LimmudFest Nola 2023: Full Schedule

LimmudFest is back in person for a weekend of celebrating, learning, and doing Jewish.

LimmudFest New Orleans is a weekend festival of Jewish learning, arts, culture and spirituality featuring 70+ sessions from local, regional and national presenters. It is part of a global movement inspired by the idea that when Jews from diverse backgrounds come together to celebrate and learn about everything and anything Jewish, the entire community is enriched.

Please note that the individual sessions have not yet been allotted time slots so the scheduled times are
not accurate.

To register, please paste this link into your browser to go to our Eventbrite registration page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/limmudfest-new-orleans-2023-tickets-501264374237

6:00pm CDT

Registration

Friday March 17, 2023 6:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Congregation Gates of Prayer

6:45pm CDT

Candlelighting

Friday March 17, 2023 6:45pm - 7:00pm CDT
Congregation Gates of Prayer

7:00pm CDT

Conservative Shabbat Kabbalat Service

Friday March 17, 2023 7:00pm - 7:45pm CDT

7:00pm CDT

Alternative Shabbat Kabbalat Service

Friday March 17, 2023 7:00pm - 8:00pm CDT
Congregation Gates of Prayer

7:00pm CDT

Orthodox Shabbat Kabbalat Service

Friday March 17, 2023 7:00pm - 8:00pm CDT
Congregation Gates of Prayer

7:00pm CDT

Reform Shabbat Kabbalat Service

Friday March 17, 2023 7:00pm - 8:00pm CDT
Congregation Gates of Prayer

8:00pm CDT

Shabbat Dinner

Friday March 17, 2023 8:00pm - 9:00pm CDT
Congregation Gates of Prayer

9:00pm CDT

Shabbat Tisch

End the Shabbat meal with a tisch, the Yiddish word for table; we will gather together, telling jokes, sharing stories, and even singing.

Friday March 17, 2023 9:00pm - 9:30pm CDT
Congregation Gates of Prayer

TBA

Conservative Shabbat Morning Service

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

TBA

Havdalah and Melavah Malkah

The beauty and the richness of Shabbat can be so sweet that it is difficult to see it come to an end. The symbols of the Havdallah ritual engage our senses and help us acknowledge the transitional time between Shabbat and the rest of the week. This will be followed by music and songs of the Melavah Malkah, capturing the spirit of joy and optimism for the future and its possibilities. Soulful songs will be offered by

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

TBA

Metivta-Style Meditative Shabbat Service

This week's Torah double portion, Vayakel-Pekudi, describes the generosity and creativity of the Israelites as they built the Mishkan as the place for YHVH to dwell. In this service, we build our inner Mishkan, as we use short chants derived from the morning service to structure moments of silent meditation as we deepen our intimacy with the prayers and Torah of Shabbat.

Speakers

Anne Brener

Rabbi Anne Brener, a native New Orleanian, is a psychotherapist, spiritual director, and author of Mourning & Mitzvah: Walking the Mourner’s Path (Jewish Lights, 1993 & 2001). Ordained as a Reform rabbi, she is professor of Ritual and Human Development at the Academy for Jewish... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

TBA

Orthodox Shabbat Morning Service

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

TBA

Reform Shabbat Morning Service

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

TBA

Seudah Shlishit: The Third Shabbat Meal

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

TBA

Join the Brand-New LimmudFest Choir, the Lyrical Limmudniks

Do you just love to sing? Do you catch yourself harmonizing during Shabbat services? Come join the LimmudFest Choir and show off those vocal cords! Learn contemporary and traditional Jewish pieces to perform for the community on the final day of Limmud. No singing experience necessary, just a love for singing and an open-mindedness to collaborate.

Speakers

Jordan Lawrence

Jordan Lawrence is the Cantorial Soloist and Director of Family Engagement at Congregation Gates of Prayer. She finds deep connections with people of all ages through meaningful conversation, Jewish practice, and music. Jordan has a rich background in musical theater and Israeli dancing... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Arts and Culture, Music

about Jordan Lawrence is the Cantorial Soloist and Director of Family Engagement at Congregation Gates of Prayer. She finds deep connections with people of all ages through meaningful conversation, Jewish practice, and music. Jordan has a rich background in musical theater and Israeli dancing. She prides herself on her ability to adapt her teaching and leading styles to any group of people and uses her quick wit to understand the in-the-moment wants and needs of the people she has the privilege of working with. She is honored to be able to share her love of Judaism and music with the community.

TBA

Laughter, Tears, Curtain: A Yiddish Theatre Workshop

This is Adar, the month of purim-shpiln, the biblical-themed, ragtag, tragicomic performances that gave rise to the Yiddish theatre — so let's put on a little Yiddish play! We will examine some of the history of Yiddish theatre as an art form and then put the art into practice by studying and workshopping a scene from an actual historic Yiddish play on the theme of akeydes-yitskhok (the binding of Isaac). We will "brekhn di tseyn" (break our teeth) on the language together, learning to sound it out and understand it, and then work on staging parts of the drama in groups. No Yiddish or theatrical background necessary — we will simply shpil (play) together, as the best purim-shpilers do!

