The Foundation for Jewish Studies

Speakers: Rabbi Jules Harlow, served on the staff of the Rabbinical Assembly, most notably as Director of Publications, where he specialized in editing and translating the liturgy

Navah Harlow, founding director of the Center for Ethics in Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

Location: B'nai Israel Congregation; Rockville, MD

The lecture begins with an overview of the Inquisition as it affected Jews in Portugal, within an historical context. The Harlows present their experiences in teaching and meeting with b'nei anousim (descendants of Jews who were forcibly baptized centuries ago), the process of preparing them for coming before the Masorti Beit Din (religious court) in London for examination, and their acceptance as converts according to the requirements of Jewish law. The presentation includes details from the lives and family histories of those whom the Harlows have taught.

In memory of Renee and Frank Schick - Endowed by the Schick Family

Speaker: Dr. David Ruderman, Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History and the Ella Darivoff Director of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania

Location: B'nai Israel Congregation; Rockville, MD

"The Book of the Covenant" (Sefer ha-Brit), first published by a relatively unknown Eastern European Jew named Phinehas Elijah Hurwitz, in Brunn, Moravia in 1797, was one of the most popular Hebrew books read by Jews in the Modern Era. In this massive volume - purported to be a commentary of a popular 16th century mystical work - Hurwitz presented his understanding of the sciences of the day - cosmology, astronomy, geography, botany, zoology, and medicine. In a commentary on the injunction to "Love thy neighbor as thyself," Hurwitz insisted that the commandment requires every Jew to love all human beings, not only their own co-religionists, and not merely as a political concession but as an inherent value of Judaism itself. The complex mixture of science, kabbalistic piety, and universal ethics mark the special quality of this work and underscore its uniqueness in an era of cultural debate and polarization. Hurwitz's attempt to balance the secular and Jewish worlds in which he lived offers insight into our own struggle to live as committed Jews in the modern world.

This program is made possible by the generosity of K. Peter & Yvonne Wagner

Speaker: Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper, professor at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and spiritual leader of Kehillat HaTzur VeHaTzohar in Tzur Hadassah

Location: Temple Shalom; Chevy Chase, MD

The Maharal is celebrated as a mystic, but he was also a legal authority. To be sure, only a few of his halakhic writings survived, and most of his decisions did not become accepted law. Nevertheless, we would be remiss to ignore that he was also a jurisprudent.

In addition to exhibiting this lesser-known aspect of his personality, this lecture discusses how he and other scholars of Prague reacted to the codification of Jewish law. It explores the intended goals of codification, why scholars were against it, and how that issue is reflected today in our complicated and diverse relationships with Halakhah.

Rabbi Cooper's three-part lecture series is supported by the generosity of Gerald and Dina Leener

This lecture was made possible by the generosity of Dr. Anita O. Solomon, in memory of her beloved husband, Frederic, and her father, Arthur Ostrin

Speaker: Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper, professor at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and spiritual leader of Kehillat HaTzur VeHaTzohar in Tzur Hadassah

Location: Ohr Kodesh Congregation; Chevy Chase, MD

Rabbi Akiva is generally seen as the central legal authority in the Mishna; much of Jewish law, both civiland ritual, can be traced to him and his students. Yet Rabbi Akiva's prayer indicates that he may have also been a mystic. Certainly the Hasidic masters saw Rabbi Akiva as the paradigm for mystical prayer.

This lecture also discusses different types of mystical experiences that are recognized in the Hasidic tradition.

Rabbi Cooper's three-part lecture series is supported by the generosity of Gerald and Dina Leener

Speaker: Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper, professor at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and spiritual leader of Kehillat HaTzur VeHaTzohar in Tzur Hadassah

Location: Washington DC JCC; Washington, DC

This lecture looks at the famous Hasidic tale and how it has been retold so that it conforms to the norms of Jewish Law. What is the price paid by such revisions? Is the story enhanced or does it lose some of its original flavor?

