By Reporter staff
A variety of Jewish groups are offering educational and recreational online resources. Below is a sampling of those. The Reporter will publish additional listings as they become available.
Melton will hold the virtual class “Antisemitism, Media, and Jewish Identity: Two Centuries of Advocacy and Innovation” on Tuesday, July 16, from 7-8 pm. These is a sliding scale cost to attend. The course looks at the “history of marginalized Jewish communities over the past two centuries, focusing on their use of evolving media technologies to combat antisemitism, advocate for their rights, and reshape the contours of Jewish identity and peoplehood.” For more information or to register, click here.
Sapir will hold the virtual conversation “Can Israel’s Intelligence Services Be Saved?” on Wednesday, July 24, at noon. Chuck Freilich, former Israeli deputy national-security adviser, will be in conversation with Bret Stephens to discuss how, “50 years after the Yom Kippur War, Israel’s vaunted military and intelligence establishment again failed to protect the Jewish state. What must it do to regain its reputation and deterrence?” For more information or to register, click here.
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research will hold the virtual program “Musical Pripetshik: Lyrics and Melodies of Traditional Yiddish Folksongs” on Tuesday, July 23, at 2 pm. The program will focus on lesser-known Yiddish songs that emerged over the 400 years before the 20th century. For more information or to register, click here.
Melton will hold the virtual class “Organ Donation: Mitzvah or Murder?” on Tuesday, July 23, from 1-2 pm. There is an $18 cost to attend. The cost will explore the process of organ donation from the perspective of Jewish law and ethics. For more information or to register, click here.
The Qesher Book Club will discuss “The Sweet Fragrance of Life and Other Horror Stories” by Elizabeth Schwartz on Tuesday, July 9, at 3 pm. Schwartz will read excerpts from her stories and talk about the religious, cultural and historic factors that shaped them and her approach to traditional Jewish art. For more information or to register, click here,
Melton will hold the virtual three-part course “Is the ‘Evil Inclination’ the Devil or My Teacher?” on Tuesdays, July 23-August 6, from 4-5:15 pm. There is a sliding scale cost to attend. The course will explore why the evil inclination is so feared while at the same time being so central in Jewish thought. For more information or to register, click here.
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research will hold the virtual program “Ethnographers between Yiddish and Polish: a Study in Intellectual History” on Thursday, July 25, at 2 pm. The program will discuss the lives and work of Chaim Chajes, secretary of YIVO’s Ethnographic Commission, and Daniel Fajnsztejn, the first doctor of ethnology at Stefan Batory University in Vilna. For more information or to register, click here.
Tikvah will hold the online class “Menachem Begin’s Jewish Soul” taught by Professor Daniel Gordis. The six lectures will “explore the life and legacy of Menachem Begin, from his time as an underground freedom fighter to his premiership of the state of Israel.” For more information or to register, click here.
The American Jewish University will hold the virtual class “Using Law to Fight Antisemitism on College Campuses” on Tuesday, July 30, at 3 pm. Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center, will discuss how the center is using law to fight antisemitism on college campuses. For more information or to register, click here.
Melton will hold the three-part virtual class “What Do We Do Now: Jewish Responses to Communal Catastrophe” on Wednesdays, July 24-August 7, from 5-6:30 pm. There is a sliding scale cost to attend. The class will explore texts – from the Bible through modernity – to reflect different strategies to deal with catastrophe embedded in the Jewish tradition. For more information or to register, click here.
Roundtable will hold the three-part virtual class “Jewish-American Artists of the Abstract Expressionist Period” on Thursdays, August 1-15, from noon-1 pm. The cost to attend is $132. The class will look at Jewish artists, critics and art dealers of the Abstract Expressionist movement, with an emphasis on the art and lives of Lee Krasner and Mark Rothko. For more information or to register, click here.
The Qesher Book Club will discuss “Shalom Uganda – A Jewish Community in the Equator” by Janice Masur on Tuesday, August 6, at 3 pm. Masur tells her story of living in a little-known Ashkenazi Jewish community in Uganda from 1949-61. For more information or to register, click here.
Tikvah will hold the online course “Unlock the Jewish Literary Genius of S.Y. Agnon.” Rabbi Jeffrey Saks will offer five-part lectures discussing the writing, ideas and literary achievements of S.Y. Agnon, called “the great master” of Hebrew literature. For more information or to register, click here.
Melton will hold the six-part virtual class “Modern Living: Maintaining Balance” on Thursdays, July 25-August 29, from 3-4:30 pm. There is a sliding scale cost to attend. The class will explore “Jewish attitudes toward the many competing foci in our lives and presents Jewish approaches to finding balance amid the intensity of day-to-day living.” For more information or to register, click here.
ALEPH will hold “Voices For Peace: a Virtual Cabaret to benefit ALEPH” on Sunday, July 28, from 4-6 pm ET/1-3 pm PT. The cost to attend is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $36 or more. For a list of performers or to register, click here.
The American Jewish University will hold the virtual “Tour Global Jewish Life: Jerusalem of Gold” on Monday, July 29, at 3 pm. The cost to attend if $21. Nosson Shulman wiil lead a tour of the City of David, Jerusalem’s oldest and original location and home to many of its archeological remnants. For more information or to register, click here.
Roundtable will hold the virtual two-part class “History of Jewish-American Comedic Performance.” The first session will be held on Monday, August 12, from noon-1 pm. The second session will be held on Wednesday, August 14, from noon-1 pm. The cost to attend is $88. Grace Overbeke will look at the “history of Jewish-American performance across three genres – stand-up comedy, theatrical drama and musical theater – to examine representations of Jewishness, questions of assimilation and so much more.” For more information or to register, click here.
The OU Women’s Initiative ALIT Virtual Summer Beit Midrash program will take place from July 29-August 8. ALIT is a two-week online learning program for women of all ages. There are six different in-depth interactive course options, covering a wide range of Torah topics. For more information or to register, click here.
For additional resources, see our Current Issues, Archived Issues, or Jewish Online Resources pages..