HOME > LEARN joyfully

Can We All Get Along? Religion, Identity, and the State

Questions of identity, free expression, and the lines between church and state have always been sources of tension in America, especially for Jews. Today, productive conversations on such issues seem particularly difficult. This program series will address contemporary hot-button topics from an educational standpoint, with a variety of perspectives from local and national experts.

Saving Monticello: The Levy Family’s Stewardship of Thomas Jefferson’s ‘Essay in Architecture’

Sunday, April 2, 2023, 10:30a
In-person and on Zoom

In partnership with the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Join us on Sunday, April 2 at 10:30a for a lively talk by journalist and historian Marc Leepson, including many historic images of this little-known story of Jewish-American history. Bagels and book signing to follow immediately after.

Journalist and historian Marc Leepson is the author of nine published books, including Saving Monticello: The Levy Family’s Epic Quest to Rescue the House that Jefferson Built, Flag: An American Biography, and biographies of Francis Scott Key, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Army Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler. A former staff writer for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., he taught U.S. History at Lord Fairfax Community College in Virginia, and is the arts editor, senior writer, and columnist for The VVA Veteran magazine, which is published by Vietnam Veterans of America in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Jewish Life and Free Speech on American Campuses Today

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

How can college students and their universities navigate the current tensions between open expression and inclusion on campus? Dr. Sigal Ben-Porath illustrates these tensions through the debate surrounding the BDS movement, as well as how this issue speaks to the broader democratic concerns that American Jews, and Israeli citizens, are facing today.

Watch the recording.

Judaism, Trans Identity, and Civil Rights

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

So often, religion is used as an argument against LGBTQ+ rights and protections. As Jews, we know the feeling of being treated as strangers simply because of who we are; we have an ethical mandate to fight for justice and equality. This session will help our community build tools and language to engage effectively in nonpartisan, Jewishly informed and authentic work for LGBTQ+ dignity and safety in the United States.

This program is organized in collaboration with the Inclusion Committee.

Watch the recording.

Religious Liberty and the Supreme Court

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 7:30p

With Nomi Stolzenberg (USC Law School), Amanda Shanor (Wharton), and Alan Garfield (Delaware Law School)

The separation of church and state is a fundamental tenet of the American system, with particular importance for Jews. The Supreme Court has recently issued important decisions that significantly reshape religious liberty jurisprudence, with even more far-reaching steps on the horizon. In this program, three distinguished constitutional law scholars will discuss what the Court has done, where it could be going, and what it means for Jews and all Americans.

After Roe: Jewish Perspectives on Abortion

Tuesday, Dec. 13

With Michal Raucher (Rutgers Jewish Studies), Belinda Birnbaum (Rheumatologist and BAI member), and Mara Pliskin (Planned Parenthood)

The impacts of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion are being felt in many different ways. This program provides educational context on this controversial issue, from two angles. What does Jewish law have to say about abortion? And what are the practical consequences of the Court’s decision for women, medical providers, and others?

Watch the recording.