Rabbi Cooper's three-part lecture series is supported by the generosity of Gerald and Dina Leener

Speaker: Dr. Ziony Zevit, Distinguished Professor of Biblical Literature and Northwest Semitic Languages at American Jewish University

Location: Agudas Achim Congregation; Alexandria, VA

The idea of  "the Fall" of humanity from divine grace as a result of original sin is deeply ingrained in both Jewish and Christian religious consciousness. Although the idea of the Fall is attested in Jewish writings of the first century BCE, the New Testament, and in Rabbinic texts, it is unknown in the Hebrew Bible.

This lecture looks in on Adam and Eve as they walk through the garden, eavesdrops on their reported conversations, and watches as God drives them out from Eden. Following in their footsteps, as portrayed in Genesis 2 - 4, and reading the biblical text very closely, it undertakes to respond to the following questions and discover why what we think we know is wrong: Why does the Hebrew Bible not consider what happened in the garden a Fall? Why did later thinkers come to think of what happened there as the Fall? And if not a Fall, what did happen there?

Also co-sponsored by Beth El Hebrew Congregation, Congregation Olam Tikvah, Congregation Etz Hayim, and Temple Rodef Shalom

Speaker: Dr. Judith Hauptman, The E. Billi Ivry Professor of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Temple Shalom; Chevy Chase, MD

For years, scholars and laypeople alike have asserted that women in the talmudic period were relegated to housework and did not study Torah. New research about the study house (bet midrash) argues that it was not a free-standing building. Instead, a rabbi and a circle of students would discuss Torah in the rabbi’s home, courtyard, and at his table. It follows that women would overhear Torah talk. Small anecdotes appearing in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds show that occasionally women actually participated in Torah discussions, contributing comments that reflected deep knowledge of the subject at hand. Other anecdotes show that some rabbis taught Torah to their wives and daughters. In short, as patriarchal as ancient rabbinic society surely was, women were not excluded from Torah study. They learned far more than we have generally thought possible, although not as much as men.

Also co-sponsored by the Georgetown University Program for Jewish Civilization

Speaker: Dr. Hasia Diner, Paul and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History at New York University

Location: JCC of Greater Washington; Rockville, MD

From the idea that the eighteenth century constituted a "sephardi era" in American Jewish history through the decades following World War II in which American Jews shunned talking about and memorializing the Holocaust, the history of the Jews of the United States has been laced throughout with myths which do not stand up to the test of historical evidence. This lecture examines a number of those ideas about the American Jewish past which have dominated popular memory. It juxtaposes them against the actual historical data and explores why such renditions of the past have held on so long and so tenaciously.

Also co-sponsored by Georgetown University Program for Jewish Civilization and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington

Speaker: Dr. Michael Berenbaum, writer, lecturer, and teacher consulting in the conceptual development of museums and the development of historical films

Location: Ohr Kodesh Congregation; Chevy Chase, MD

Dr. Berenbaum speaks about the lives of Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, and Gershom Scholem. Their different but intersecting journeys back toward Judaism had an incredible impact on Jewish life and secured places for Buber, Rosenzweig, and Scholem as three of the most influential Jews of the 20th century.

This program is the annual Abraham S. Kay lecture, made possible by the generosity of Jack Kay.

Also co-sponsored by the Georgetown University Program for Jewish Civilization

Speaker: Dr. Leora Batnitzky, Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion at Princeton University, where she also directs Princeton’s Tikvah Project on Jewish Thought.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Revelation as Ethics: Emil Fackenheim, Emmanuel Levinas, and Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Leora Batnitzky, Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion at Princeton University, where she also directs Princeton’s Tikvah Project on Jewish Thought.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Revelation as Reason: Hermann Cohen, Joseph Soloveitchik, and Yeshayahu Leibowitz.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Leora Batnitzky, Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion at Princeton University, where she also directs Princeton’s Tikvah Project on Jewish Thought.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Revelation as Law: Baruch Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn, and the Birth of the Jewish Religion.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Rabbi Avi Weiss, founder and president of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the Modern and Open Orthodox Rabbinical School in New York

Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Washington, DC

Rabbi Avi Weiss, one of Newsweek’s “50 Most Influential Rabbis in America,” discusses his philosophy on an Orthodoxy that is both open and inclusive.

