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.
25th Annual CSP Scholar in Residence featuring Professor Jonathan D. Sarna
Sunday Series: January 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) live on Zoom
“Jewish Settlement in North America & the Importance of Mobility”
Join us as we explore how American Jewish life has been built, rebuilt, uprooted, and re-rooted over 250+ years, tracing a story of mobility, reinvention, and opportunity from colonial port cities to today’s suburbs and Sunbelt hubs. On January 4, Pioneers and Port Cities looks at the Sephardic and Ashkenazic families who first established communities in Charleston, Savannah, Newport, New York, and Philadelphia, and how they navigated religious freedom, mercantile networks, early institutions, and legal rights in a Protestant-dominated society; on January 11, Expansion and Upheaval follows the period from the Revolution through the Gilded Age, including Jewish participation in the Revolution, German Jewish migration and economic ascent, Civil War complexities, and the rise of philanthropy and national Jewish organizations; on January 18, From the Lower East Side to Main Street explores mass Eastern European immigration (1880–1924), urban growth, labor and tenement life, the flowering of Yiddish culture, and the push west and south to places like Boston and beyond; and on January 25, From Suburbia to Sunbelt surveys 1924–2024—immigration restriction, postwar suburbanization, the rise of new Jewish centers outside major cities, the growth of communities in Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Boca Raton, Austin and more, and what American Jewish mobility may tell us about the next chapter ahead. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
Tuesday Series: January 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th 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)
“Faith & Freedom: The Transformation of Judaism in America”
In America, Judaism became more diverse, more democratic, and more inventive than in any other diaspora community. This series examines how Jewish religious life adapted—sometimes dramatically—to the freedoms and pressures of American society.
January 6th: Colonial Beginnings: The First American Jews and Their Communities
January 13th: The Protestanization of American Judaism
January 20th: Suburbia, Social Change & Spiritual Shifts: The Fight to Keep Jews Jewish
January 27th: Post-WWII Judaism: Modern Movements & Spiritual Innovation
Thursay Series: January 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) live on Zoom
“From the Sidelines to the Ballot Box: the Political Evolution of American Jews”
American Jews went from a cautious, politically invisible minority to one of the most influential political communities in the country, and this four-part series traces the surprising—and often dramatic—story of that transformation. On January 8, Reluctant Citizens explores Jewish political neutrality in colonial America and the early republic, including fears of standing out, backlash, and accusations of dual loyalty, alongside the emergence of the first Jewish voters, litigants, and officeholders; on January 15, Union, Reconstruction & the Gilded Age (1840–1914) examines Jewish combatants and chaplains in the Civil War, General Grant’s Order No. 11 and its aftermath, and the growth of Jewish advocacy amid civil-rights and immigration debates; on January 22, From Eugene V. Debs to Lyndon Johnson follows the rise of Jewish progressive politics shaped by immigrant experience, labor activism, the New Deal coalition, and Jewish leadership in law, civil rights, and national political organizations; and on January 29, A House Divided surveys Jewish politics since the 1960s—realignment, Israel and social issues, the emergence of a growing Republican wing, generational divides and identity politics, and what 2026 might reveal about the next era of Jewish American political life. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE UPCOMING SESSIONS IN JANUARY 2026
