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Lectures

Your Jewish Journey Starts Here

The Sabes JCC Center for Jewish Arts and Humanities is proud to announce our exciting and engaging “Jewish Journeys” lecture series dedicated to bringing you enlightening and engaging speakers from a variety of perspectives on the Jewish experience.

Questions? Contact Peggy Mandel. 952-381-3466 or pmandel@sabesjcc.org

Tickets available for all lectures here.

Upcoming Events

Darchei Noam and Sabes JCC Present Rabbi Seth Farber on the topic of The Challenges and Opportunities for Jewish Life in Israel: A View from the Front Lines
Thursday, June 17, 7:30 pm @ the Sabes JCC

Since the founding of the State of Israel, its Jewish character has both bound its citizens together and created conflict and chaos. In the coming year, Israel will be home to more than half the Jews in the world, and yet, Jewish life in Israel is controlled by a small Charedi sector of the population. Many Jews feel alienated by the establishment (i.e. the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs and the State Rabbinate), and yet others feel a strong historical connection to Jewish life. Rulings by the Ministry often leave families bewildered, overwhelmed, and resentful.

Rabbi Seth Farber, Founder and Director of ITIM: The Jewish Life Information Center, will address the Jewish dimensions of the modern miracle that is the State of Israel. By analyzing case studies from the Israeli rabbinical courts and the institutional rabbinate, this lecture will try to clarify both the present and the future of such burning issues as conversion, marriage, and burial in Israel. Rabbi Farber is a Modern Orthodox rabbi and historian in Israel, best known for his work helping Jews navigate the Israeli religious bureaucracy. The New York Times called Farber a “pragmatic idealist” who believes that Orthodox Jews—including the rabbinate—and non-Orthodox Jews need to learn to “to trust each other” sufficiently to work together on the difficult issues of personal status.

Download the flier here (.pdf)

Lecture is free of charge. For questions, contact DarcheiNoamMN@yahoo.com.

Grandparent's Circle
An education and support program for Jewish grandparents whose adult children have intermarried.

Sometimes grandparents often feel unsure of how they can cultivate the Jewish identities of their grandchildren, especially when it is not always clear as to whether or not those children are being raised as Jews. The Grandparents Circle is a comprehensive program that offers grandparents skills and techniques to nurture, and in some cases help establish, their interfaith grandchildren’s Jewish identities. It also provides participants with a supportive and open-minded environment to share their achievements, express their frustrations, and acknowledge their challenges.

This program is five consecutive Tuesdays, 7-9 pm; the dates are:
April 13, 2010
April 20, 2010
April 27, 2010
May 4, 2010
May 11, 2010.

These will be held at the Sabes Jewish Community Center

Cost:
FREE 

Program Facilitator:
Barbara Rudnick, with Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JFCS). 

Click here to register.

For questions, contact Peggy Mandel at the Sabes JCC: pmandel@sabesjcc.org / 952.381.3466

Sample enrichment programs planned for 2009–2010 include:

  • Grandparents Circle: an education and support program for Jewish grandparents whose adult children have intermarried – beginning September 2009
  • Women’s Day of Wellness: a day of relaxation, exercise and fun, with a Jewish twist – November 2009
  • Co-sponsor of the Twin Cities Jewish Book Fair: the Sabes JCC will partner with the St. Paul JCC to bring this inspiring program, which celebrates the creativity of some of today’s finest Jewish authors – November 2009
  • Community Sustained Agriculture: connecting farmers to consumers and consumers to fresh produce – kick off January 2010
  • Knead Challah?: experience Challah making as a spiritual and symbolic activity – January 2010
  • L’Chaim: learn about Kosher wines, the only liquid which has its own special blessing in Jewish tradition and then taste some just in time for Passover – March 2010
  • L’Dor v’Dor: an intergenerational program where we’ll explore how memories are created and shared – May 2010
  • Mothers Circle: an education and support program for non-Jewish mothers raising Jewish children – Ongoing
  • Co-Sponsor of the University of Minnesota Center for Jewish Studies Lecture Series:
  • Joel Kaminsky, Smith College (Oct 12, 2009); Stuart Cohen, Georgetown University &
  • Bar-Ilan University (Nov 1, 2009); Alex Jassen, University of Minnesota (Jan 28, 2010);
  • Orren Gross, University of Minnesota (Mar 23, 2010); Barbara Weissberger, University of Minnesota (May 4, 2010)
Past Lectures and Events