Also co-sponsored by Ohev Sholom - The National Synagogue and Beth Sholom Congregation & Talmud Torah

Speaker: Dr. Avivah Zornberg, is the author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, and The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

The Pit and the Rope: Joseph and Judah, Continued.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Avivah Zornberg, is the author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, and The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

The Pit and the Rope: Joseph and Judah.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Avivah Zornberg, is the author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, and The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Letter From an Unknown Woman: Joseph's Dream, Continued.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Avivah Zornberg, is the author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, and The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Letter From an Unknown Woman: Joseph's Dream.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Prof. Jenna Weissman Joselit, Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies & Professor of History at The George Washington University

Location: Beth Sholom Congregation & Talmud Torah; Potomac, MD

This age-old compilation of dos and don'ts has become an American article of faith and, in some quarters, even America's "rightful heritage." The most richly imagined of all Biblical texts, the Ten Commandments loom large in American culture, where they figure in art, literature, politics, and the law. The cultural and historical processes by which a covenant with the ancient Israelites became a covenant with America lies at the heart of this encounter in both American history and Jewish history.

In memory of Renee and Frank Schick – Endowed by the Schick Family

Also co-sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington

Speaker: Dr. Eliezer Diamond, Rabbi Judah Nadich Associate Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at The Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Congregation Beth El; Bethesda, MD

The traditional liturgy of the Siddur was composed in a time and place quite different from our own. Moreover, the theological assumptions that animate this liturgy are not necessarily shared by many of us. Given this ideological and experiential disparity, how can we not simply recite the words of the Siddur but actually turn them into a meaningful prayer experience? This issue was addressed both by drawing upon a number of rabbinic texts and by utilizing the midrashic methodologies that are central to rabbinic discourse.

In honor of Dorothy G. and Robert H. Rumizen - Endowed by Dr. Bruce and Joy Ammerman through the Ammerman Foundation

Speaker: Douglas J. Feith, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, where he heads the Center for National Security Strategies

Location: B'nai Israel Congregation; Rockville, MD

There are few men or women who are remembered, let alone honored, 70 years after they’ve died. But we do remember Vladimir “Ze’ev” Jabotinsky – and for good reason. Or, I should say, for good reasons. First, he played an instrumental role in the success of a great cause -- the reconstitution of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. Second, in addition to his remarkable accomplishments, he was a man of remarkable character and ideas. And third, Jabotinsky’s thoughts on the Arab-Jewish conflict over Palestine are not merely of historical interest; they contain insights applicable today.

Also cosponsored by Ohr Kodesh Congregation as part of its Pledge 30 program

Speaker: Prof. Faye Moskowtiz, Professor of English at The George Washington University in Washington, DC

Location: Washington Hebrew Congregation; Washington, DC

Professor Faye Moskowitz as discussed the state of contemporary Jewish American Literature. What is happening to the narrative now that the last of the Holocaust witnesses are dying and divisive opinions on the state of Israel rock Jewish and American societies? Why are so many Jewish writers reaching back to a history they never experienced personally? Should writers like Jonathan Franzen and Peter Manseau who appropriate the Jewish experience be called "Jewish writers," and conversely, why do so many Jewish American writers disdain the label? Can anyone replace the generation of giants that includes Bellow, Roth, Malamud, Ozick, and Salinger?

Speaker: Prof. Fred Lazin, Professor of Local Government at Ben Gurion University of the Negev and the Visiting Professor of Israel Studies at American University

Location: B'nai Israel Congregation; Rockville, MD

This session began with an examination of the social vision for Israel as first laid out by David Ben Gurion and then compared it with what Israeli society looks like today. Dr. Lazin examined many identity forces, with special emphasis on the role of religion, religious political parties, and the quest for religious pluralism.

