Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program

Sunday, 8/28, 10am: Love Letters of a Socialist: Jack London, Sinclair Lewis, and the Strunsky Sisters

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Ashley Walters (College of Charleston) introduces us to two East European-born Jewish sisters named Anna and Rose Strunsky - young and captivating writers dedicated to the socialist revolution - and the impressive cast of well-known American authors, including Jack London, William English Walling, Arthur Bullard, and Sinclair Lewis, who were romantically involved with the sisters and wrote about their desires for them in a variety of capacities. This conversation explores the complicated ways in which these women served as conduits of cultural, political, and linguistic knowledge of the country of their birth, in addition to their objectification in the eyes of their American-born contemporaries and romantic partners.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street. Brunch will be available beginning at 9am provided to in-person attendees. Sponsored by the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture.

Thursday, 9/01, 6pm: Russia’s War in Ukraine: A Conversation with Amber Nickell

Online Only. Click here to join on Zoom.

Please join Professors Ashley Walters and Chad Gibbs for a discussion on Russia’s war in Ukraine with Dr. Amber Nickell of Fort Hays State University. Dr. Nickell is an expert on Ukraine, the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights studies as well a prior Fulbright Fellow to Ukraine. She is presently at work on a book examining ethnic Germans and Jews in southern Ukraine from the late tsarist era to the postwar. The conversation will focus on the present state of the war and its important historical background.

Sponsored by the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture and the Zucker/Goldberg Center for Holocaust Studies

Thursday, 9/08, 7pm: A Conversation with Rabbi Sandra Lawson

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Rabbi Sandra Lawson is the director of racial diversity and inclusion for Reconstructing Judaism. The 2018 Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduate is one of the first African American, queer, female rabbis. The thought-leader has consciously sought to alter the perception of what a rabbi — and the rabbinate — looks like. Lawson is known for tackling difficult questions surrounding Jews and race in podcasts, essays, media appearances and speeches. A social media pioneer, Lawson models what it means to teach Torah in digital spaces. She has built a following of more than 50,000 people on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street.

Thursday, 9/08, 3pm: Fighter, Worker, and Family Man: German-Jewish Men and their Gendered Experiences in Nazi Germany, 1933-1941

Online Only. Click here to register.

Sebastian Huebel (University of the Fraser Valley) will discuss his new book Fighter, Worker, and Family Man with comment provided by Sarah Imhoff (Indiana University-Bloomington) and chaired by Chad Gibbs (College of Charleston).

Sponsored by the Zucker/Goldberg Center for Holocaust Studies and the George L. Mosse Program in History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Wednesday, 9/14, 7pm: Gili Yalo Concert

In-person only. Click here to register.

The Ethiopian Israeli International musician, Gili Yalo combines an Ethiopian musical legacy with genres such as funk, jazz, and soul. He incorporates sounds from traditional Ethiopian music into a contemporary music production. The result is an exceptional, rich, vivid melody accompanied by Yalo's unique voice with lyrics in both English and Amharic. Click hereto listen to Gili Yalo's music.

The outdoor concert will take place at the Stern Center Gardens located at 71 George Street. Cosponsored by the Charleston Jewish Federation.

Sunday, 9/18, 10am: Bienvenidos a Miami: How Latinx Jews Remake the Jewish Mainstream with Laura Limonic

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Almost three quarters (72%) of the population in Miami-Dade county is of Latinx/Hispanic origin. Spanish of various accents can be heard in supermarkets, schools and synagogues. Miami has the largest influx of Jewish immigrants from Latin America, immigrants who have entered the community at a pivotal point when existing congregations, schools and Jewish community centers have been losing members. Laura Limonic will discuss how Latin American Jews, with their strong commitment to communal ties and institutions, have invigorated existing communities while forging new identities as a panethnic Latinx Jews.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street. Brunch will be available beginning at 9am provided to in-person attendees. Sponsored by the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture.

Thursday, 9/22, 6pm: Charleston Jewish Filmfest Presents: "The Levys of Monticello"

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Watch "The Levys of Monticello" with Charleston Jewish Filmfest. This film tells the little-known story of the Levy family, which owned and carefully preserved Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home just out of Charlottesville Virginia, for nearly a century. A Zoom discussion with the film's director, Steven Pressman, follows the screening. Click hereto watch the trailer.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street. Sponsored by the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture, the Stanley Farbstein Endowment Fund, and the Charleston JCC Foundation

Thursday, 10/13, 7pm: Charleston Jewish Bookfest Presents: Pink Triangle Legacies by Jake Newsome

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Jake Newsome tells the inspiring history of the LGBTQ+ community's original pride symbol by tracing the transformation of the pink triangle from a Nazi camp badge into an emblem of queer liberation. Drawing from unexplored archival sources and original interviews, his talk showcases the voices of LGBTQ+ Holocaust victims and a rich tapestry of queer people who found meaning in the pink triangle in a post-Holocaust world.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street. Sponsored by the Zucker/Goldberg Center for Holocaust Studies and the Charleston JCC Foundation.

Thursday, 10/20, 7pm: Creole Israel: Abraham Philip Samson and the Formation of the Caribbean Jewish Rootsman

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Professor Eli Rosenblatt will be discussing the work of Abraham Philip Samson - the relatively unknown Surinamese Jewish activist, writer, and pharmacist - as a lens on the complex position of Jews in late 19th and early 20th century Suriname, a Caribbean country on the northeastern coast of South America ruled by the Netherlands until 1975. Recent scholarship has focused on Surinamese Jewish culture in the era of slavery, and this talk will discuss how Samson, a Surinamese Jewish descendant of both free Jews and enslaved people, inherited and represented the legacies of that era in political, ethical, and theological contexts.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street. Sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina and the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture.

