Czech Jewish History Intro., March 30-May 11
30.03.2016 / 22:40
The Rabbi Samuel Scolnic Adult Institute in cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic presents An Introduction to Czech Jewish History. Jewish history in the Czech lands goes back a thousand years. A rich cultural life began to flourish toward the end of the 17th century. This course, co-sponsored by the Embassy of the Czech Republic, will focus on the 19th and 20th centuries as well as the present. Michlean Amir will moderate the lectures presented by renowned experts.
Classes are Wednesday evenings, March 30; April 6, 13, and 27; and May 4 and 11, 8:40-9:30 pm.
For more information or to register, visit: http://www.bethelmc.org or call 301-652-2606.
Location: Congregation Beth El, 8215 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814
|
March 30 and April 6: Dr. Marsha Rozenblit is the Harvey M. Meyeroff Professor of Jewish History at the University of Maryland. She is the author of two books, one on the Jews of Vienna and one on the Jews of Habsburg Austria (including Bohemia and Moravia) during World War I, and many articles. She has recently served as President of the Association for Jewish Studies. Dr. Rozenblit will speak first on the topic “German or Czech: The Dilemmas of Bohemian and Moravian Jews, 1848-1918” and then on thetopic “The Only Czechoslovaks in Czechoslovakia? Jewish Identities in the New State, 1918-1939.” |
April 13: Dr. Robert Řehák is Cultural Attaché at the Czech Embassy in Washington, DC. He is a published scholar of Biblical proper names and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Prior to his current position, he was President of the Society of Christians and Jews in the Czech Republic and served as Cultural and Press Attaché at the Czech Embassy in Israel. He will speak on the topic “The Mysterious Legends of the Jews of Prague.” |
|
April 27: Mark Talisman is Founder and President of the Project Judaica Foundation, which has created and traveled 18 major Jewish-themed exhibitions world-wide since 1983. He was Chief of Staff to the late Congressman Charles Vanik who drafted and helped enact the Jackson-Vanik amendment which helped to free Soviet Jews. Mr. Talisman was founding Vice Chair of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He will speak on “The Jews of Bohemia and Moravia: Truly a Precious Legacy Even Under Communism.” |
|
May 4: Dr. Michael Kraus is Dirks Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College in Vermont. He has received numerous major fellowships and held teaching appointments at Harvard’s Kennedy School, Columbia’s Harriman Institute, and Charles University’s Institute for Political Studies (Prague) and has published widely on topics in modern European history. He will speak on “The Holocaust in the Czech Lands: In Search of Victims and Survivors Based on a Personal Quest.” |
|
May 11: Ms. Ellen Meltzer is the Director of Marketing and Community Outreach at Moment Magazine, founded 40 years ago as an independent voice in the Jewish-American community. Based on her trip to the Czech Republic in 2015, she will talk about her visit to Polna, Mikuluv and Ustek and each town’s unique history accompanied by pictures and a brief history of the towns in the Ten Stars project. Her talk is entitled: “If Walls Could Talk: The Fascinating Stories of Ten Old Jewish Communities in the Czech Lands and the Successful Effort to Restore and Preserve What Remains.” |