and Protest

Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at 2:00 pm ET

Dorit Jordan Dotan, Multi-Media Artist
Lloyd Wolf, Award-Winning Freelance Photographer
Jean Bloch Rosensaft, Senior Advisor to the President; Director, Dr. Bernard Heller Museum

Do artists have a responsibility to address social issues? Should they advocate for democratic, inclusive values? What is their role in fighting against racism, antisemitism, and inequities in our society? Dorit Jordan Dotan and Lloyd Wolf, distinguished artists and activists, discuss their mandate as expressed through their creativity.

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Civil Society

Probe the pressing concerns of our civic life today, including race and identity, elections, prison reform, and religious voices on social justice issues.

Israeli Democracy in Crisis?

Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 12:30 pm ET

Mikhael Manekin, Israeli Director, Alliance for Israeli’s Future
Rula Hardal, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Kogod Center for the Study of Jewish and Contemporary Thought at the Shalom Hartman Institute
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., President, HUC-JIR; Moderator

The recent election in Israel has provoked massive protests and a surge of commentary in the United States. But what does this moment represent for progressive Israeli Jewish and Palestinian activists? Is the current government a new and unprecedented threat to Israeli democracy, or the latest stage in a long story? And how should Israelis and Palestinians committed to justice and equality — and their American allies — respond? Join Mikhael Manekin and Rula Hardal to discuss these urgent questions.

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Religion and Reproductive Rights: Judaism’s Voice in the Public Square

Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 2:00 pm ET

Nancy Northup, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights:
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., President, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion; Moderator

Join us for a conversation with Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the organization that will receive the 2023 Roger E. Joseph Prize. Dr. Northup and Dr. Rehfeld will discuss Judaism’s historical view on the major ideas surrounding reproductive rights. Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s highest award, the Roger E. Joseph Prize, is presented annually to outstanding individuals, organizations, or institutions whose work fulfills the highest ethical and humanitarian values of our tradition. The Joseph Prize was established in 1978 by Burton Joseph and Betty Greenberg, of blessed memory, to honor the memory of their brother, Roger E. Joseph, a man of exceptional personal courage and passionate conviction to principle and justice.

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What’s the Matter With American Democracy?

Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 2:00 pm ET

Jamelle Bouie, Columnist, The New York Times; Political Analyst, CBS News
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., President, HUC-JIR; Moderator

We generally consider the United States a liberal democracy, but just how democratic is it? Do we live in a country in which political equality is real and shared? What might be required to become the democracy we need? Join New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie for a conversation on these essential questions, as we seek to understand how not only to “protect” democracy but achieve it.

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The Crisis of Democracy and the Attractions of Authoritarianism

Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 1:00 pm ET

Anne Applebaum, Staff Writer, The Atlantic; Pulitzer-prize winning historian; Senior Fellow, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Agora Institute
Jedediah Purdy, Raphael Lemkin Professor of Law, Duke Law
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., President, HUC-JIR; Moderator

Across the deep divides of our politics, one sentiment is shared: despair in our democracy and its capacity to respond to our most significant challenges. But what are the causes of that despair and what can we do about it? Why exactly is authoritarianism so popular among so many, both in the United States and throughout Europe? Given the challenges that our democracy faces, do we have the institutions that can respond to the threat or are our institutions part of the problem? And what exactly do we need: stronger protections for minorities, or greater capacity for people to make laws and enact them? HUC will host two of our most esteemed commentators and scholars on these matters, Anne Applebaum and Jedediah Purdy, to discuss and debate these essential questions.

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100 Years of JIR

Discover the ways in which Zionism, pluralism, and more highlight the legacy of Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and the founding of the Jewish Institute of Religion.

Prooftexts

Prooftexts, founded in 1981, currently housed at HUC-JIR and co-sponsored by the Crown Center for Jewish and Israel Studies at Northwestern University, is the leading journal of Jewish literary history and Jewish literary studies in North America. The new Prooftexts webinar series is sponsored by the HUC-JIR Provost’s office.

Religion

Explore the shared roots of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity and develop a deeper understanding to foster interreligious relations today.

Exploration of the Oxford Annotated Mishnah

In Honor of the Fifth Yahrzeit of Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, Ph.D., z”l

Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at 1:00 pm ET

Rabbi Dalia Marx, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy and Midrash, HUC-JIR/Jerusalem
Rabbi Dvora Weisberg, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Rabbinics; HUC-JIR Rabbinical School Director, HUC-JIR/Los Angeles
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., President, HUC-JIR; Moderator

Our understanding of Jewish values and history rests largely on the bedrock of the Mishnah, the first post-biblical code of rabbinic law, but its technical style and cultural assumptions require skillful navigation if we want to make sense of it for contemporary Judaism. The Oxford Annotated Mishnah: A New Translation of the Mishnah With Introductions and Notes (Oxford University Press), edited by Shaye J.D. Cohen, Robert Goldenberg, and Hayim Lapin is the first annotated translation of this work, providing explanations of technical terms and making the text accessible to those without specialist knowledge. In honor of the fifth Yahrzeit of Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, Ph.D., z”l, join two HUC-JIR contributors and Panken Professors, Rabbi Dalia Marx, Ph.D. and Rabbi Dvora Weisberg, Ph.D., as they discuss the significance of this important work.

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Questions? Contact us at HUCConnect@huc.edu.