Annual Events

Upcoming Events:

Documentary Film: "Six Days in June" (2007)

The shooting lasted only six tense days in June 1967, but the Six-Day War has never really ended. Every crisis that has ripped through this region in the ensuing decades stems from those six fateful days. The region remains trapped in conflict and is every bit as explosive as it was in 1967. (The Plot Summary is based on IMDb.)

Commentary: Dr. Saliba Sarsar

Dr. Saliba Sarsar is an Associate Vice President for Global Initiatives and Professor of Political Science at Monmouth University.  He was born and raised in Jerusalem.  At age 11, he lived through the Six-Day War, an experience that has led him to engage in volunteer work as a youth and in later years to focus his studies and community activities on peace building, reconciliation, and interfaith dialogue.

DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 2013  

TIME: 7:00 - 9:30 P.M.

LOCATION: WILSON HALL AUDITORIUM, MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY

Free of charge and open to all.

For further information, please call 732-571-4474.

Year 9: 2012-2013 Academic Year

SPRING 2013

• Concert: by the Schaechter Sisters, Pollak Theatre, February 12, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
• Honorable Daniel Kurtzer, a discussion, March 5, 2013, 7:30 p.m.

 Fall 2012

• Film: "Expulsion and Memory: Descendants of the Hidden Jews," Wilson Hall Auditorium, October 3, 7:30 p.m.
• Dr. Gilbert N. Kahn, a talk, "When Politics is Jewish", Magill Commons Dining Room, November 15, 7:00 p.m.
• Concert by the "Oasis Players", Pollak Theatre, December 5, 2012

Year 8: 2011-2012 Academic Year 

 Fall 2011

• Film: "Jews in Baseball: An American Love Story," Magill Commons Club Dining Room, October 4, 6:00 p.m.
• Howard Megdal, a talk, "Portrait of a Jewish Baseball Player," Magill Commons Club Dining Room, October 12, 6:00 p.m.
• Student field trip to the Museum of Heritage, November, 16  (Co-sponsor)
• Nadine Epstein, a talk, "Fort Monmouth is Closing, but the Infamous History of Discrimination Against Jews in the US Army Signal Corp Lives On," Wilson Hall Auditorium, December 1, 6:00 p.m.

  Spring 2012

• Rabbi David Ingber, a talk "The Tip of the Dradle: Renewal Judaism is Transformative Judaism," Magill Commons Club Dining Room, February 15, 6:00 p.m.
• Edith Frankel, a talk, "Old Lives and New: Soviet Immigrants in Israel and America," Magill Commons Club Dining Room, March 6, 6:00 p.m.
• Sponsorship of the concert of world music/Israeli superstar Idan Raichel at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center, March 6

 Summer 2012

• Thomas A. Block, author, lecture and talk, "Shalom, Salaam: A Story of a Mystical Fraternity," Wilson Hall Auditorium, June 25, 7:00 p.m.
• Jacob Bender, director, viewing and discussion of documentary film, "Out of Cordoba," Bey Hall, Young Auditorium, June 26, 7:00 p.m.

Year 7: 2010-2011 Academic Year

Spring 2011

• Andrei Codrescu’s “From Transylvania to New Orleans—A Poet’s Journey,” Pollak Theatre, March 22, 7 to 8:30 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• Andrei Codrescu’s reading from his new book, The Poetry Lesson, Wilson Auditorium, March 23, 4:30 to 6 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• “Etty: A Conversation,” by Susan Stein. Stein performs a theatrical adaptation of the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesium, a young Jewish Dutch woman living under the German occupation of the Netherlands. April 5, Club 107-109, 1 to 2:15 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• Spring Landau Show, “Speaking for the Oppressed,” Monmouth University Library, April 7, 4:30 to 6 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• “The Klezmatics,” Pollak Theatre, April 10, 3 to 4:30 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• Sergie & Liza Waisman, “From the Dragon Land to the Promised Land: A Journey of two Families in China, 1900-1953,” Magill Commons, Dining Room, April 12, 7:30 to 9 p.m.
• Dr. Jerry Erhlick, “Genocide in Darfur as Seen Through the Drawings From the Children of Darfur,” Monmouth University Library. April 14, 7 to 8:30 p.m. (Co-sponsor)

