The Jewish Community Scholars Program began in 2001 in Orange County California to provide high level adult Jewish education. Technology has given CSP a global reach with partner synagogues in Israel, Europe and all of North America. As a partner synagogue, Temple Israel members have access to CJP’s vast array of live presentations from top notch scholars. CSP also has an extensive archive of past programs on You Tube.
Tuesday, November 4th from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) live on Zoom from Los Angeles, CA
“Between Documentation, Loss and Memory: Israeli Photography After Rabin’s Assassination” led by Dr. Rotem Rozental
The mid-1990s in Israel were tumultuous. The rapid pace of events, from suicide bombings to the Oslo accords, meant a tectonic shift was underway. Photojournalists and visual artists were capturing and recording the events, processing them and the changes they meant for Israeli society in real time. On November 4, 1995, after months of protests, civil unrest, and public rituals yearning for his death, a domestic terrorist assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. This lecture observes how that moment and its national aftermath were portrayed by photographers, documentarians and the media, observing how they tried to process the unthinkable and understand its meanings for Israeli society. We will also discuss the relationship between Israel’s photographic histories and how documentary perspectives were and are vital for Israel’s national imaginary. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
Thursday, November 6th from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) live on Zoom from London, UK
“The Extraordinary Story of ‘Hester Street’” led by Dr. Julia Wagner
Marking the 50th anniversary of Joan Micklin Silver’s groundbreaking 1975 debut, Hester Street, this session with Dr. Julia Wagner explores how the film transformed Jewish American cinema and carved out a new space for women in the industry. A trailblazing Yiddish, feminist work that defied expectations and became an international hit, Hester Street vividly captures the immigrant experience through Gitl (Carol Kane, in an Academy Award–nominated performance) as she arrives from Eastern Europe to New York’s Lower East Side in 1896, confronting the challenges of assimilation and identity. Dr. Wagner will uncover the film’s rich layers of Yiddish culture, offering fresh insights into an under-appreciated classic, drawing from her book Hester Street (BFI Film Classics/Bloomsbury, 2025), the first to focus exclusively on Micklin Silver’s work. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
Sundays, November 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) live on Zoom from Poughkeepsie, NY
“Judaism: The Big Questions” led by Professor Marc Michael Epstein
Prof. Marc Michael Epstein returns for a five-part, exclusive CSP series that tackles Judaism’s most urgent, perennial questions—rooted in deep tradition, framed for today’s seekers. Across five Sunday sessions, we’ll probe: Nov 2nd – The Monotheism Question (are Jews really monotheistic, and what does “real” monotheism mean?); Nov 9th – The Prophecy Question (who speaks for God—and who decides?); Nov 16th – The Land Question (why the Promised Land is both anchor and flashpoint); Nov 23rd – The Rationalism Question (how far reason can stretch when it meets mysticism); and Nov 30th – The Gender & Sex Question (reconciling ancient texts with contemporary understandings). Come to wrestle, question, and discover—together. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
Tuesday, November 2nd, 11th from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) live on Zoom from New Orleans
“Seeing into the Life of Things: Imagination and the Sacred Encounter” led by Rodger Kamenetz
In this author presentation, Rodger Kamenetz invites us on an exhilarating journey that weaves together poetry, personal experience, and spiritual exploration. Drawing from his new work Seeing into the Life of Things, Kamenetz reveals how imagination itself can be a natural spiritual path. From the rhythms of his native New Orleans to his friendship with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, visionary founder of Jewish Renewal, Kamenetz connects everyday life with the deepest spiritual longings. In his talk Rodger will teach a simple but powerful blessing visualization practice from his new book that he integrates with the morning Jewish gratitude prayer modeh/modah ani, a way to cultivate resilience in difficult times. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
Thursdays, November 13th, 20th & Tuesday, December 2nd from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) live on Zoom from London, UK
“Shakespeare and the Jews” led by Dr. Aviva Dautch
Join us at CSP for a new three-part series with Dr. Aviva Dautch, exploring Shakespeare through a Jewish lens—history, geography, and biography. Together we’ll revisit The Merchant of Venice in light of fresh archival discoveries, map London’s Jewish landscape in Shakespeare’s time, and consider the case for Emilia Bassano Lanier as the “Dark Lady.” Come learn, question, and discover how these stories reshape what we think we know about Shakespeare—and about ourselves. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
Tuesday November 18th from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) live on Zoom from Tel Aviv, Israel
“In-Between Notes: Geography, Culture, & the Shaping of Israeli Music” led by Yael Cherni
What defines Israeli music? Is there a truly local sound shaped by geography, history, and cultural fusion? How have Arabic and Middle Eastern aesthetics influenced what we now call classical music, Israeli rock and pop? In this session, Yael Cherni explores these questions and traces the complex musical dialogue between East and West that has influenced Israel’s unique sonic identity. Join us for this special one-hour online session in honor of the memory of CSP patron, Bernard “Barney” Gilmore (z”l), beloved Professor of Music at UC Irvine. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
Tuesday, October 28th, November 25th & December 30 from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) live on Zoom from New York (members only series)
“Survival and Renewal: The Modern Jewish Story of Rome” led by Dr. Samuel Gruber
Following our recent three-part exploration of the Jews of Rome from antiquity through the era of the Ghetto, Dr. Gruber returns to guide us into the next, equally dramatic chapter of this community’s story. In our new three-part series, we will trace the journey of Roman Jewry from the 19th century to the present, a period marked by seismic change and reinvention. From the fall of the Ghetto walls in 1870 and the opportunities and challenges of emancipation, through the rise of Fascism and the devastating impact of the Holocaust, to the difficult but determined postwar efforts at renewal, remembrance, and cultural preservation, we will explore how one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities adapted, endured, and reshaped its identity in the face of modern upheaval. Along the way, we will encounter voices of resilience, creativity, and leadership that illuminate not only the history of Rome’s Jews, but also broader questions of Jewish belonging, survival, and continuity in the modern world. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
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