Speakers

Mikhl Yashinsky

Actor-singer, director, playwright, and Yiddishist, Mikhl Yashinsky (he/him) was born in Detroit, educated at Harvard, and now lives in Manhattan. With the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, he performed in the Yiddish-language Fiddler on the Roof (dir. Joel Grey), and in The Sorceress... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Arts and Culture

TBA

The Missing Jew: READING AND DISCUSSION

A truly Jewish poetry begins in silence, as the psalmist says, 'To You silence is praise." And then so many words follow. The poetic impulse, the impulse to name the silence, is at the secret core of Jewish life, for the Torah is one long poem full of names of God. The Missing Jew represents nearly fifty years of my work in poetry, it is the book that brought me to Louisiana to teach at LSU. Themes of exile, immigration, silence, mysticism, community, sorrow, and joy will lead us to a dialogue from heart to heart.

Speakers

Rodger Kamenetz

Rodger Kamenetz is a proud New Orleans resident, founder of the Jewish Studies minor at LSU, Professor Emeritus of English and Religious Studies, winner of the National Jewish Book Award, author of 15 books of poetry and prose including The Jew in the Lotus, The History of Last Night's... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Arts and Culture

TBA

Meet Herbie Cohen, the World’s Greatest Negotiator

Meet Herbie Cohen, the world’s greatest negotiator, deal maker, risk taker, raconteur, adviser to presidents and corporations, hostage and arms negotiator, lesson giver and justice seeker, author of the how-to business classic You Can Negotiate Anything. And, of course, Rich Cohen’s father. The Adventures of Herbie Cohen follows our hero from his youth spent running around Brooklyn with his pals Sandy Koufax, Larry King, Who Ha, Inky, and Ben the Worrier (many of them members of his Bensonhurst gang, “the Warriors”); to his days coaching basketball in the army in Europe; to his years as a devoted and unconventional husband, father, and freelance guru crossing the country to give lectures, settle disputes, and hone the art of success while finding meaning in this strange, funny world. This book is an ode to a remarkable man by an adoring but not undiscerning son, and a treasure trove of hilarious antics and counterintuitive wisdom. (Some of this stuff you can use at home.) It’s a bildungsroman, a collection of tall tales, the unfolding of a unique biography coiled around Herbie’s great insight and guiding principle: The secret of life is to care, but not that much.

Speakers

Rich Cohen

Tulane University alumnus Rich Cohen is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tough Jews; Monsters; Sweet and Low; When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead (with Jerry Weintraub); The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones; The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse; and The... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

Trends in Contemporary American Jewish Life and How to Respond to Them

The following trends in contemporary American Jewish life are mostly driven by the younger generations: a rise in racial and ethnic diversity and in gender fluidity, increasing socioeconomic diversity, decreasing rates of affiliation with Jewish institutions and increasing rates of do-it-yourself (DIY) Judaism, increasing reliance on social media alongside decreasing reliance on institutional authority (such as clergy or subject matter experts), and increasing anti-Semitism and political tensions (over Israel) on college campuses. How can we redesign organizations and programs to account for these trends? For example, as younger generations come to embrace gender fluidity, how do spaces that are organized around the gender binary (e.g., boys’ and girls’ cabins at summer camp) need to change?

Speakers

Ilana Horwitz

Dr. Ilana Horwitz is an Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Sociology, and the Fields-Rayant Chair of Contemporary Jewish Life at the Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience at Tulane University. Dr. Horwitz’s research has appeared in leading academic and public outlets... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

Learning the Right Lessons: Jewish History from a Reform Perspective

Does it matter whether Abraham existed? What about other elements of our history as described in the Bible? In this hour we will consider the possibility that biblical events and personages may have more meaning for us if they didn’t happen than if they did.

Speakers

Ted Naron

Ted Naron has for seventeen years taught Jewish history in the religious school of Chicago Sinai Congregation, Chicago’s longest-living Reform Jewish congregation. He has also served as a board member and officer of the congregation. Before that, he was a creative director and vice... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

History

TBA

Sam Zemurray: The Fish That Ate the Whale

When Samuel Zemurray arrived in America in 1891, he was tall, gangly, and penniless. When he died in the grandest house in New Orleans 69 years later, he was among the richest, most powerful men in the world. Author Rich Cohen will relate how Zemurray worked as a fruit peddler, a banana hauler, a dockside hustler, and a plantation owner. He battled and conquered the United Fruit Company, becoming a symbol of the best and worst of the United States: proof that America is the land of opportunity, but also a classic example of the corporate pirate who treats foreign nations as the backdrop for his adventures. Zemurray was a hidden kingmaker and capitalist revolutionary, driven by an indomitable will to succeed. Learn how the banana Man, known as El Amigo, the Gringo or simply Z, was instrumental in the emergence of the State of Israel.

Speakers

Rich Cohen

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

History, Southern Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

A ‘Warm Peace’ in the Middle East? Cultural Diplomacy and the Abraham Accords

The US-brokered (2020) Abraham Accords helped deliver unprecedented partnerships and bilateral agreements between Israel, Morocco, Sudan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which include novel cultural, strategic, tech, and economic exchanges. The new, yet rapidly growing Jewish community in Dubai, with more than 3,000 members, as well as synagogues and kosher restaurants, is just one unique marker of what is being termed the “new Middle East.” In this presentation, we will explore ways in which Israel and her regional allies are engaging in cultural diplomacy—like a series of extraordinary musical engagements and exchanges between Israel, the UAE, and Morocco—as they seek to unroot deeply entrenched mistrust between Israelis and Arab populations and encourage people-to-people relations.

Speakers

Eli Sperling

From 2012–2020, Eli served as the Senior Academic Research Coordinator at Emory University’s Institute for the Study of Modern Israel and taught as a guest professor in Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies from 2019–2020. From June 2020-July 2022, Eli served as a Postdoctoral... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Israel

TBA

My Israeli Arab Conflict: A Soldier Recalls. An Observer Reflects. A Citizen Speaks.