Also co-sponsored by American Associates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Speaker: Prof. Fred Lazin, Professor of Local Government at Ben Gurion University of the Negev and the Visiting Professor of Israel Studies at American University

Location: B'nai Israel Congregation; Rockville, MD

President Harry Truman famously became the first head of state to recognize the new State of Israel in 1948, but the attitude of subsequent administrations to Israel was far from clear cut. This session examined the causes of changes in the relationship over time, up to and including the elections of President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. It also explored the impact of groups like AIPAC, both from the American and Israeli perspectives.

Also co-sponsored by American Associates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Speaker: Prof. Fred Lazin, Professor of Local Government at Ben Gurion University of the Negev and the Visiting Professor of Israel Studies at American University

Location: B'nai Israel Congregation; Rockville, MD

This session explored the major conflicts that ignite passions in the Middle East, only one of which is the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Others include the interests of the great powers for influence and hegemony, conflicts both within and between the major religions, and issues of national identity and pride.

Also co-sponsored by American Associates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Speaker: Dr. Samuel Heilman, Harold Proshansky Chair in Jewish Studies at the Graduate Center and is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Queens College of the City University of New York

Location: Ohev Sholom - The National Synagogue; Washington, DC

This lecture discussed a worldwide movement of Jewish Outreach and the Rebbe who sent them on their mission. It is a story of personal change and an effort to make sense out of history, a story of transformation and how a sect of Hasidim could make themselves and their leader into a force that could make claims about their ability to control history and Jewish destiny.

Also cosponsored by the Georgetown University Program for Jewish Civilization

Speaker: Prof. Calvin Goldscheider, Ungerleider Professor Emeritus of Judaic Studies and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island

Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Washington, DC

The Mishnah is a third century set of Jewish texts consisting of 63 volumes organized around an imagined and constructed community. It is sub-divided into several themes that form the basis of understanding Rabbinic Judaism. Assuming that we have only the Mishnaic text as our source of evidence, we ask, what emerges inductively from the text that informs us about the Mishnaic notion of community? It is a social science question asked not of contemporary societies but of canonized texts in the Judaic tradition for a world that is past. By studying the Mishnah, we are able to clarify how society is conceptualized in the Mishnah and in the process gain some new insights into the Mishnah itself.

In this lecture Professor Goldscheider illustrated this approach by highlighting several critical social themes portrayed in the Mishnah: (1) Inequality and exclusion--Does the Mishnah have a utopian ideal of a classless Jewish society? How does the Mishnah characterize the relationship to Non-Jews? (2) Family and gender--What types of family relationships emerge in the Mishnah and how are family transitions described? How are the roles of men and women, boys and girls, differentiated in the Mishnah? (3) Holidays and rituals--How do holidays and religious rituals convey the meanings of Judaism in the Mishnah?

Also cosponsored by the Georgetown University Program for Jewish Civilization

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony Between Science and Spirituality.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

Raising the Sparks: Finding God in the Material World.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

Shekhinah: The Feminine Half of God.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

Discussion on Dr. Matt's current project.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

The Zohar: Masterpiece of Kabbalah.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Michael Brenner, Chair of Jewish History and Culture at the University of Munich in Germany

Location: JCC of Greater Washington; Rockville, MD

Contrary to common belief, Jewish life in Germany before the rise of the Nazis was culturally thriving. While one segment of the Jewish community was assimilated, there was a tendency, especially among the younger generation, to show renewed interest in Jewish matters. German Jewry in the 1920s was perhaps the first Jewish community that lived in a relatively open and democratic society and began at the same time to look for modern expressions of its Jewish identity. In many respects it serves as an example for modern American Jews, even though the circumstances of its existence were quite different. Dr. Brenner discussed everyday life among German Jews, their religious expressions, and some of their important intellectuals, like Franz Rosenzweig, Gershom Scholem, and Leo Baeck.

This program was made possible by the generosity of Gary and Bernice Lebbin as part of a series of programs on German-Jewish Cultural Heritage.

