This dynamic program of public lectures brings world-renowned authors, scholars, political leaders, policy experts, and theologians to WHC to share their perspectives on timely issues or their research into Jewish culture and history.
We are pleased to present prominent writers of the nation's newest works on topics of Jewish interest, often in cooperation with the Jewish Book Council.
Date: Wednesday, October 23
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Washington Hebrew Congregation
Cost: Free and open to the community
Please click here to RSVP.
In her new book, the award-winning author gives us a penetrating and provocative analysis of the hate that will not die, focusing on its current, virulent incarnations on both the political right and left: from white supremacist demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, to mainstream enablers of antisemitism such as Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn, to a gay pride march in Chicago that expelled a group of women for carrying a Star of David banner.
Over the last decade, there has been a noticeable uptick in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents by left-wing groups targeting Jewish students and Jewish organizations on American college campuses. And the reemergence of the white nationalist movement in America, complete with Nazi slogans and imagery, has been reminiscent of the horrific fascist displays of the 1930s. Throughout Europe, Jews have been attacked by terrorists, and some have been murdered.
Where is all this hatred coming from? Is there any significant difference between left-wing and right-wing antisemitism? What role has the anti-Zionist movement played? And what can be done to combat the latest manifestations of an ancient hatred? In a series of letters to an imagined college student and imagined colleague, both of whom are perplexed by this resurgence, acclaimed historian Deborah Lipstadt gives us her own superbly reasoned, brilliantly argued, and certain to be controversial responses to these troubling questions.
Please click here to RSVP.
Dr. Lipstadt's October lecture is also the kickoff to this year's Congregational Conversations series. Please click here to learn more about the monthly discussions about Dr. Lipstadt's book, Deborah E. Lipstadt, author of Antisemitism: Here and Now. that will take place in November, December, and January.
This Amram Scholar Series lecture is generously supported by the Abraham and Freida Hochberg Creative Cultural Endowment Fund.
Date: Sunday, October 27
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Washington Hebrew Congregation
Cost: Free and open to the community
Please click here to RSVP for this lecture
The American Jewish community is confronting fundamental questions about the responsibilities and difficulties of being Jewish in today’s world. Join us for a conversation with AJC CEO David Harris to hear his unique perspective on the widespread increase of antisemitism, the relationship between the American Jewish community and the pro-BDS movement taking hold in some quarters of the Democratic Party, and the way that, on both sides of the aisle, support for Israel is being used as a divisive political cudgel.
Please click here to RSVP for this lecture
This Amram Scholar Series lecture is generously supported by the Leo and Elizabeth Goodman Public Issues Endowment Fund.
“#MeToo,” She Said: Documenting “Kolot Isha” (Women’s Voices)
Date: Sunday, November 3
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Washington Hebrew Congregation
Cost: Free and open to the community
RSVP preferred: click here to RSVP
In October 2017, The New York Times published an article by Jodi Kantor and her colleague Megan Twohey that exposed decades of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Harvey Weinstein. Within days, a veritable Pandora’s Box of sexual harassment and abuse opened, and women who had suffered in silence for generations began coming forward, trusting that the world would understand their stories. Over the next year, hundreds of men from every walk of life and industry would be outed for mistreating colleagues. For their work to expose this harassment, Kantor and Twohey were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, journalism’s highest honor.
During her talk, Jodi Kantor will share how she and her colleagues were able to reveal secrets that had been hidden for decades and will also discuss the misuse of power and position against women, how society responds to the reality many women face, what really creates social progress, and how we can navigate the #MeToo era with fairness.
Jodi Kantor is a prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times and author of She Said and the best-selling book The Obamas.
Date: Wednesday, November 6
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Washington Hebrew Congregation (3935 Macomb St. NW)
Cost: Free and open to the community
RSVP preferred: Click here to RSVP
For our Kristallnacht commemoration, WHC is proud to welcome Michael Dobbs.
Michael Dobbs of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and a former foreign correspondent for The Washington Post offers a riveting and intimate account of Jewish families in a small village near Germany’s Black Forest who desperately pursued American visas to escape the Nazis. He re-creates the heated debates among U.S. officials over whether or not to admit refugees amid growing concerns about “fifth columnists,” at a time when the American public was deeply isolationist, xenophobic, and antisemitic — a history with renewed relevance today.
Michael Dobbs comes to Washington Hebrew through a partnership with the Jewish Book Council.
Deborah Lipstadt - Antisemitism: Here and Now
Professor Lipstadt teaches Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University; she was portrayed by Rachel Weisz in the film Denial, based on her legal battle with Holocaust denier David Irving.
David Harris - "Facing Challenges: American and World Jewry"
The CEO of the American Jewish Committee since 1990, Mr. Harris was described by the late Israeli President Shimon Peres as the "foreign minister of the Jewish people."
Jodi Kantor - "'#MeToo,' She Said: Documenting Kolot Isha (Women’s Voices)"
Ms. Kantor is a Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times investigative reporter and co-author of She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement.
Michael Dobbs - The Unwanted: America, Auschwitz, and a Village Caught In Between
Mr. Dobbs, a former foreign correspondent for the Washington Post, is a scholar and writer at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Presented in partnership with the Jewish Book Council.
Jamie Bernstein - Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein
The daughter of the late composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein, Ms. Bernstein is an author and filmmaker.
Presented in partnership with the Jewish Book Council.
Robert Klitzman & Jamie Metzl - "Recreating Humanity: Moral Choices and Genetic Engineering"
Dr. Klitzman, a professor of psychiatry and bioethics at Columbia University, is the author of Designing Babies: How Technology is Changing the Ways We Create Children. Mr. Metzl -- a prominent futurist who has served in the White House, State Department, and United Nations -- is the author of Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity.
Presented in partnership with the Jewish Book Council.
Kirsten Fermaglich - A Rosenberg by Any Other Name: A History of Jewish Name Changing in America
Professor Fermaglich teaches history and Jewish studies at Michigan State University.
Presented in partnership with the Jewish Book Council.
Robert Mnookin - The Jewish American Paradox: Embracing Choice in a Changing World
A leading scholar in the field of conflict resolution, Professor Mnookin teaches at the Harvard Law School and directs Harvard's Negotiation Research Project.
Presented in partnership with the Jewish Book Council.
Paul Mendes-Flohr - Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent
Professor Mendes-Flohr, an eminent scholar of modern Jewish thought, teaches at the University of Chicago and is an emeritus professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Re-watch and re-experience the dynamic lectures from previous years of the Amram Scholar Series.