Benjamin Anthony, an IDF combat reservist, who served in Judea and Samaria / the West Bank and along Israel’s northern border in several major operations, shares what it is really like to be on the frontlines
just miles from your home and in a war that is everlasting.The IDF has a pledge to fight “morally”: What does that really mean and how can it be achieved? What makes this war different from all others, and how do IDF soldiers regard the enemy? The role of women on the frontlines and how that affects the war zone will also be examined in this thought-provoking session.

Speakers

Benjamin Anthony

As cofounder & CEO of the MirYam Institute, Benjamin Anthony brings considerable experience and expertise to his position in the areas of substantive, policy-driven dialogue and debate about the State of Israel throughout the international community. Of particular note is the advisory... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Israel

TBA

What is Going on in Israeli Electoral Politics?

This presentation will explore the social, political and cultural contexts of recent Israeli elections, her new government, as well as the roots of the domestic political chaos that has catalyzed five national elections in three years. Further, we will explore the basics of the Israeli political system and how it works.

Speakers

Eli Sperling

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Israel

TBA

From the Seder Table to Cafe Du Monde

The seder table is filled with reminders of the slavery of Egypt. Interestingly, Cafe Du Monde (CDM), founded in 1862, also got its start in 19th-century slave days. Is there a link between the institution of CDM and the seder table? Come learn not only what that link is but also how certain ways of survival adopted by our ancestors actually allowed us to mitigate some of the aftereffects of slavery in ways that 19th-century African Americans could only dream of.

Speakers

Scott Hoffman

Rabbi Scott Hoffman is rabbi of Shir Chadash in Metairie. A rabbi for more than thirty years, he has served congregations in the New York, Philadelphia, and the Washington, DC, area. Rabbi Hoffman has served as a nursing home chaplain, hospice chaplain and adjunct professor of Talmud... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Southern Jewish Life, Jewish Holidays

TBA

Leon Godchaux: A New Orleans Legend, His Creole Slave and His Jewish Roots

Peter Wolf will share the fascinating life story of his great-great grandfather, Leon Godchaux who emigrated alone from Alsace-Lorraine to New Orleans in 1837 as a penniless, illiterate, Jewish thirteen-year-old. By the end of his intrigue-filled career, Leon Godchaux was the owner of fourteen plantations, the most productive and scientifically advanced sugar producer, and the largest taxpayer in the state – the acknowledged “Sugar King of Louisiana.” He refused to enter the sugar business until slavery ended, and his economic rise was enabled by two Black men. Unsympathetic to the Lost Cause, caught up in the Civil War, and negotiating through Reconstruction and Jim Crow, he was also able to build a retail, wholesale. and manufacturing clothing empire and gained a new nickname, the "Duke of Clothing.”

Speakers

Peter M. Wolf

Peter Wolf, a fifth-generation New Orleans native, is the Sugar King, Leon Godchaux's great-great grandson. He is an award-winning author whose memoir, My New Orleans Gone Away, reached the New York Times e-book Best Seller list. Previous books such as Land in America, Hot Towns... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Southern Jewish Life

TBA

Jewish Meditation: Building the Temple Within

How is Jewish Meditation different from all other meditation? We will explore the vocabulary of Jewish spirituality and engage in meditation techniques based on ancient and modern wisdom. The practices, designed to open our inner world, further our self-knowledge and allow us to become channels to bring compassion, lovingkindness, and peace into the world. In addition, we develop our capacity to root ourselves in the Divine Presence as we walk through our days.

Speakers

Anne Brener

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Spirituality

TBA

"Enigma of the Torah": A Play

Enigma of the Torah is a play about a group of Jews who study Torah every Shabbat morning. Through their study of the Torah, the characters express their Jewishness, contemporary issues, and personal conflicts. The play, written by two Jewish Torah Study participants after years of observation, is at times funny, at times sad, at times contentious, and always on target. Through Torah study, the characters discover their own personal enigmas, The presentation at Limmud consists of a selected portion of the play, which is dedicated to the late members of the playwrights' Torah Study group. The full play is scheduled to be presented on April 12, 2023, at the Marigny Opera House .

Speakers

Penny Bright

Penny Bright is a retired professor of virology. She has many interests including music, writing and fighting the climate crisis. She has been an active participant in Torah Study for decades.

Helen Stone

Helen Stone is a retired social worker with a bachelor's degree in music and bachelor's and master's degrees in sociology. She is a past co-president of Hadassah and currently is in charge of its book group, the Readers CIrcle. She has 46 years of training in Shotokan Japanese ka... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Text and Thought

TBA

Adam and Adamah, Dust and Home

What does our creation story tell us about what it means to be a human and the "children of Adam"? What does it mean that we are made of the dust of the earth? We will explore a verse from Genesis, medieval commentary, and modern writings on the idea of home using paired study and whole class discussion. All are welcome.

Speakers

Shamu Sadeh

Shamu teaches about Judaism and ecology; cares for chickens, goats, and orchards; and schlepps a lot of compost. He is the co-founder of the Adamah Farm and Fellowship at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center and lives there with his wife and three kids.

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Text and Thought

TBA

From Biblical Apocalypse to US Foreign Policy In Jerusalem

This session will explore biblical texts that discuss the apocalypse, proposing that Evangelical Christian interpretations of these texts have a significant influence on US foreign policy. Careful readings of the biblical books of Job, Second Zechariah, and other often-overlooked texts will help explain current policy towards Israel, the Palestinians, and other regional powers.