Speaker: Dr. Jacques Berlinerblau, Associate Professor and Director of the Program for Jewish Civilization at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University

Location: Adas Israel Congregation; Washington, DC

What is "Secular Judaism?" The term "secular Jew" is used by those who claim to be secular Jews and those who see secular Jews as part of a malaise afflicting Judaism. But what is it and why does there seem to be an affinity between secularism and the deeply held beliefs of the American Jewish community? Dr. Berlinerblau will look at the history of Judaism with an eye towards understanding the factors which may predispose Jews to become the secular people par excellence.

Speaker: Rabbi Arthur Green, Professor and Rector of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College

Location: Temple Shalom; Chevy Chase, MD

Rabbi Green will seek to ask how one who accepts the evidence of Darwinism, in its broadest sense, may still speak in religious terms about the natural universe and its evolution.

Speaker: Dr. Michael Brenner, Chair of Jewish History and Culture at the University of Munich in Germany

Location: Georgetown University; Washington, DC

Professor Michael Brenner examines in depth how modern Jewish historians have interpreted Jewish history, beginning with nineteenth-century Germany. History proved to be a uniquely powerful weapon for modern Jewish scholars during a period when they had no nation or army to fight for their ideological and political objectives, whether the goal was Jewish emancipation, diasporic autonomy or the creation of a Jewish state.

Speaker: Hershel Shanks, Founding Editor of Biblical Archaeology Review

Location: JCC of Greater Washington; Rockville, MD

Herschel Shanks will speak about recent developments and controversies regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls..

Speaker: Father Leo D. Lefebure, Professor of Theology and the Matteo Ricci Chair at Georgetown University and priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago

Location: Ohr Kodesh Congregation; Chevy Chase, MD

In recent decades many Christian leaders have sought to overcome the age-old tradition of hostility to Judaism. At the center of these efforts are revised theological understandings of Christian origins, of the New Testament, and of relations between Jews and Christians from antiquity to the present. This lecture will focus on the theological dimensions both of the traditional conflict and of recent efforts to move beyond it and to shape healthy relations for the present and future.

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

God's Body and Our Own Judaism: Part four will utilize selected New Testament texts, kabbalistic texts, the Anim Zemirot, and the Yigdal.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Just One! Just One! Part three will examine The Shem and the Kavod: the Shema, Solomon’s Prayer, other deuteronomic texts, Exodus 39-40, and Ezekiel 8-10.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

How Many Bodies Does God Have? Part two will utilize selected Babylonian and Canaanite texts and selections from Genesis, Exodus, and Hosea to explore this question.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Yesh Lo Demut Ha-Guf? Does the Bible’s God Have a Body? Can a human see God? Part one will utilize texts from Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1-3, Exodus 33-34, Jeremiah 1, Genesis 1, Genesis 3, Exodus 24, and Amos 9 to explore these questions.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Lewiant Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Love and interpersonal relations were central to Eastern European Hasidism. According to one Hasidic teacher, Reb Arele Roth, individuals are encouraged to associate with others who can help "wake" them up spiritually. The teachings of R. Avraham Kalisker, who wrote about “cleaving to our fellows” when we are in need of personal inspiration, will also be discussed.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Lewiant Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

In the seventeenth century, a kabbalistic community developed in Jerusalem, known as Bet El. Inspired by Lurianic mysticism, the Bet El community fashioned an intimate group of individuals who believed that they should love one another as if they were a single organism.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Lewiant Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

The small village of Safed was the site of a great renaissance of kabbalistic life in the sixteenth century. What was the nature of the several kabbalistic fellowships (havurot) that flourished there?

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Lewiant Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

The Zohar, the great kabbalistic literature of thirteenth-century Spain, depicts Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his circle of disciples/companions travelling the Land of Israel and engaging in mystical discourse. Why does Shimon bar Yochai insist on their loving one another? In what sense is the well being of the world, indeed the cosmos, dependent upon their loving relations?

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Menahem Milson, Professor of Arabic Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Co-founder of The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)

Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Washington, DC

Antisemitism has become a pervasive feature of public discourse in the Arab and Islamic world. This lecture explores the various components of present day Islamic and Arab antisemitism, both indigenous (of Islamic provenance) and imported. The special role played by the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” will be assessed, and attention will be drawn to the upsurge in the use of Islamic religious traditions in the antisemitic propaganda, a phenomenon concurrent with the rise of Islamism.

