Upcoming Events and Programs

Karen and Pace Robinson Lecture Series in Modern Israel

Yehonatan Indursky, creator of the award winning Israeli television series Shtisel that also streams on Netflix, will join us for a zoom discussion of the show Shtisel and its upcoming third season. Shtisel has enjoyed international popularity. The show follows the lives of a family of ultra-Orthodox Jews (in Hebrew, haredi) living in Jerusalem. The show’s universal themes – family dynamics, love, and loss – are in part responsible for its popularity. 

In the lead up to the lecture, we will be hosting a zoom discussion led by Professors Helene Sinnreich and Daniel Magilow of the show’s second season Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. Register in advance for this meeting at tiny.utk.edu/Shtisel2.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Indursky was raised in an ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem. He will be joining us via zoom to discuss the show and the upcoming third season Sunday, February 7, 2021, at 2 p.m. Register in advance for this meeting at tiny.utk.edu/Shtisel3. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Abraham and Rebecca Solomon and Ida Schwartz Distinguished Lecture Series in Judaic Studies

This year's series will be on the contemporary Jewish agricultural and farming movement. In recent years, Jews have been engaged in a back to the soil movement that has been infused with Jewish spiritual renewal. The movement has resulted in goats and chickens replacing tennis courts at Jewish Community Centers, religious services held in the forest, and the creation of communal farms dedicated to everything from organic farming to revitalizing Yiddish. This series examines this emerging movement.

February 9, 2021 at 12 PM
Preserving Jewish Culture: Growing Spirituality in a Contemporary Jewish Agricultural Program
Arielle Agababa Levites, The George Washington University

February 17, 2021 at 7 PM
"Sustainability and Spirituality in the Jewish Community Farming Movement."
Adrienne Krone, Allegheny College