Speakers

Jason Gaines

Jason Gaines, PhD, is a professor of Hebrew Bible at Tulane University, where he is also Undergraduate Director of Jewish Studies. He is co-chair of Jewish Pride New Orleans, an LGBTQ social action organization.

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Text and Thought, Israel

TBA

The Mystery of Good and Evil

In this session we will problem of understanding good and evil human behavior in the context of crisis situations like the Holocaust and the civil war in the former Yugoslavia and Biafra, using a short play I wrote, 2051, as a point of departure.

Speakers

Barry Ivker

Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. B.A. in English from Univ. of Pennsylvania, M.A, & Ph.D.in Comparative Literature, with a minor in Jewish studies from Indiana Univ. M.S,W. from Tulane Univ. Taught at Indiana, Butler, Dillard, Xavier universities, LSU Med. School. In private... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Text and Thought

TBA

Tempos & Tunes for the Tatteles

Kids, sing your heart out, get moving and have tons of fun in this music and movement class . Learn some camp favorites, get silly, and make some music together!

Speakers

Jordan Lawrence

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Young Limmud

TBA

Tot Shabbat

Join Carla Friend for a participatory, musical Shabbat experience filled with singing, movement, stories, puppets, parachute, and more. This is best for children ages 0-5 and their families--all are welcome!

Speakers

Carla Friend

Carla Friend is the founder & executive director of Tkiya, an nonprofit organization that uses participatory music experiences to help thousands of families find their unique connection with Jewish culture and community through Carla’s educational approach. She is a 2018 recipient... Read More →

Saturday March 18, 2023 TBA
Congregation Gates of Prayer

Young Limmud

11:45am CDT

Shabbat Lunch for Everyone

Saturday March 18, 2023 11:45am - 12:45pm CDT
Congregation Gates of Prayer

TBA

"You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught": Tikkun Olam and the American Musical Theater

Through images, words and music, this session will explore the relationship between Tikkun Olam (repair of the world) and American musical theater: musicals for the Broadway stage written by Jewish composers from the 1920s to the present day. Broadway musicals have for many years instructed, taught, and made audiences think in a way that can lead to a better and more compassionate understanding of the world around us. This program will begin with the ground-breaking work of Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Lerner and Loewe, and Harold Rome. More contemporary musicals such as Falsettos and Dear Evan Hansen will also be covered.

Speakers

George Dansker

George Dansker, a long-time New Orleans resident, is a retired reference librarian and noted Broadway historian. George has presented the popular Jewish Composer Lecture Series at Touro Synagogue since 2009. He has also lectured for BroadwayCon, NOCCA, Tulane University, the New Orleans... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Arts and Culture, Music

TBA

Ben Jaffe: My Life in Music

Ben Jaffe, the son of the founders of Preservation Hall, has carried on in his parents' spirit as Creative Director and bass player at Preservation Hall. He has spent his life traversing the world, performing in front of audiences worldwide and collaborating with artists from all walks of life. Born and raised in the cradle of New Orleans Music, Ben has seen, heard, and lived it all. According to Ben, "What I’ve learned through our collaborations and travels is, in the words of Charlie Gabriel, 'musical conversation really does cancel out complications.'”

Speakers

Ben Jaffe

As a son of co-founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe, Ben has lived his whole life with the rhythm of the French Quarter pulsing through his veins. Raised in the company of New Orleans’ greatest musicians, Ben returned from his collegiate education at Oberlin College in Ohio to play with... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Arts and Culture, Southern Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

Israel Zangwill's *The Melting-Pot* (1908): The Play that Tried to Change History

The term "the melting pot" has been a controversial description of America's immigrant culture for more than a century, often associated with a supposed ideal of assimilation that has been both praised and criticized since it first appeared in a play by the Jewish writer Israel Zangwill. Jewish commentators in particular saw in *The Melting-Pot* (1908) both an unfortunate advocacy of intermarriage and the surprising elevation of an American ideal in a work by a leading Jewish nationalist. This illustrated talk examines the play itself, its historical context, and the controversies it evoked to get a greater understanding of Zangwill’s goals in promoting America as a welcoming home for the Jews of Europe. It also considers why, although communal leaders balked at the play’s content, Jewish immigrant audiences flocked to see the play and appreciated its depiction of their lives and their new home.

Speakers

Meri-Jane Rochelson

Meri-Jane Rochelson is Professor Emerita of English at Florida International University, affiliated with FIU’s programs in Jewish Studies and Women's and Gender Studies. She is the author of A Jew in the Public Arena: The Career of Israel Zangwill (2008), and has published editions... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Arts and Culture, History

TBA

Music of the Middle Eastern Jewish Diaspora

Not many in in the American Jewish community are familiar with the rich culture of the Middle Eastern Jewish diaspora and its effect on Israeli culture. By exploring the music of this culture we can learn about the story of this diaspora, its descendants, and its influences on modern Israeli and Jewish culture. This session will combine a live music performance (of me playing guitar and singing), a brief presentation, and my personal story as a Middle Eastern Israeli Jewish musician. I hope to teach you something new or at the very least offer a new perspective.