Cosponsored by Sixth & I Historic Synagogue

Speaker: Professor David B. Ruderman, Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History and the Ella Darivoff Director of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania

Location: JCC of Greater Washington; Rockville, MD

The development of the printing press resulted in the emergence of a unique Jewish culture in the 16th century, an age when the Talmud and the Bible where printed and when Jews discovered a new world of medicine, science, and philosophy. It was a time in which books of a less formal and intellectual nature emerged in Yiddish and Ladino, as well as for women. This new technology transformed the way Jews thought and processed information about the world, as the internet and technology transformed the way we think and live today.

In honor of Dorothy G. and Robert H. Rumizen, endowed by Dr. Bruce and Joy Ammerman through the Ammerman Foundation

Speaker: Professor Jason Rosenblatt, Professor of English at Georgetown University

Location: Washington DCJCC

John Selden; a non-Jew, was an English jurist, legal antiquarian, politician, and a leading figure of English historical research during the 17th century. He was also considered an expert scholar on Jewish law.

In the midst of an age of prejudice when all Jews had been expelled from England, Selden wrote his most immense work, containing magnificent Hebrew scholarship that reflects—to an extent remarkable for the times—a respectful understanding of Judaism. The history of the religious toleration of Jews in England is incomplete without acknowledgment of the impact of this non-Jew’s uncommonly generous Hebrew scholarship.

In memory of Frank Schick, endowed by Renee Schick

Speaker: Professor James Kugel, Director of the Institute for the History of the Jewish Bible, Bar Ilan University

Location: Temple Shalom; Chevy Chase, MD

Some of the most familiar holidays in the Jewish calendar look very different in the light of biblical research. What is more, the Dead Sea Scrolls have revealed that, compared with the "Jewish calendar" we use today, Jews in late biblical times used an entirely different calendar—one in which the holidays were never "late this year.” What are Jews today to make of these findings?

Speaker: Professor David Kraemer, Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: B'nai Israel Congregation; Rockville, MD

Jews understand life, death, and everything in between. This lecture explores past Jewish beliefs about what comes after this life, correcting many misconceptions and asking what differences changes in these beliefs might make.

Cosponsored by B'nai Israel Congregation

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four discusses how Nebuchadnezzar and the Neo-Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem not once but twice, burned the Temple of Solomon to the ground, and exiled the leading citizens of Jerusalem and Judah to the far-away city of Babylon. It also provides an in-depth look at Jewish history during the Babylonian period.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses how the expansionist ambitions of the Neo-Assyrians from Mesopotamia in the eighth century BCE spelled an end to the kingdom of Israel and gave rise to the tradition of the Ten Lost Tribes. The question of where the exiled members of these tribes ended up continues to be debated.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two discusses David and Solomon. Both kings have been the subject of controversies and debates. A reference to the "House of David" was found in 1993 on an inscription in the north of Israel — the first extra-biblical mention of David yet discovered — allowing us to reconsider the evidence for David and Solomon.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one discusses the account of the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Naftali Rothenberg, Senior Research Fellow and Jewish Culture and Identity chair at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute; Rabbi of Har Adar, Israel.

Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Washington, DC

Most people are familiar with two possible approaches to love: the puritanical, which they ascribe to religion, Scripture and “spirituality;” and the permissive, which they generally consider to be materialistic and anti-spiritual. According to the rabbis, love exists within the harmony of spirit and matter, mind and body. The Jewish sources promote just such a relationship between man and woman - on the cognitive-intellectual, spiritual-emotional and physical planes.

Cosponsored by Sixth & I Historic Synagogue

Speaker: Professor Marsha Rozenblitz, Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Jewish History at the University of Maryland,College Park

Location: Temple Shalom; Chevy Chase, MD

What has life historically been like for Jews in these bastions of Jewish culture? In this lecture, Dr. Rozenblit provides an understanding of Austro-German Jewry by exploring the place of Jews in these regions.