Year 6: 2009-2010 Academic Year

Fall 2009

• Kosher/Halal Dinner in conjunction with Hillel and the Muslim Student Association, September 23
• Film: Minyan in Kaifeng: A Modern Journey to an Ancient Chinese Jewish Community (USA, 2002) October 27
• Guest Lecture by Dr. H. Parker James of Brandeis University titled “Shanghai's Elite Iraqi Jewish Community and Their Role in Foreign Settlements (1842-1949)," November 11

Spring 2010

• Film: Forget Bagdad, March 17
• Andrei Codrescu’s “From Transylvania to New Orleans—A Poet’s Journey,” Pollak Theatre, March 22, 7 to 8:30 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• Andrei Codrescu’s reading from his new book, The Poetry Lesson, Wilson Auditorium, March 23, 4:30 to 6 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• Passover Dinner, April 5
• “Etty: A Conversation,” by Susan Stein. Stein performs a theatrical adaptation of the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesium, a young Jewish Dutch woman living under the German occupation of the Netherlands. April 5, Club 107-109, 1 to 2:15 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• Spring Landau Show, “Speaking for the Oppressed,” Monmouth University Library, April 7, 4:30 to 6 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• “The Klezmatics,” Pollak Theatre, April 10, 3 to 4:30 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• Sergie & Liza Waisman, “From the Dragon Land to the Promised Land: A Journey of two Families in China, 1900-1953,” Magill Commons, Dining Room, April 12, 7:30 to 9 p.m.
• Dr. Jerry Erhlick, “Genocide in Darfur as Seen Through the Drawings From the Children of Darfur,” Monmouth University Library. April 14, 7 to 8:30 p.m. (Co-sponsor)
• “Survival in Adversity” (Holocaust Survival Commemorative Event), April 21

Summer 2010

• Summer Festival, “Celebrating Jerusalem,” June 13-15
• Songs of Jerusalem and Peace," June 13, with Cantor Sharon Brown-Levy, Temple Emanu-el of West Essex, Livingston, NJ; Cantor Anna West Ott, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick, NJ; Cantor Jacqueline Shuchat-Marx, Temple Emanu-el, Edison, NJ; Cantor Vadim Yucht, Morristown Jewish Center, Morristown, NJ; and pianist David Schlossberg, as well as a slide show on “Stones of Jerusalem” by artist Florence Weisz.
• “From the Holocaust to Jerusalem,” Poetry Readings, June 14, with Dr. Michael Waters, English Department, Monmouth University; Jill Jackson, Maplewood, NJ; Dr. Mihaela Moscaliuc, English Department, Monmouth University; and Dr. Saliba Sarsar, Department of Political Science, Monmouth University.
• Film, Applefeld’s Table, June 15. The film revolves around the renowned Israeli author Aharon Applefeld's daily pilgrimages to the Anna Ticho House in Jerusalem, whose café he uses as a study and a meeting place with friends and colleagues. Applefeld's dramatic personal story is enriched by excerpts from his writings with an attempt to understand the creative process.

