CJS Sponsored Events, 2009
"No. 4 Street of Our Lady," a film by Barbara Bird, Judy Maltz and Richie Sherman. The producer, Judy Maltz will be present for a screening, Thursday November 19th, 7:00pm at Hillel.
Judy Maltz served as a senior correspondent in Jerusalem for Ha'aretz, Israel's most respected newspaper, and was one of the founding editors of the Ha'aretz English edition. She has reported for the Jerusalem Post and Reuters and has written extensively for the Financial Times of London and other British, American and Israeli newspapers.
With a bachelor's degree from Columbia University, she currently holds an appointment as a senior lecturer in journalism at the College of Communications at Penn State University.
On the eve of World War II, more than 6,000 Jews lived in Sokal, a small town in Eastern Poland, now part of Ukraine. By the end of the war, only about 30 had survived, half of them rescued by Francisca Halamajowa, a Polish-Catholic woman. For close to two years, she hid her Jewish neighbors in her tiny home and cooked and cared for them, right under the noses of German troops camped on her property as well as hostile neighbors. The film draws on excerpts from a diary kept by one of the survivors, Moshe Maltz, whose granddaughter is one of the filmmakers. It also incorporates testimonies from other Jews saved by Halamajowa, her descendants and formers neighbors, as they reconnect on a trip back to Sokal.
- Made possible by the Harry Rich Endowment, and Raymond and Miriam Ehrlich Eminent Scholar Chair.
- See the postcard for this event
Marcel Ophuls, "The Sorrow and the Pity" Monday, November 23, 2009 in 210 Pugh Hall, 4-6pm.
The Sorrow and the Pity (French: Le Chagrin et la pitié) is a two-part documentary film by Marcel Ophüls that concerns the French Resistance and collaboration with the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War II. This 1969 film used interviews of a German officer, collaborators, and resistance fighters from Clermont-Ferrand. They comment on the nature and reasons for collaboration. The reasons include anti-Semitism, anglophobia, fear of Bolsheviks and Soviet invasion, the desire for power, and simple caution. CLICK for more information or CONTACT.
CJS Sponsored Events, 2010
Yossi Chajes, "It's Good to See the King: The Nature & Function of Kabbalistic Divinity Maps," Thursday, February 4, 7:30 PM at Hillel.
Associate Professor of Jewish history, University of Haifa. The Jewish mystical tradition has tended to present its gnosis in objective terms. The ecstasy of the mystic and the grace of God have taken a back-seat to the transmission of theosophical truths regarding the nature of the divine. As Kabbalah developed increasingly sophisticated imaginings of the workings of divinity, Jewish mystics turned increasingly to mapping out the complex systems, creating a kind of cosmological cartography. With the emergence of the Lurianic Kabbalah in the sixteenth century, such maps became all but essential tools for the mystic student and practitioner. In this lecture, we'll look at a number of examples of these manuscripts and explore their forms & functions. We'll also see how a Jewish mysticism that pictured God so graphically intersected with Christian concerns in the early modern period.
Meron Benvenisti, "Israel/Palestine : The Meaning of the Geo-Political 'status quo'". Thursday, February 11th, 7:00pm in Reitz Union room 282.
Meron Benvenisti was Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem from 1971 to 1978 and administered East Jerusalem and its largely Arab neighborhoods. In 1982 he received a Ph.D in Public Administration from Harvard University, and later was a Fellow the The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard. Between 1991 and 2009 he was writing a column for Haaretz that focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Benvenisti published more than ten books, the most recent is Son of the Cypresses: memories, reflections, and regrets from a political life. (University of California Press, 2007). He is known for his 'irreversibility' thesis, which argues that it is too late to separate the West Bank from Israel and therefore a bi-national state is a more likely solution than two states.
Meron Benvenisti: "Processes of Fragmentation and Integration in Israel/Palestine" (Faculty Seminar) Friday, February 12th, 12:00pm. More information TBA.
Sammy Smooha (Haifa University), "Is Israel Western?" Thursday, February 18th, 2010, 7:00pm at Hillel.
Sami Smooha is a Professor of Sociology and the Dean of the Social Sciences at Haifa University. He was born in Baghdad in 1941 and immigrated to Israel in 1951. He is a specialist of comparative ethnic relations and has published widely on internal divides in Israeli Society and on Israel in comparative perspective. Since the late 1980's Smooha has developed the theoretical model of Ethnic Democracy, for analyzing the status of the Arab citizens of Israel. This model has been widely used by experts of ethnic conflicts world wide. Since 1976 Smooha has been managing a series of public opinions among Arab and Jews, which
has provided a unique longitudinal perspective on the development of identities and mutual attitudes. In 2008 he received the Israel Prize for Sociology.
Sammy Smooha (Haifa University), "Israel's Ethnic Democracy in a Comparative Perspective" (Faculty Seminar), Friday, February 19th, 12:00pm. More information TBA
Samuel Weber, "Guilt, Debt and the Turn Toward the Future: Walter Benjamin and Hermann Levin Goldschmidt (A Foray into Economic Theology)" Thursday, February 25, 2-4pm. CLICK for more information.
"Convergences and Conversions: The Merchant of Venice into the 21st Century" a conference Monday and Tuesday, March 1-2 — Atrium at Ustler Hall all day and evening, 2010. CLICK for more information.
"Arab Labor: Screening and Discussion with the Author" Thursday March 4, 5:00 PM at Reitz Union Rm 282.
Sayed Kashua, an Arab citizen of Israel, is an author and a satiric columnist who writes mainly in Hebrew. In his writing, Kashua compellingly addresses the complicated dilemmas of identity faced by Israeli Arabs. He won the Prime Minister Prize for a Hebrew Author in 2005, and his two books Dancing Arabs and Let it Be Morning became best sellers in Israel and have been translated into several languages.
A highly-regarded sitcom written by Kashua, Arab Labor ridicules the mutual stereotypes of Arabs and Jews through a satirical presentation of the life of an Arab family in Israel. The series won several prizes in Israel but faced harsh criticism by the Arab-language press some of whose reviewers were unhappy with image of Arabs within it.
A faculty seminar with Robert Alter on translating the Hebrew Bible, followed by a public lecture, Sunday, March 14, 2010. More information TBA.
Yair Dalal Concert, Thursday, April 15, 2010 — Atrium at Ustler Hall (tentative) from 4pm until 10pm.
Yair Dalal is an internationally renowned Israeli composer, violinist, oud player and singer. His music is inspired by his Iraqi-Jewish descent, and combines his diverse musical education including classical Arab music, classical European music, as well as Indian music and Jazz. Over the last decade he has put 11 albums, covering wide and varied musical traditions. He has also been active in attempts to enhance understanding and communication between Arabs and Jews. In 1994 Dalal performed at the Nobel Peace Prize gala concert in Oslo. He has won several Israeli awards acknowledging his music and was also nominated in 2000 for a Grammy as part of Jordi Savall's ensemble and by BBC world music rewards 2003 as best musician from the Middle East. Dalal will be accompanied by the leading percussionist Erez Mounk
All events are Free and open to the public.
With appreciation...These programs are made possible by our sponsors, Schram Memorial Endowment, Melton Jewish Studies Endowment, Gerson Lecture Series, Breier Visiting Fellowship, Kahn Visiting Scholar Fund, Gerson Visiting Professor Fund, Futernick Professorship Fund, and Jewish Council of North Central Florida.