Speaker: Rabbi Barbara Aiello, Director, Jewish Culture and Hebrew Language Institute (Calabria, Italy) and first woman Rabbi in Italy

Location: Temple Shalom; Silver Spring, MD

Jewish life in Italy has a history that dates back to the time of the Maccabees when Jews settled in Southern Italy 300 years before the Common Era. In this lecture, Rabbi Barbara Aiello shares fascinating stories of Italy’s rich Jewish history; from ancient times through WW II.

Speaker: Rabbi Barbara Aiello, Director, Jewish Culture and Hebrew Language Institute (Calabria, Italy) and first woman Rabbi in Italy

Location: Temple Shalom; Silver Spring, MD

Jewish life in Italy has a history that dates back to the time of the Maccabees when Jews settled in Southern Italy 300 years before the Common Era. In this lecture, Rabbi Barbara Aiello shares fascinating stories of Italy’s rich Jewish history; from ancient times through WW II.

Speaker: Professor Menachem Kellner, Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Haifa

Location: Ohr Kodesh Congregation; Chevy Chase, MD

This lecture discusses the use, misuse, and possible abuse of this famed Jewish philosopher by such people as Rav Soloveitchik, Yeshayahu and Nechama Leibowitz, R. Abraham Joshua Heschel, R. Kotler, and R. Yizhak Hunter.

Cosponsored by Ohr Kodesh Congregation

Speaker: Professor Menachem Kellner, Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Haifa

Location: Ohr Kodesh Congregation; Chevy Chase, MD

This lecture discusses the use, misuse, and possible abuse of this famed Jewish philosopher by such people as Rav Soloveitchik, Yeshayahu and Nechama Leibowitz, R. Abraham Joshua Heschel, R. Kotler, and R. Yizhak Hunter.

Cosponsored by Ohr Kodesh Congregation

Speaker: Professor Walter Laqueur in conversation with Rabbi Joshua Haberman

Location: Temple Shalom; Silver Spring, MD

In this lecture, Professor Laqueur and Rabbi Haberman discuss the New Germany and its Jews, the rise of anti-Semitism, and Israel and the Jewish Future.

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four discusses how pluralism can be found - even within the texts of Judaism.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses how Spinoza's life and beliefs were interpreted by Moses Mendelssohn.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two discusses the life of Baruch Spinoza, who is known as the first person to voluntarily live outside any religious fold.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one sets the stage for the life of Baruch Spinoza by discussing the controversies over philosophy in the middle ages.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Charles Butterworth, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four returns to the topic of the Quran and discusses its teachings in greater detail.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Charles Butterworth, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses why, from the perspective of Islam, a new revelation was needed to supersede those provided by Judaism and Christianity.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Charles Butterworth, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two discusses how certain Quranic dictums might be problematic today and how the Quran should be understood.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Charles Butterworth, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one discusses the origins of Islam and the history of its development.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Robert Alter, Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley

Location: Washington DCJCC

In this lecture, Professor Alter discusses the challenges faced by those who wish to translate the Bible.

Co-sponsored by Adas Israel Congregation; Washington, DC

Speaker: Dr. Mark N. Ozer, author of "The Litvak Legacy"

Location: Kehilat Shalom Congregation; Gaithersburg, MD

Charges of Nazi collaboration, accusations regarding complicity, defensiveness and mutual mistrust appear to be the hallmarks of Lithuanian Jewish relations, but has it always been this way? What are roots of anti-Semitism in Lithuania and how has anti-Semitism waxed, waned and evolved? What is the state of this relationship today and its outlook for the future? These questions and many others are addressed in the discussion of the progression of Lithuanian Jewish relations.

Sponsored by the Ammerman Foundation in honor of Dorothy G. and Robert H. Rumizen

Speaker: Dr. Steven Lowenstein, Isadore Levine Professor of Jewish History, American University

Location: B'nai Israel Congregation; Rockville, MD

"Tumultuous" is an understatement in describing the historic relationship between Jews and the rest of the German state. Jews have been in Germany since the early fourth century, and German-Jewish relations have fluctuated between tolerance and violence. This lecture treats the topic of assimilation and strives to enrich our understanding of how woven into (or excluded from) the fabric of the nation Jews in Germany were before the Holocaust.