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Year 5: 2008-2009 Academic Year

Fall 2008

• Sponsored The Teacher Training Workshop, Art of the Holocaust with Jane Denny, on November 5
• “See the Photos Hitler Never Wanted You to See” with Dr. Ann Weiss on November 6
• Sponsored the panel presentation, “The Holocaust Suite Lithographs by Jacob Landau—The Role of Art as a Key to Studying a Historical Tragedy” with Professor Susan Douglass, Judith Meisels, Jane Denny, Rosa Giletti, and Dr. Fred McKitrick on November 14
• Sponsored the recital, “Singing for Survival: From Holocaust to Hope,” with Israeli soprano Raya Gonen on November 19

Spring 2009

• “Remasculinization and Militarization: Judaism in Britain at the Outset of the 20th Century,” a paper by Maryanne Rhett, Thursday, February 19, 2009, 2:30–3:45 p.m., Turrell Board Room, Bey Hall
  A look at how Zionists used the language of militarism and masculinity to build a strong argument for the creation of a Jewish national home and, at the same time, distance themselves from Jews opposed to a separate Jewish ‘state’

   

•  Be Fruitful and Multiply, a film by Shosh Shlam, Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 6-8 p.m., Club Dining Room, Magill Commons
  How does it feel to have been pregnant or breastfeeding for 25 of the 26 years of your married life? This and other questions are posed openly and directly for the first time in this film, and they expose the consequences of the commandment “Be fruitful and multiply” the mother of all Mitzvot.

   

•  Shalom Bombay, a film by Alex Hayim, Monday, March 23, 2009, 7:25-9 p.m., Wilson Auditorium
  A poignant insight into the Jewish community of India, Shalom Bombay offers the viewer an alluring and personal overview into one of the most exotic and controversial Jewish communities within the Diaspora

   

• Alan J. Steinberg, "Water: The Israelis and the Arabs: Causus Belli or Road to Peace?" April 7, 10-11:15 a.m.
  In the past, water, more than oil, has been a flashpoint for conflict between the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the Arab states, especially between Israel and Syria prior to the June, 1967 war. Recently, however, due to changes in Israeli sources of water and the needs of the Palestinians for additional water sources, there is new opportunity for Israeli-Palestinian cooperation on water issues. Alan J. Steinberg, who formerly served as Regional Administrator of Region 2 EPA, was a member of the mission to Israel of former EPA Administrator Steve Johnson in October 2008 and participated in discussions with both Israeli and Palestinian infrastructure and environmental leaders.

   

• Presentation of “Defiance: A True Story of Resistance” in partnership with the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County and the Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Monmouth University, April 26, 2009

Summer 2009

•  A Lecture and Discussion of Jewish Identity with Kenneth Jacobson, author of Embattled Selves: An Investigation into the Nature of Identity Through Oral Histories of Holocaust Survivors, Monday, June 1, 7-9 p.m., Wilson Auditorium
• Film: In Search of Bene Israel, with post-screening discussion with the film's director Sadia Shepard, Tuesday, June 2, 7-9 p.m., Wilson Auditorium
  The tiny community of Jews in Bombay believes they are descended from one of the lost tribes of Israel, shipwrecked in India 2,000 years ago. Returning to her Jewish grandmother’s birthplace in India, Sadia discovers the story of the Bene Israel

   

•  Jewish Child Rearing Philosophy and Practices, with rabbis and others, Wednesday, June 3, 7-9 p.m., Wilson Auditorium

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Year 4—2007-2008 Academic Year

June-July 2007

• Produced a 40-minute video on the peace building work of Drs. Dan Bar-On and Sami Adwan, Crossing the Border. Both Bar-On and Adwan served as Fulbright Scholars in Residence at Monmouth University during Spring 2007
• Produced a 20-minute video on Jacob Landau, Dialoguing with Humanity

June 2007-June 2008

• Co-sponsored the writing and publication of a monograph, titled The Holocaust Suite of Jacob Landau, with the Jacob Landau Institute and the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education at Brookdale Community College

Spring 2008

• A musical presentation, “In Search of Yiddishkeit,” with composer Mark Zuckerman
• Film, To Take a Wife

