Special Events

A Congregational Conversation: Israel and Temple Israel
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 7:00 p.m.
We hope that you will join us to discuss our Clergy's perspective on why the future of the American Jewish community is intertwined with the future of the Jewish State.  Please partner with us in the difficult but necessary work of weaving into the fabric of the life of Temple Israel our shared commitment to learn about Israel - past, present, and future - and to learn how to talk about Israel in a mature and civilized way among ourselves, regardless of our individual opinions. 

This conversation is only open to members of our Congregation.

ENDOWED LECTURES

BURSTEIN SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE WEEKEND


with Peter Beinart
November 5-6 

Three opportunities to engage in conversation and learning with Peter Beinart: Senior Political Writer at The Daily Beast, Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, and Assistant Professor of Journalism and Political Science at City University of New York.

As we seek to establish a model for civil discourse within Temple Israel's community, these Scholar in Residence events are not open to the public.

Torah Study with our Scholar in Residence
Saturday, November 5, 9:00 a.m.

The Future of American Jews
Saturday, November 5, 4:00 p.m.
Since the 1967 war, The American Jewish establishment has tied the continuity of American Jews to the continuity of Israel. Reviving images of Jewish victimhood and the Holocaust, the major Jewish American organizations have enthusiastically rallied behind Israel, arguing that Israel is in constant threat of dissolution and that it is the obligation of American Jews to defend their Jewish refuge.  Despite the conviction of these American Jewish organizations, a great number of American Jews do not see Israel in the same light.  In their eyes, Israel is not a victim but a strong military power who has, in several instances, abused its power. What will this schism between the leadership and the broader community mean for American Jewry? Will American Jews lose interest in Israel and Judaism altogether? Or will American Jewish identities eventually exist independently from Israel? 

The Future of Israel
Sunday, November 6, 10:00 a.m. Coffee and... 10:30 a.m. Lecture

As the green line disappears, Jewish settlements continue to grow, and the West Bank becomes more and more inseparable from Israel, many questions arise as to what the future of Israel will be. Will Israel incorporate the West Bank, lose its Jewish majority, but remain a democratic state? Or, will the authoritarian culture now restricted to the east of the green line swallow the liberal culture of the west, dissolving Israeli democracy entirely?  

JOY UNGERLEIDER JEWISH BOOK MONTH PROGRAM

How to Understand Israel in Sixty Days or Less

with Sarah Glidden
Friday, December 9

Sarah Glidden is a cartoonist and writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Her first full-length book, a graphic-memoir entitled How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, was published in 2010 by DC Comics/Vertigo. Her short pieces have been published in the anthology Syncopated (Villard 2009) as well as on the graphic journalism site Cartoon Movement. You can find more of her work here.

About the book, a graphic memoir: 
When Sarah Glidden took a Birthright Israel tour, she thought she knew what she was getting herself into. But, when she got there, whatever she thought she understood about Israel turned out to be  very different from what she found�.As she struggles to "understand Israel,"  Sarah is forced to question first her beliefs, then ultimately her own identity.  From the book cover. 
Send questions to Ann Abrams, Librarian, by phone, email, Facebook, Twitter, or (gasp!) in person by December 2.

We will also celebrate our Librarian, Ann Abrams, and her 25 years of service to our congregation.  

The Joy Ungerleider Jewish Book Month Program is an endowed lecture series established in memory of author, curator, philanthropist, and visionary Joy Ungerleider by the Dorot Foundation, and is under the auspices of the Temple Israel Library Committee.

CARL STEINBAUM
Jerusalem, Jerusalem

with James Carroll
 Friday, March 2, 2012
 


FEINBERG
Negotiating About Jerusalem

with David Matz
Friday, May 4, 2012


Of all the very difficult issues to negotiate between Israel and Palestine, Jerusalem is the most difficult. The sensitivity of holy sites, the symbolism of Jerusalem itself, and the factual complexity of dividing or sharing a city all make negotiation a very difficult process for reaching an agreement. Still, with no negotiated solution there will be no peace. This lecture will focus on these difficulties, and on how Jewish Jerusalemites see the problem and the possibilities.

Bio: David E. Matz is the founder, and until January 2010 was the Director, of the Graduate Programs in Dispute Resolution at UMass Boston. He is also an active dispute intervenor. Professor Matz has focused his work on the techniques of mediation and negotiation, and on the relationship of these to the workings of organizations and courts. He has done this primarily in the United States and Israel. In the United States, he has led in the development and use of assessment tools for court mediators, trained mediators, judges, and engineers. In Israel, he was central in developing policy and practice for the Israeli Ministry of Justice and Supreme Court in integrating mediation into the judicial system.

RUDOLPH H. AND SARA G. WYNER TBD, Spring 2012


If you have questions, please contact Sue Misselbeck at 617-566-3960 x117.