Speakers

Or Shovaly

Or Shovaly was born and raised in the suburbs of Tel Aviv to a Jewish family descended from Yemen. He started playing guitar at the age of 10 and ended up moving to New Orleans in 2014 to study at UNO’s jazz program and pursue a musical career. These days Or gives private guitar... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Arts and Culture, Music

TBA

Quilting Identity

Quilts are often held up as a way women who lacked education or leisure time stitched stories to pass along to the next generation. While some scholars have argued that the paucity of quilts among Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the 1880-1920s indicates Jews didn’t quilt, quilts were important to Jewish American life in the 1840s-1880s. Throughout this era, American Jewish women used the album and crazy quilts to repair relationships torn by war, travel, and distance. Moreover, the rise of Jewish sewing circles meant sewing was often a community-building rite. In this hands-on workshop we will look at how one particular Jewish album quilt from the 1850s can help us understand the lives and aesthetic experiences of early Jewish women who didn’t leave written records.

Speakers

Laura Arnold Leibman

Laura Arnold Leibman is Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College, VP of Program (Association of Jewish Studies), and the author of The Art of the Jewish Family: A History of Women in Early New York in Five Objects (Bard Graduate Center, 2020) which won three National Jewish... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Arts and Culture, Hands-On Workshops

TBA

The Israeli "Second-Generation" in Literature and Film

In this session, we will explore how children of Holocaust survivors in Israel relate in different ways to Holocaust memory. We will view some clips from the film Aviya's Summer (1988), a short prose piece by the second-generation Israeli writer Leah Aini and will discuss a short story called "Shoes" by the second-generation Israeli writer Etgar Keret.

Speakers

Golan Moskowitz

Golan Moskowitz is an assistant professor of Jewish Studies at Tulane University

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Arts and Culture

TBA

Antisemitism and Racism in Sports: Can Jewish and African American Athletes and Leaders Effectively Combat It?"

This timely and important session will involve dialogue with two local community leaders, David Hammer and Arnie Fielkow, both with sports backgrounds, who will discuss recent events involving prominent celebrities and athletes who have made disturbing antisemitic and bigoted remarks. David and Arnie will also be featuring a national guest who can weigh in on this topic. Please join us for what undoubtedly will be a very lively discussion.

Speakers

Arnie Fielkow

David Hammer

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

Infertility: Ancient Curse, Modern Blessings

The Torah and Jewish textual sources are replete with references to human fertility, conception, childbirth, and pointedly, the lack thereof. During this session, participants have an opportunity to read and discuss the topic as presented in selected ancient narratives and recent commentary and compare those with contemporary human experiences of infertility. The impact of modern medical technologies will also be discussed. In many ways, the knowledge of modern science seems to highlight the brilliance of and integrate well with the references in the Torah of fertility/infertility. The human experiences seem surprisingly familiar through the millennia.

Speakers

Barry Ripps

Barry A. Ripps, MD graduated from Vanderbilt University, School of Engineering with honors and received a medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. Residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

Jewish Bioethics During a Pandemic

Many bioethical issues that once seemed hypothetical were very real during the height of the pandemic. How do we distribute limited resources? When we run out of vital supplies, space, staff, or equipment, what criteria may we ethically use to distribute scarce resources? Do we assign a higher value to some lives? When we don’t have enough, do we use an algorithm based on medical criteria alone or a simple lottery ir consider social value? Add to this a variety of vaccine bioethical questions. How do we distribute vaccines when they are scarce? How do we deal with the vaccine-resistant when they put the rest of us at risk? What do our sacred texts tell us about such decisions? We will look at how Jewish sources--biblical, rabbinic, and modern--would have us address ethically difficult decisions.

Speakers

Gary Gerson

Rabbi Gary S. Gerson served as Senior Rabbi of Oak Park Temple B’nai Abraham Zion in the Chicago suburbs from 1979 to 2009. As Rabbi Emeritus, he teaches courses in Jewish text, Kabbalah, Jewish thought, and comparative religion. A Fulbright scholar and Adjunct Faculty at Loyola... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

Orthodox Women and the Rabbinate: An Unfolding Journey

Women in the Orthodox rabbinate is an ever-changing and ever-evolving process of history in the making. Although Orthodox women have been in leadership roles for centuries, the role of women in the Orthodox rabbinate is unique . In this session we will explore women's journey toward the Orthodox rabbinate.

Speakers

Lila Kagedan

Rabbi Lila Kagedan is a clergy-person, clinical ethicist, licensed mediator and educator working in academic, pastoral and clinical settings. She is the first Orthodox woman to claim the title Rabbi. Until recently she served as the rabbi of the Walnut St. Synagogue in Massachuse... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

Reporting Live from Yiddishland

This is a dispatch from 21st-century Yiddishland, a borderless country where the language lives and thrives and attracts new talents, new learners — and even new words — all the time. What is the place of Yiddish today, and how are its contemporary speakers playing with the language? This session will look into new Yiddish plays, music videos, books, and even memes. Mikhl,, a Yiddish cultural activist and artist in New York, will present on some of his own new works, as well as those of others in this international language community. Ober genug geredt, but enough said! Come and experience it for yourself — and maybe be ready to fashion a Yiddish neologism of your own.

Speakers

Mikhl Yashinsky

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity, Arts and Culture

TBA

Reporting Live from Yiddishland

This is a dispatch from 21st-century Yiddishland, a borderless country where the language lives and thrives and attracts new talents, new learners — and even new words — all the time. What is the place of Yiddish today, and how are its contemporary speakers playing with the language? We will look into new Yiddish plays, music videos, books, even memes. Mikhi, a Yiddish cultural activist and artist in New York, will present on some of his own new works, as well as those of others in this international language community. Ober genug geredt, but enough said! Come and experience it for yourself — and maybe be ready to fashion a Yiddish neologism of your own.