Endowed by of K. Peter & Yvonne Wagner as a part of a series of programs on German-Jewish Cultural Heritage

Speaker: Hershel Shanks, Founder & Editor of Biblical Archaeology Review

Location: Washington DCJCC

Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls important for understanding the origins of Christianity as a Jewish movement? What does "Son of God" mean in Judaism? In Christianity? To what extent is Christian doctrine anticipated in the scrolls? Part two also examines the so-called "Dead Sea Scroll in Stone" and whether it relates to a messiah. Finally, this lecture explores the mysterious Copper Scroll which describes 64 sites with buried treasure, possibly from the Jerusalem Temple.

Speaker: Hershel Shanks, Founder & Editor of Biblical Archaeology Review

Location: Washington DCJCC

Part one discusses the ruins of Qumran near the 11 caves in the Judean Desert where more than 900 scrolls were found, comprising what has been called the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century. This lecture considers whether the people living at Qumran were a strange sect of Jews called Essenes, what the scrolls tell us about the development of the Hebrew Bible, and how the scrolls also help to elucidate Judaism in the crucial period before the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

Speaker: Dr. Antony Polonsky, Albert Abramson Professor of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University

Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Washington, DC

This lecture discusses the often confusing history of Jews in Poland and Russia.

Speaker: Professor Ed Kaplan, Department of Romance Studies, Brandeis University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four dicusses Israel, the Holocaust, and spiritual radicalism in relation to how modern faith faces despair.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Ed Kaplan, Department of Romance Studies, Brandeis University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three dicusses prayer, reverence, and social responsibility in relation to Heschel's involvement in and views on civil rights, Soviet Jewry, the Vietnam War.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Ed Kaplan, Department of Romance Studies, Brandeis University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one dicusses Heschel’s life and how his belief in sacred humanism resulted in his religious response to world events.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Ed Kaplan, Department of Romance Studies, Brandeis University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two dicusses the Bible as holiness in words and how it can be an experience of G-d for today’s seekers.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Warren L. Miller, Chairman of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Washington, DC

The Holocaust resulted in the annihilation of much of Eastern Europe’s Jewish population. In many countries, no Jews were left to care for the Jewish communal properties. This destruction, desecration, and deterioration of properties continued under Communist regimes. This lecture discusses the challenge of protecting these sites and the threat to Jews worldwide from the growing threat of Holocaust deniers.

Speaker: Dr. Douglas Johnston, International Center for Religion and Diplomacy

Location: Washington DCJCC

The most serious threat confronting the world today is the potential marriage of religious extremism with weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Johnston discusses how the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy serves as a bridge between religion and politics in preventing and resolving conflicts in various parts of the world.

Speaker: Professor Michael Walzer, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University

Location: Ohr Kodesh Congregation; Chevy Chase, MD

In this lecture, Prof. Walzer discusses how wars have been waged within the Jewish tradition.

Speaker: Rabbi Dr. William Cutter, Director of the Kalsman Institute on Judaism And Health, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles

Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Washington, DC

Yehudah Amichai was an Israeli poet and is considered by many to be Israel's greatest poet.

Speaker: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, DHL, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, Rabbi Emeritus of Washington Hebrew Congregation

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Delivered in what would have been the 130th year of Buber's life, part four is a critical appraisal of his impact on today’s Judaism.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, DHL, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, Rabbi Emeritus of Washington Hebrew Congregation

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses how Buber discovered Hasidism and why he felt an attraction to that way of life.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, DHL, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, Rabbi Emeritus of Washington Hebrew Congregation

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two describes Buber's struggle to come to terms with biblical beliefs in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, DHL, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, Rabbi Emeritus of Washington Hebrew Congregation

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one discusses how Buber was able to encounter God after the Holocaust.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat