LITERATURE + LECTURES

The Jewish Communitiy Center of Houston (Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston), presents The Center for Jewish Living and Learning Scholar Series: Dr. Stephen Berk - The Last Century that Shattered the World and Transformed the Jewish People.

The four-lecture series will bring a single scholar to our community for a series of lectures over the course of 4 - 5 months.

Dr. Stephen Berk (pictured) is the Henry and Sally Schaffer Chair in Holocaust and Jewish Studies at Union College in Schenectady, NY. Dr. Berk has published and lectured extensively on the intersection of modern Jewry and modernity, particularly in the fields of Holocaust Studies, anti-Semitism, the American Jewish Experience, Soviet and Eastern European Jewry, and Jewish/African-American relations. He has been a visiting professor at Williams College, Bennington College, and the State University of New York.

A Tale of Two Popes
Thursday, Jan 19 at 7:30 p.m.

The relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people is a very difficult one. The role played by Pope Pious XII and John Paul II illustrates this in a very dramatic way. One Pope remained silent and the other was proactive. The fate of millions rested on their action and inaction.

Roosevelt and the Jews
Thursday, March 29  at  7:30 p.m.

This lecture will explore the motivations behind Roosevelt’s policies during the Second World War and how his action, or inaction, affected the Jewish community during this dark time in human history.

Three Who Made Israel: Weizmann, Ben Gurion and Begin
Thursday, Apr 26 at 7:30 p.m.

This lecture will consider how these early statesmen both created the first modern, Jewish state and changed the socio-political reality of the Middle East and the World post the Second World War.

Steven Spielberg in History
Thursday, May 24  at  7:30 p.m.

This lecture will explore how three Spielberg’s films: Schindler’s List, Amistad, and Saving Private Ryan can be used as a valuable window into modern history, and how these films changed the world’s perception of the modern Jewish experience.

For more information, please contact Naomi Barancik at nbarancik@erjcchouston.org  or 713-729-3200 ext. 3288.

 These lectures are made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.