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

Reproductive Health and Rights in the United States and Abroad: How Jewish Women Have and Continue to Make a Difference

Roe v Wade has been overturned, and the right and access to an abortion has been lost in many states. While some countries, like Rwanda and Ethiopia, are liberalizing family planning and abortion, basic rights for women in the United States are being taken away. Join Tamara Kreinin to discuss the well-being of women and girls globally and in the United States -- from the 214 million women around the world who want contraception and can't get it to the 37,000 girls who are married each day and taken from their childhoods. Kreinin will then take us back to Louisiana and discuss how we can each make a difference for individual women, as well as improve the systems that do not protect them. Core to Tamara's own activism are values grounded in tikkun olam and fundamental Jewish views of the world.

Speakers

Tamara Kreinin

Tamara Kreinin joined the Packard Foundation in 2012 as director of the Population and Reproductive Health program after serving as the executive director of women and population at the United Nations Foundation; there she designed and implemented initiatives to improve life for women... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

When Is Someone Really Dead?

Newer approaches to organ donation raise significant questions about our definitions of death. This session will discuss whether or not brain death is really death and the newer DCD (donation after cardiac death). In this scenario death is not declared until organ harvest is just about to begin. There are serious ethical questions about DCD. We will address Jewish approaches to when live begins and when it ends.

Speakers

Carol Gerson

Dr. Gerson is a retired pediatric otolaryngologist and an active mohelet with a doctorate in bioethics. She is a faculty member of the medical schools of Northwestern and Tulane universities.

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity

TBA

Storytime Yoga

Join us for family yoga with Jewish stories as our guide for movement!

Speakers

Chelsea Hylton

Chelsea Hylton is the Director of the Sherry and Alan Leventhal Center for Interfaith Families. As a partner in an interfaith marriage and as a new parent raising a child in the Jewish community, she feels deeply connected to the initiative of the Leventhal Center. In 2016 she founded... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Family, Young Limmud

TBA

The Kids Are All Kids

In this session, public educator Leah Krandel explores what it means to treat kids like kids, even when it's hard. From her one year-old's propensity for biting to her teenage students who engage in violent crime, Leah will discuss what's challenging about supporting children through tough moments and how she uses the science of brain development, trauma research, and tenets of Judaism to inform a compassionate response.

Speakers

Leah Krandel

Leah Krandel is a social worker, educator, and social justice activist who has called New Orleans home for the past 10 years. She is a proud mama, an avid reader, and a big fan of the podcast "Dolly Parton's America."

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA

Family, Parenting

TBA

Get Up and Dance like an Israeli!

Ready to shake your tuchus? Israeli folk dance has been around since the First Aliyah and continues to develop and remain popular today. Come learn dances new and old, embrace traditional and modern Israeli music, and get ready to schvitz! All dance levels and ages are welcome!

Speakers

Jordan Lawrence

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Hands-On Workshops, Dance

TBA

Giant Bubble Making: Finding the Spiritual and Sublime

Come make the biggest bubble you've ever made and contemplate how you perceive reality and divinity.

Speakers

Jennette Ginsburg (she/ her)

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Hands-On Workshops, Spirituality

TBA

Holy Ink and Climate Change

In this hands-on art session, you will discover what an oak gall is, how to find one, and how to create iron oak gall ink—the ink used by scribes to write the Torah and other Jewish holy books—which is harvested from galls growing on Louisiana oak trees. Learn about the history of this medieval ink and how it relates to my search as an artist for a more sustainable art practice as I create artwork about living in a time of global warming, and specifically what this means to those of us living in Southern Louisiana. You will also create you own pen from bamboo and leave with a small bottle of your own handmade ink.

Speakers

Hannah Chalew

Hannah Chalew is an artist, educator. and environmental activist from New Orleans. She received her BA from Brandeis University in 2009 and her MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2016. Chalew has exhibited widely around New Orleans and across the United States. Her work is held... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Hands-On Workshops, Hands-On Workshops

TBA

Passover Paper Art

Passover is fast approaching! In this session, you will create a paper art project using a unique process that combines color and Passover motifs. This session will be geared toward adults, though all ages are welcome. Limit: 15 people.

Speakers

Peter Seltzer

Peter Seltzer is a paramedic educator who leads a vocational training program at a New Orleans high school. He is also the owner of “Pete’s Papercrafts,” in which he creates unique New Orleans-themed artwork out of cardboard and paper.

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Hands-On Workshops, Jewish Holidays

TBA

Where Does Jewish Culture and Ancestry Live In Our Bodies? A Movement Exploration

How are our bodies influenced and impacted by our Jewish culture, family traditions, and inherited trauma? What do we carry in our bodies as we move through our communities, from our daily lives to the dance floor? In this session, we will explore the ways that we embody Jewishness and finds areas of celebration and healing. Laura will teach several dance practices that allow deeper mind-body connection and encourage physical release. The workshop will include movement, journaling, and group discussion. Set up a space where you can move without obstruction and wear comfortable exercise clothes.

Speakers

Laura Stein

Laura Stein is the co-Founder and Executive Director of Dancing Grounds (DG), a nonprofit organization that brings inclusive and accessible dance programs to people of all ages in New Orleans. Originally from Philadelphia, she has lived in New Orleans since 2012. From 2003-2011, worked... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Hands-On Workshops, Dance

TBA

The Ancient Synagogue: Origin, Form, and Function

In this session, I will give an archaeological overview of the ancient synagogue building. When and where was the first synagogue built? Why was it needed? What did the first synagogues look like and what did people do in them? How were they furnished and decorated? Backed by archaeological evidence, this session will give an overview of the ancient synagogue building in Israel and the Diaspora from the 2nd century BCE to the 7th century CE.