Monday, 10/24, 6pm: Charleston Jewish Filmfest Presents: "Berenshtein"

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Join Charleston Jewish Filmfest to watch "Berenshtein" detailing the true story of Leonid Berenshtein, the commander of a partisan battalion in World War II who located the secret facility where the Nazis were developing their "wonder weapon." A discussion with Professor Chad Gibbs follows the screening. Click hereto watch the trailer.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street. Sponsored by the Zucker/Goldberg Center for Holocaust Studies, the Stanley Farbstein Endowment Fund, and the Charleston JCC Foundation.

Tuesday, 10/25, 1pm: Exploring the American Progressive Movement and Israel

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Many in the American Jewish community, including Jews on the political left, have grown concerned about the direction and intensity of the debate over Israel/Palestine in some progressive spaces. Some simply claim rampant antisemitism is to blame. Others place all the blame on Israel. The truth is obviously more complex. Join us to gain a better, nuanced understanding of the ideas that shape this potent political discourse and what it means for engagement around Israel and/or antisemitism.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street. Sponsored by the Stanley Farbstein Endowment Fund.

Sunday, 10/30, 10am: A Conversation with Stav Shaffir

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Stav Shaffir was the youngest woman ever elected as a member of parliament in Israel, where she served for seven years. Previously she was one of the leaders of the Israeli social movement focused on housing, social services, equality, and democracy which resulted in hundreds of thousands of Israelis protesting during the summer of 2011. Since leaving the government, Shaffir is focused on social entrepreneurship by founding the Shira Center. Shira Centers provide young adults with autism and special needs an opportunity to be included in a university environment.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street. Brunch will be available beginning at 9am provided to in-person attendees. Sponsored by the Norman and Gerry Sue Arnold Center for Israel Studies and the Stanley Farbstein Endowment Fund.

Wednesday, 11/09, 7:30pm: Three Rabbi Panel: Jewish Views on War, Violence, and Military Service

This event is hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Rabbi Scott Hoberman from Brith Shalom Beth Israel, Rabbi Evan Ravski from Synagogue Emanu-El, and Rabbi Stephanie Alexander from Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim come together to discuss their perspectives on war, violence, and military service.

The Three Rabbi Panel will take place at the Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center Auditorium, Room 101 located on 58 Coming Street. Supported by the Stanley and Charlot Karesh Family Fund.

Thursday, 11/17, 6pm: In Between

This event is in-person only. Click here to register.

"In Between" is a semi-autobiographical one man show that portrays the complexities and contradictions inherent in Palestinian-Israeli identity. On the precipice between two cultures stands Ibrahim Miari, son of a Palestinian Muslim father and Jewish Israeli mother. In this riveting and thought-provoking one-man show written and performed by Miari, he recalls his childhood in Israel and brings us into the complexities and contradictions that define his life “In Between” two worlds. With deftness, wit, and humor, Miari transcends today’s political distractions and reminds us of the deeper inner struggles and bonds that link us all.

"In Between" will take place at the Chapel Theatre located on 172 Calhoun Street.

Sunday, 11/20, 10am: A Century of Revolutions: The History of Iranian Jews from 1900-Present

Hybrid with both in-person and online options. Click here to register.

Lior B. Sternfeld is an Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Penn State University. His first book Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth Century Iran was published by Stanford University Press in 2018. His new research projects include a comparative study of Iranian Jewish diaspora communities in Israel and the US, and the History of Jews in the Muslim Middle East in the past 200 years.

Join us at Arnold Hall located at 96 Wentworth Street. Brunch will be available beginning at 9am provided to in-person attendees.

Sunday, 12/18, 4-6pm: Chanukah in the Square

This event is in-person only. Click here to receive updates and reminders.

Join us for Charleston's annual Chanukah in the Square extravaganza. Bring an appetite and your dancing shoes. We will supply the hot food, the live music, and the festive atmosphere! There will be no shortage of potato latkes. We will continue the tradition of lighting the menorah candles as a community at the largest annual Jewish event in South Carolina.

Chanukah in the Square will be in Marion Square Park.

1/23 Jewish Comedy: It's Serious

2/1 Charleston Jewish FilmFest Presents: "Final Account"

2/10 A Time to Gather: Archives and the Control of Jewish Culture

2/17 A Conversation with Abby Stein

2/22 A Conversation with Ilan Yona

2/24 Book Launch: The Virtuous Wehrmacht, Crafting the Myth of the German Soldier on the Eastern Front, 1941-1944

2/27 What's New in Israel: A Conversation with Journalist Linda Gradstein

3/21 Hate Across Borders: German and American Neo-Nazis from the 1970s to Charlottesville

3/24 Aspirations and Anxieties: The Design and Outcomes of the 2020 Pew Study of American Jewry

3/30 Three Rabbi Panel on Jewish Spirituality: What Does Judaism Believe about the Big Questions?

4/10 What Makes a Great Jewish Leader? Theodor Herzl and the Zionist Movement

4/19 The Kronsberg Lecture: A Conversation with Ilana Kaufman

4/24 The Nemirow Lecture: Music in the Shoah: Savagery and Survival, a conversation with Teryl Dobbs

The Jewish Studies Program prepares its line of events one semester in advance, in January-February for Fall, and in September-October for Spring. Ideas for speakers and performers are discussed at a Programming Committee meeting that is composed of Jewish Studies faculty and staff, and members of the Charleston Jewish Community. The Programming Committee welcomes proposals and ideas for events, as well as feedback from the community about upcoming and past events. Feel free to submit your ideas here, or contact Associate Director for Community Relations Kim Browdy.

Here's our Spring 22 Newsletter:

Newsletter won't open? Download it here.

Past newsletters:

Fall 2021 newsletter

Spring 2021 newsletter

Fall 2020 newsletter

Access Full List of CofC Events here.