Jewish University 2024

Breakout Session Options

Timing: 9:30am-10:30am

Title:My Story: From Convert to Rabbi

Speaker: Rabbi Margie Cella

Description: Rabbi Margie Cella describes the harrowing story of the spiritual quest that led from a Protestant upbringing to the decision to convert to Judaism, together with her husband and young children. A strong commitment to her adopted faith inspired her to become deeply involved in synagogue life and ultimately study at the Jewish Theological Seminary culminating in rabbinic ordination in 2019. Her story is at once cautionary and inspiring. Rabbi Cella will also discuss her newly published book, Hindsight is 2020: Torah Lessons from a Turbulent Time.  

Title: A Rabbi at Gettysburg: "’German Jews’, the Civil War, and the American Rabbinate

Speaker: Rabbi Joseph Topek

Description:Rabbi Ferdinand Sarner was a somewhat controversial figure who was one of three rabbis who served as chaplains in the Union Army during the American Civil War. His experience reveals important aspects of the experience of Jewish immigrants from Central Europe ("German" Jews) during the Civil War and in 19th century America as well as the nascent American rabbinate.

Title: Through a Jewish Lens: Mental Health & Wellness

Speaker: Rabbi Joshua Gray

Description: This session will focus on understanding mental health as a continuum of wellness, and how this important aspect is so vital to the wellbeing of a whole person. It will examine mental health in terms of prevalence rates and impact, signs and symptoms, how to engage in true self-care (“Im ein ani li mi li-If I am not for myself; who will be for me?”- R. Hillel) and help someone in need. Rabbi Gray, a trained mental health expert, will also tackle the important issue of historical trauma, which is written into the Jewish experience. This discussion will be given from a uniquely Jewish perspective, combining love of Judaism and Torah with love of our fellow human (is there truly any difference?). Rabbi Gray will tackle these issues using Torah, Tanakh, Talmud, Mishnah, the thoughts of great Jewish thinkers and Chazal (our great Sages). Join in the learning and conversation.

Timing: 10:45am-11:45am

Breakout Session Options

Title: The Evolution of Elie Wiesel

Speaker:Joseph Berger, Wiesel biographer and former award-winning New York Times reporter

Description: As an orphaned survivor and witness to Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel became a torchbearer for victims and survivors of the Holocaust at a time when the world preferred to forget. How did this frail, soft-spoken man from a small village in the Carpathians become such an influential presence on the world stage? Using Wiesel’s writings and interviews with his family, close friends, scholars, and critics, former New York Times reporter and Wiesel biographer Joseph Berger presents Wiesel as both revered Nobel laureate and man of complex psychological contradictions. Berger explores Wiesel’s Hasidic childhood in Sighet, his postwar years as a teenage orphan in France, his transformation into a Parisian intellectual, his fumbling attempts at romance, his hungry years scraping together a living in America as a working journalist, his emergence as a spokesperson for Holocaust survivors, and his difficult final years.

Title: Queen Helena of Jerusalem

Speaker: Dr. Sarit Kattan Gribetz, JTS Fellow, Associate Professor of Classical Judaism at Fordham University and the Co-Director of Fordham’s Center for Jewish Studies

Description:According to the first-century historian Josephus Flavius, Queen Helena of Adiabene traveled from northern Mesopotamia to Jerusalem because she loved the Jewish God and wished to worship in the temple. Helena became a beloved patron of Jerusalem, feeding its residents during famine and erecting monumental buildings, including a palace and a mausoleum. Late antique rabbinic and Christian writings continued to tell her story. But, by the medieval period, she was remembered as queen of Jerusalem during the life of Jesus and the adjudicator between Judaism and Christianity. How did Helena of Adiabene become queen of Jerusalem – and why? This session will explore her legacy and how she helps us think about the transmission of traditions, the construction of memory, interreligious relations, and the history of Jerusalem.

Title: How We Got Here: The History of Antisemitism and Intolerance on Long Island

Speaker: Dr. Alan Singer, Hofstra University

Description: Since the initial Dutch settlement on the west end of Long Island and the British settlement on the east end, antisemitism, anti-immigrant nativism, and racism have been active forces in Long Island history. Peter Stuyvesant tried to block Jews from settling in New Amsterdam. Slavery was introduced on Shelter Island in 1654. In the 1920s, a resurgent Ku Klux Klan on Long Island targeted immigrants and Jews. In the 1930s there was a strong Nazi movement on Long Island. In the 1980s, there was a wave of antisemitic graffiti not unlike what we see today. This session will explore what lessons we can learn by putting the present in the context of the past.

Timing: 12:00pm-1:30pm

Title: What’s Next for Israel? The Future of Peace and War in the Mideast

Speaker: Dennis Ross

Description:In the light of Hamas’s unprecedented, multi-faceted, and sustained assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip, there has been growing concern of a widespread, regional conflict involving many of Israel’s neighbors and a larger question of the future of Israel and Gaza.

Breakout Session Options

Timing: 2:45pm-3:45pm

Title: 101 Notable Long Island Jews: Do You Know Who They Are?

Speaker: Brad Kolodny

Description: Brad Kolodny, president of the Jewish Historical Society of Long Island, will present the stories of "101 Notable Jewish Long Islanders.” Test your knowledge through an interactive quiz about the famous and not so-well-known Long Island Jews who have made a major impact in arts and entertainment, science, fashion, sports, the media, and the military. This presentation is guaranteed to surprise and enlighten you--and boost your quotient of Long Island pride.

Title: On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao

Speaker: Rabbi Deborah Prinz

Description:Rabbi Deborah Prinz draws from her world travels on the trail of chocolate to unwrap the role of Jews in the trade, manufacture, sale, and consumption of chocolate since the first European contact with cacao. In several cases, early Jewish chocolate traders and manufacturers were major leaders of their communities. Explore the surprising Jewish connections to chocolate in this gastronomic adventure sure to delight chocoholics. The next time you pick up a piece of chocolate, consider that you are partaking in an expedition into the Jewish and religious past.

Title: Beats and Beyond: Diving Into the World of Hip-Hop with Rapper-Jewish Activist Kosha Dillz

Speaker: Kosha Dillz

Description: Kosha Dillz, born Rami Matan Even-Esh, is a well-known rapper and Jewish activist, known for his dynamic contributions to both the music and social justice scenes. Born in Jerusalem and raised in New Jersey, his unique background has fueled his passion for activism, particularly in fighting against antisemitism on social media and in the streets of New York City. Listen to his music and experience his story.

Timing: 4:00pm - 4:45pm

Title: Why Do People Hate Jews and Will Antisemitism Ever End?

Speaker: Kenneth Stern

Description: With a new wave of antisemitism sweeping the nation, particularly on college campuses, this special plenary session will take a deep look into the historical contexts of antisemitism and anti-Zionism, modern manifestations, and what the future may hold. Kenneth Stern will give an overview of his own decades-long experience and the work and research of the Bard Center on hate in general, and on antisemitism in particular, followed by a panel discussion.