Speakers

Tine Rassalle

Dr. Tine Rassalle (she/her) is the curator at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans and a biblical archaeologist. She has a BA and MA in Archaeology of the Ancient Near East from Ghent University (Belgium), a BA in Hebrew and Aramaic Cultures from Leiden University... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

History

TBA

To Bigotry No Sanction: Exploring the Historical Context of American Jewish Identity

American Jewish identity has been shaped by a truly unique American Jewish experience. Never in our history have Jews known freedom, security, and access to power as we have in the United States. Because half the world’s Jewish population lives in North America, how American Jewish identity has taken shape is extremely consequential for the future of the world’s Jews and for the Judaism they express. In this session, we will explore the context in which that identity has been formed and some of the unique challenges and opportunities that emerge as it continues to evolve. Through a discussion of key historical moments and contemporary dynamics, we will unpack elements of that identity we share and how it can be instrumentalized for the sake of building the kind of community and world we wish to see, including when it comes to addressing anti-Semitism, racism, and building solidarity among Jews around the world.

Speakers

Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen is a professor and chair of Jewish Studies at Tulane University, where he holds a Sizeler Professorship. He is the author of Cotton Capitalists: American Jewish Entrepreneurship in the Reconstruction Era (2017) and The Birth of Conservative Judaism: Solomon Schechter's... Read More →

Katie Bauman

Born in New Orleans, Rabbi Bauman is overjoyed to have the opportunity to serve the synagogue that has been so important in her family story. After being ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, she spent the first ten years of her rabbinate at Temple Israel... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

History

TBA

Was Astral Magic Kosher for Medieval Jews?

Astral or talismanic magic thrived in the medieval Islamic world, from Baghdad to the Maghreb to al-Andalus, and was translated into Latin in the twelfth century to become a controversial and important part of Christian European culture. How did Jewish authors, doctors, practitioners, and thinkers discuss the making of talismans and the summoning of spirits from the stars? This talk will consider how medieval Jews in the Middle East and in Europe thought about the controversies, dangers, and possibilities of astrological knowledge and magical practices. In so doing, it will touch on questions about the history of medieval thought, controversies about the relationship of magic to halachah, and the relationship between Jewish, Christian, and Muslim thought in the High Middle Ages. The session will include a beginner's guide to protecting a house from scorpions using astral magic but with no guarantee that it will work.

Speakers

Jonny Morton

Jonathan Morton is an Associate Professor in the French and Italian Department at Tulane University, New Orleans, where he specializes in scientific literature, poetry, and philosophy written in French and Latin in the European Middle Ages. Originally from London, he moved to New... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

History

TBA

How Do We in the Diaspora Relate to Israel amidst Its Electoral Shifts to the Right

Israel's November 2022 elections yielded what is argued to be her most politically and religiously conservative government to date. And as the new government begins to pursue its political agenda, many Jews in the diaspora, as well as those in Israel's Left, watch with great anxiety. On the other hand, in Israel, such shifts in national politics are celebrated by many and reflect decades-old evolutions in Israeli demography, society, and culture. In this session, we will explore ways in which we in the diaspora can relate to and understand Israel as a democratic and Jewish state in the early days of its 37th government.

Speakers

Eli Sperling

Alison McCrary

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Israel

TBA

The Battle For The Jewish Future. Europe. America. Israel

This session will discuss anti-Semitism from both the Right and the Left in the United States and Europe. Issues relating to the delegitimization of Israel and the impact of the recent parliamentary election in England will be examined. Can Jews maintain a home in Europe? What do Israelis think about anti-Semitism around the world? These and other questions will be addressed.

Speakers

Benjamin Anthony

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Israel

TBA

Jewish Cemeteries of New Orleans 1828-2023

There are fifteen Jewish Cemeteries in New Orleans, administered by five different local cemetery organizations. All fifteen cemeteries have been re-mapped in the last five years. Come learn more about each cemetery's stories, headstones, and secrets from the community members who work to administer, maintain, and preserve them. Discuss the future of our community's cemeteries, their improvements, and their challenges.

Speakers

Jakob Rosenzweig

Clifford Kern

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Southern Jewish Life

TBA

Grief and Joy: On Mourning in 2023

When author, Merissa Nathan Gerson moved to New Orleans, it was to take a giant leap into a new thrilling life. And within a week her father was mysteriously in the hospital. Within two months, he had died of a rare brain disease. She navigated loss in the throes of New Orleans - Second Lines, Mardi Gras, and all. This session uses elements from her book, Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman's Guide to Grieving, to discuss the brutal mix of grief in the modern, mixed with compounded grief related to inherited trauma. We will explore ideas of ancient grieving rituals meant to alchemize misery into exultation, from New Orleans to Hasidism, and back.

Speakers

Merissa Gerson

Merissa Nathan Gerson is the author of Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman’s Guide to Grieving (Mandala Publishing / Simon & Schuster, August 2021). She was the intergenerational trauma consultant to Amazon's hit show Transparent and has writing featured in the New York... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Spirituality

TBA

Navigating the Wilderness of Grief

Grief is not an illness. It is a spiritual journey through a wilderness, in which we learn, usually against our will, both what it means to be human and the nature of mature faith. Holy Hebrew words will reframe the psychotherapeutic description of grief’s stages as a spiritual path, as we traverse the landscape of loss, searching, not only for what has been lost, but also for an understanding of YHVH that can nurture the poles of human experience. Using text study, meditation and expressive techniques, we will reframe our understanding of grief, as we explore the Sukkot in which mourners are commanded to dwell temporarily, as they do the holy work prescribed by Psalms: to turn mourning into dancing.

