A Taste of Melton

In Person, Free Admission

Please register with Sue at spotechin@jccottawa.com

A Taste of Beyond Borders: The History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict with Angus Smith

10:00 – 11:30 am
Study the roots of the conflict between Jews and Arabs over the modern State of Israel. Analyze newspaper articles, speeches, poems, photographs, and maps, re-tracing history from 1948-present. The material is designed to encourage discussion and debate about religion, culture, politics, economics, identity, and survival, challenging learners to appreciate the basis of the claims made by all sides.  

Presents, Dreidels, Candles and Miracles: The True Story of Chanukah with Dr. Kim Stratton

11:45 am – 1:00 pm
Consider all the well known hooplah of our Chanukah celebrations. In the Talmud, the rabbis ask, “What is Chanukah?” Why ask this question nearly 500 years after the events described in the book of Maccabees? Let’s explore the real story of Chanukah and see who the heroes really were!

Children of the Revolution: 20th Century Jewish Radicalism with Angus Smith

1:15 – 2:45 pm
For much of the 20th Century, the People of the Book were also the People of the Left, aligning ourselves with (and often leading) radical and revolutionary causes, from the Russian Revolution and the Spanish Civil War to the political ferment of the 1960s and Latin America’s Dirty Wars. Was it because our own collective experience of exile and persecution gave us innate sympathy for the downtrodden? Does our tradition require us to take up the cause of the wretched, whoever and wherever they may be? Or does the act of being a revolutionary allow us to shatter, once and for all, the stereotype of the Jew as a passive victim? This lecture will help us think about some of these questions and, ultimately, whether the radical fire still burns in the Jewish heart.