Dr. Daniel Gordis on"Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End"
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Dr. Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President of the Shalem Center, where he is also a senior fellow. The author of numerous books on Jewish thought and currents in Israel, Dr. Gordis was the founding dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism, the first rabbinical college on the West Coast of the United States. Dr. Gordis joined Shalem in 2007 to help found Israel’s first liberal arts college, after spending nine years as vice president of the Mandel Foundation in Israel and director of its Leadership Institute.

Since moving to Israel in 1998, Dr. Gordis has written and lectured throughout the world on Israeli society and the challenges facing the Jewish state. His writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, the New Republic, the New York Times Magazine, Moment, Tikkun, and Conservative Judaism. His latest book, Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End was published by Wiley in March 2009. He is presently at work on a volume about 19thand 20thcentury rabbinic responsa on conversion, which he is writing together with Rabbi David Ellenson of the Hebrew Union College, and another volume on Zionism and its contribution to international discourse on ethnicity and the nation-state.

Find out more about Daniel Gordis and read his take on the issues facing Israel and Israeli society today.

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Israel Program Center of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council.

Elinor Ruth Tatum
Sunday, May 9, 2010
 In conjunction with the Tychman Shapiro Gallery exhibit "Profiling: exploring the faces of diversity within the Jewish community."

“When she was 7 years old, Elinor R. Tatum says, she announced to her parents that she wanted to be the first black Jewish president” (Janet Allon, New York Times). Elinor Tatum is currently Publisher and Editor in Chief of the New York Amsterdam News, the oldest and largest Black newspaper in New York City. She produces and co-hosts a weekly segment of Al Sharpton’s Weekly Radio Show “Keep’in It Real” and has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, 20/20, New York 1, CUNY TV, The Today Show and NBC Nightly News. Tatum is the former Secretary of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Her extensive community involvement includes sitting on the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, St. Lawrence University, the New York Urban League, the New York Press Association and many more. Join us for a thought-provoking talk with Elinor Ruth Tatum. She will describe her experiences growing up as an African- American Jewish woman and how her experiences in both communities have shaped her life.

Israel Updates
Join us for Israel Updates with our new Israeli Shlichah, Noga Shavit and Yitzhak Reiter, visiting professor from Hebrew University to the University of Minnesota.

September 23 , October 7 and October 28, November 18, 2008

These lectures will be of special interest to those attending Israel missions in the fall with the Mpls. Jewish Federation and the Beth El Synagogue tours, as well as everyone who is interested in staying up to date with current affairs in Israel.

Jesus and Judaism: The Connection Still Matters
A Discussion with Amy-Jill Levine, Vanderbilt University
Thursday, January 29, 2009

Jesus of Nazareth followed the Torah of Moses, found inspiration in the Prophets of Israel, and offered a teaching that some Jewish men and women found compelling. Yet too often Christians and Jews incorrectly regard Jesus as rejecting Judaism. Understanding Jesus in his Jewish context brings new meaning to his parables, his politics, and his piety, and it offers as well a new path for Jewish-Christian relations. This program is partnership with the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Robert Alter: The Psalm as a Vehicle for Self-Examination
A Reading of Psalm 139
Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A Fall Kickoff Event for the Jewish Institute for Lifelong Learning: An evening of community study with Minneapolis rabbis and educators. Robert Alter is a professor in comparative literature and Biblical studies at the University of California at Berkley. In the last 20 years, Alter has moved from literary studies to a program to capture the beautiful rhythms and literary nuances of the Bible through translations, articles, and books including “The Art of Biblical Poetry.” In partnership with the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Minnesota

The Obama Effect in the Middle East and the War Against Terrorism led by Aharon Barnea
Tuesday, January 13, 2008

Aharon Barnea one of Israel’s most prominent news correspondents will examine the affect of the recent US election of Barak Obama on the politics of the Middle East. Barnea has been a senior correspondent, an anchorman and an advisor to President Ezer Weizman.