Speakers

Anne Brener

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Spirituality

TBA

Both/And: What's our Southern and Jewish?

Teens will explore their complex both/and identities through the both/and identity of southern and Jewish presented at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience.

Speakers

Lizzi Meister

Lizzi Meister is the the Public Programs Manager at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience. She's originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she went to Jewish summer camp in the north wood, and got a taste for creating engaging programming. Her love for the South came during... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Teen Limmud

TBA

The Map to Menschhood: How Taking Care of Kids at Camp Gets You Ready for Your Future

Why is it that a teenager surrounded by little kids is somehow wiser and more mature than when surrounded by his or her peers? Something happens when we're put in charge of others; it changes how we view ourselves in a way that affects not just our actions but also our way of viewing the world. This session will look at some research behind that phenomenon and how this experience can open up leadership and professional opportunities in the future.

Speakers

Bradley Phillipson

Dr. Brad Philipson is the Oscar J. Tolmas Head of School at Jewish Community Day School of Greater New Orleans. He has worked in education since 2001 and in outdoor education and summer camps from the time he was in high school and college in the mid-1990s through 2011. In addition... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Teen Limmud

TBA

Wish You Were Okay

Feeling stressed and in need of tools to calm down? Struggling to support a friend who is experiencing depression, anxiety, dating violence, suicidal thoughts, addiction, or another mental health issue? Want to empower a friend through exploration of a new gender identity or sexual orientation? Leah Krandel, LCSW will lead teens through self-care techniques and audience-provided scenarios to promote wellness and safety for all. This program is designed for those under 18; if you are young at heart but significantly over 18, please enjoy a different session :)

Speakers

Leah Krandel

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Teen Limmud

TBA

Animating Jewish Community: Four Rabbis' Trip to Paradise

f you ran into God, how would you react? The Talmud tells us a fantastical tale that provides deep insight into the hopes and fears of the rabbis, while offering a window into prognoses for the Jewish future as well. In this session, join Limmud North America CEO Rabbi David Singer to mine ancient and modern texts as we explore opportunities for building a brighter Jewish future, based on belief, cynicism, and the potent power of holy rebellion.

Speakers

David Singer

Named by The Jewish Daily Forward as one of America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis, David Singer is CEO of Limmud North America. He previously served as Executive Director of UC San Diego Hillel and, before that, Associate Rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas, where he was... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Text and Thought

TBA

Beyond the Music: Chanting the Torah

In this session we’ll explore stories of preserving and interpreting our most sacred texts, ultimately leading to the invention of ta’amei hamikra — the cantillation marks in the Bible. From their origin as a creation of the Masoretes more than one thousand years ago, this complex system has served as a powerful tool for understanding these sacred texts and communicating them in a way that reflects the meaning of each phrase.

Speakers

Kevin Margolius

Kevin Margolius is the Cantor at Touro Synagogue. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he graduated with a BS in Quantitative Economics from Tufts University and received an MA in Jewish Studies and cantorial ordination from Hebrew College, where he serves on faculty as a cantorial coach... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Text and Thought

TBA

The Book of Esther; Chance, Providence, Prudence?

Behind its fairy tale tone, the Book of Esther wrestles with fundamental questions of political, philosophical, and theological import. Perhaps its most striking feature is the absence of any reference to God. The tightly constructed plot involves an amazing reversal in which the plan of destruction is turned on the villain himself along with the enemies of the Jews. Is this turnaround, which appears to be a matter of chance, in fact the product of a hidden divine providence? Or is it simply the work of human agents? Can we admire the prudence both Mordecai and Esther display, when it involves concealment of their Jewish identity, deception, and finally ruthless treatment of the adversaries of their people? Are there conclusions to be drawn about the predicament of Jewish life in the diaspora and in the absence of divine guidance?

Speakers

Ronna Burger

Ronna Burger is Professor of Philosophy, Catherine & Henry J. Gaisman Chair, and Affiliate Professor of Jewish Studies at Tulane. Her scholarly work in the field of Greek philosophy has provided a basis for extending her current studies to Maimonides and the Hebrew Bible. Her courses... Read More →

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Text and Thought, Jewish Holidays

TBA

The Torah of Space Flight

The Baal Shem Tov taught that there is Torah in everything we observe in the world. Rocket Science – one of the great achievements of the 20th century – is full of inspiring lessons that can guide us through our lives. In this class, we will examine two basic principles of rocket science and learn what their spiritual parallels are, based on the insights of the Chasidic masters.

Speakers

Yochanan Rivkin

Rabbi Yochanan Rivkin is the director of Chabad at Tulane and the spiritual leader of Congregation Anshe Sfard. He is a lifelong resident of New Orleans and loves learning about science, Torah and their connection.

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Text and Thought

TBA

Hands-On Passover

Get ready for Passover with this fun and interactive experience, best for families with children 5 and up. We will sing, learn the Passover story, and engage with different pieces of the Seder by making our own charoset, matzah, and more!

Speakers

Carla Friend

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Young Limmud, Jewish Holidays

TBA

Passover Jam

Learn all about Passover with this fun and interactive concert, best for ages 0-5 and their families. There will be singing, movement, stories, puppets, bubbles, and more!

Speakers

Carla Friend

Sunday March 19, 2023 TBA
Jewish Community Center

Young Limmud, Jewish Holidays