Adult Education

4 – Part Series Exploring AntiSemitism

 Antisemitism, while one of the oldest and intractable examples of humankind’s irrational hate toward   others, is, at the same time, one of the least understood.  With the recent rise in antisemitism in this country and across the world, CBI invites you to attend a 4 part series, via Zoom, addressing these important issues:

Our final session of the 4-part series “Exploring Antisemitism” will be held on Thursday, June 9, with guest speaker, Robert Trestan of the New England Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) speaking on “Antisemitism today: what does it look like and how can we fight it?”

Click here for the full flyer

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Part 3 of a 4-Part series exploring Antisemitism was held May 12th on the causes and impact of antisemitism on college campuses with Dr. Rachel Fish, Co-founder of Boundless, a think-action tank partnering with community leaders to revitalize Israel education and take bold collective action to combat Jew hatred. (recording below)

Part 2 of the 4-part series on Antisemitism was held April 7th The Role of the Church and Christian Writings in the Creation and Perpetuation of Antisemitism (recording below)

Part 1 of the 4-part series on AntiSemitism was held March 24th
American Antisemitism in Historical Perspective (recording below)

 

 

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Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 7:30 PM

Via Zoom

RSVP by 1/25 to Amy at 978-474-0540, amy@BethIsraelmv.org
The Zoom link will be sent to registered participants on 1/27

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Book Review

“In My Brother’s Image: Twin Brothers Separated by Faith after the Holocaust” by local author, Eugene Pogany.

Save the date ~ Thursday, October 28 @7:30pm when Gene will join CBI!

My Brother’s Image is the extraordinary story of Eugene Pogany’s father and uncle – identical twin brothers born in Hungary of Jewish parents but raised as devout Catholic converts until the Second World War unraveled their family. In eloquent prose, Pogany portrays how the Holocaust destroyed the brothers’ close childhood bond: his father, a survivor of a Nazi internment camp, denounced Christianity and returned to the Judaism of his birth, while his uncle, who found shelter in an Italian monastic community during the war, became a Catholic priest. Even after emigrating to America the brothers remained estranged, each believing the other a traitor to their family’s faith. This tragic memoir is a rich, moving family portrait as well as an objective historical account of the rupture between Jews and Catholics. ~ Amazon Review ~ Published in 2001, 345 pages

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Pirkei Avot – Wisdom of the Sages

CBI welcomed Rabbi Ahud Sela to teach about Pirkei Avot, Wisdom of the Sages
If you missed it, click below go hear the engaging evening of discussion and introspection.

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Book Review – “The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China”, by Jonathan Kaufman

Join us June 10th at 7:00

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Recent events

 

A very special talk with author Rabbi Joseph Polak sponsored by the Lester Macklin Annual Yom HaShoah Program

In commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Rabbi Joseph Polak, Child Survivor, and author of the nationally acclaimed book, After the Holocaust the Bells Still Ring. This memoir is a fascinating portrait of mother and child who miraculously survive two concentration camps; and then, after the war, battle demons of the past, societal rejection, disbelief, and invalidation as they struggle to re-enter the world of the living.

Rabbi Polak is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights at Boston University School of Public Health and Rabbi Emeritus of the Hillel House at BostonUniversity. He also serves as Chief Justice of the Rabbinical Court of Massachusetts. In addition to his many other accomplishments, Rabbi Polak was a good friend and study partner
of Elie Wiesel.

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CBI Book Review

Discussing: Apeirogon by Colum McCann – Sunday, March 14 11:00am

The novel explores the conflict in the Middle East. It follows the unlikely real-life friendship between two fathers: Rami Elhanan, an Israeli graphic designer, and Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian scholar and previous political prisoner. Consisting of 1001 short sections, the two central figures bond over the untimely deaths of their respective daughters.

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Rev. Irene Monroe Conversation – In Remembrance of the Legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A frank discussion on “The Intersectionality of Racism, Oppression and
Anti-Semitism: One Tree with Many Roots”

For more information and to register, contact Amy Sherr, 978.474.0540
Amy@Bethisraelmv.org, by 1/7/21. The Zoom link will be provided to registrants only

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Click here for the flyer
Join CBI on Saturday, November 14th for Boston Jewish Film Movie Night –
MOVIE ~ SAUL & RUBY’S HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR BAND

7:00pm Havdalah
7:30pm Movie
9:00pm Reconvene for cocktails & conversation

click here for full flyer

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Book Review via Zoom
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Sunday, September 13, 2020 11:00am

In “How to be an Antiracist, Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of anti- racist ideas – from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities – that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.”
Join us as we explore the ideas brought forward in this timely book. We will consider how it speaks to us as individuals and as members of the Jewish community.

Click for the complete flyer
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Join us for a Book Review via Zoom
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020 at 7:00 PM

“A Backpack, A Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka” : A Memoir by Lev Golinkin

Being reading today and join the conversation. A hilarious and heartbreaking story of a Jewish family’s escape from oppression. In these days of isolation, let us feel an uplift from this family’s determination.

Click here for a complete flyer

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CBI’s 2nd Annual Book Discussion
Sunday, January 5, 2020

Learning from the Germans: Race and the memory of Evil By Susan Neiman

Come to discuss the book together
Breakfast at 9:30am – Discussion at 10:00 am

Copies of the book are available at CBI to borrow. There is also an audio version, and libraries have copies to loan.

RSVP by 12/31 to Amy, call:978-474-0540 or email:amy@bethisraelmv.org

Click here for the full flyer

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