Summer 2008 Jewish Culture Festival, June 23-25

• “Jewish and Palestinian Teen Voices from the Holy Land” with Mahmoud Watad and Leonard Grob, authors of Teen Voices from the Holy Land, Who Am I to You?
•  The Holocaust Suite of Jacob Landau, with Jane Deny on “Art as Witness to History;” Dr. David Herrstrom on “Meditations on the Holocaust Suite;” and Alan Mallach playing two Beethoven Sonatas
•  Women in American Jewish Life—A Panel Discussion, with moderator Dr. Stevi Lischin and panelists Emily Labaton, Marcia Lane, and Stella Jeruzalmi Stanway

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Year 3—2006-2007 Academic Year

Summer 2006 Jewish Festival- Our Jewish Roots—June 25-29, 2006

• Keynote speaker—Yehezkel Landau—on June 25
• Concert with Moshe Tessone and Oriental Ensemble on June 27
• Films: Hiding and Seeking, Divan, and Everything is Illuminated

October 2006

• Co-sponsor with Two River Film Festival of the New Jersey's First Full Day and Evening Film Driven Holocaust/Genocide Program and Symposia. Films included Sophie Scholl, Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary, and Fateless.
• Film, “Ushpizin”

November 2006

• Film, James’ Journey to Jerusalem
• Film, Left Luggage, Jewish Community Center
• Panel Discussion on Roosevelt, NJ, and the Artwork and Philosophy of Jacob Landau with Dr. Allan Mallach, Research Director, National Housing Institute, and Dr. David Herrstrom, President of the Jacob Landau Institute.

December 2006

• Film, A Time of Favor
• Film, The Syrian Bride

January 2007

• Film, The Garden of Finzi Contini

March 2007

• Film, Watermarks

April 2007

• Co-sponsor of “The Afro-Semitic Experience,” a band of African-American and Jewish-American musicians dedicated to preserving, promoting, and expanding the rich cultural and musical heritage of the Jewish and African Diaspora

April 2007

• Organize a presentation by Drs. Dan Bar-On and Sami Adwan, Fulbright Scholars-in-Residence, on “The Shared History Project—Israelis and Palestinians.”

Summer 2007 Jewish Culture Festival—Dialogue and Celebration of Jewish Culture

• A retrospective art exhibit, “Jacob Landau: Dialoguing with Humanity,” 75 works at the 800 and Rotary Ice House Galleries, Monmouth University, June 3-22
• Film, The Couple
• Israeli dance, led by master dancer Steve Weintraub, co-sponsored by Temple Beth El, and the B’nai Sholom/Beth El Foundation, Oakhurst, June 6
• A panel discussion, “Visions and Divisions in American Jewish Life: Perspectives and Dialogue,” with Rabbis Adam Mintz, Neil Gillman, Richard Hirsh, Ruth Gais, and Robert Fine

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Year 2: 2005-2006 Academic Year

Summer 2005 Jewish Culture Festival

• Panel Discussion, “Whose Meaning? The Significance of Jerusalem to Jews, Christians, and Muslims,” with Martin Raffel, Hamid Abdel Jabber, and Saliba Sarsar
• Art Exhibit and Poetry Readings
• Film, A Life Apart: Hasidim in America
• Israeli Folk Dancing

September 2006

• Jewish Film Festival, thirteen films shown throughout school year—September 2005 to April 2006—in coordination with the Jewish Community Center

February/March 2006

• Klezmer Concert with the Klez Dispensers
• Kaballah Unplugged—guest lecture from local rabbi

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Year 1: 2004-2005 Academic Year

Summer 2004 Jewish Culture Festival, “The Jewish Experience in Spain and Portugal: Saga of the Marranos”

• Moshe Tessone and Oriental Ensemble
• Documentary Film, The Last Morranos
• Co-sponsored event at Congregation Magen David with guest lecturers, “Crypto-Judaism among Spanish and Portuguese Jews: Past, Present and Future”

Fall 2004

• Poetry Reading—November 2004
• Film, Secret Lives

Spring 2005

• Hebrew was introduced as an academic offering at Monmouth University

February 2005

• Klezmer Concert with the Klez Dispensers

April 2005

• Film, Cup Final