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September 18, 2008         Thursday, 7:30 pm
Israel’s Seventh Decade
Speaker: Akiva Tor, Consul General of Israel, Pacific Northwest Region

Akiva Tor, Israel’s new Consul General, will discuss “Israel’s Seventh Decade”, including cultural, demographic, economic, political, and religious developments and trends. During its seventh decade, the U.S. faced challenges and opportunities relating to conflicts with neighboring countries and peoples, economic expansion and uncertainties, extent of government control, minority groups, political discord, population growth, rights of individuals, and status of territories. Israel faces similar issues entering its seventh decade. Fresh from an assignment in Israel for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consul General Tor will provide an informed perspective on challenges and opportunities facing Israel.

About the Speaker
Akiva Tor became the Consul General of Israel for the Pacific Northwest Region on August 1st. Prior to this, Akiva Tor was the Director of the Department for Jewish Communities at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In his previous position as World Jewish Affairs Adviser to the President of Israel, he began the organization of the World Jewish Forum, a presidential initiative for creating a pan-Jewish strategy for stemming assimilation and decline in Jewish life. Akiva Tor has served as Director of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and as Deputy Director for Palestinian Affairs. He was a Wexner Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government and has written and lectured extensively on Jewish values in the foreign policy of Israel.

October 30, 2008             Thursday, 7:30 pm
Adam and His Two Wives – Lilith and Eve
Speaker:  Yael Karmi, Art History teacher

The story of the creation of Adam and Eve and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden as described in the Bible and in later midrashim provided an outstanding resource for artistic imagination throughout the ages. While depictions of snakes and sacred trees associated with goddesses predate the Bible, starting as early as the third century the naked Adam and Eve are depicted with the tree and the snake between them. Yael Karmi will discuss the shift in the status of women in the Western tradition and the dance of closeness and separation between the sexes as portrayed in different depictions of the story of Adam and his two wives – Lilith and Eve.

About the Speaker
Yael Karmi holds an M.A. in Art History from San José State University and a B.A. in Literature and Philosophy and a Teacher's Degree from Tel Aviv University. She teaches Art History and Art Appreciation at De Anza and Evergreen colleges. She has also taught a variety of enrichment classes on biblical art at various local institutions such as Osher Life Long Learning Institute, Lehrhaus Judaica, Adult Midrasha in Fremont, and the Peninsula Learning Resource Center of the BJE. Her website is http://faculty.deanza.fhda.edu/karmiyael/.

November 20, 2008          Thursday, 7:30 pm
The Israel Education System: Achievements and Challenges
Speaker: Ofer Ben-Shachar, Board Member of Israel Venture Network

Ofer Ben-Shachar will discuss some important aspects about the Israeli education system, such as the number and composition of students; recent international test ranking; and the division between state-secular, state-religious, ultra-Orthodox, and Arab schools. He will discuss recent test results and the education gap between various socio-economic groups and demographic groups in Israel. He will also discuss the main trend lines leading to the future and some of the efforts by the Israeli government, as well as by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to improve education in Israel.

About the Speaker
Ofer Ben-Shachar is a product of Israeli education with a B.S. in Math and Computer Science from Hebrew University, as well as an M.S. in Computer Science from Washington State. He is on the board of the Israel Venture Network (IVN), a venture philanthropy network of high-tech entrepreneurs, business executives, and venture capitalists from the U.S. and Israel aiming to improve the Israeli education system, social leadership, and business community. He serves on the boards of the American Technion Society (ATS) and NewlineNoosh. As a serial entrepreneur, he founded several companies, including NetDynamics and Noosh (NewlineNoosh now). He invests in new promising companies, such as cPacket Networks. He has several patents, lectures often at software conferences, and has published many articles. His website is http://www.linkedin.com/in/oferben.

December 18, 2008          Thursday, 7:30 pm
Icon of Evil: Hitler’s Mufti and the Rise of Radical Islam
Speakers: David G. Dalin and John F. Rothmann, Co-authors of
Icon of Evil

A chilling, fascinating historical figure is resurrected in this work that links the fascism of the last century with the terrorism of our own. Icon of Evil is the definitive account of the man who during World War II was “the führer of the Arab world” and whose legacy lives on today. In 1921, the beneficiary of an appointment the British would regret, Haj Amin al-Husseini became the Mufti of Jerusalem, the most eminent and influential Islamic leader in the Middle East. For years, al-Husseini fomented violence against Jews. Forced out in 1937, he found his way to the country he wished to join: Nazi Germany. Al-Husseini recruited more than 100,000 Muslims in Europe to fight in the Waffen-SS and obstructed negotiations with the Allies that might have saved thousands of Jewish children. Some believe he inspired implementation of the Final Solution. At war’s end, al-Husseini escaped indictment at Nuremberg, was harbored in France, and welcomed as a hero in Egypt. Book sales and signing will follow the presentation.

About the Speakers
David G. Dalin is the Taube Research Fellow in American History at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He is the author, co-author, or editor of nine books, including Religion and State in the American Jewish Experience, The Presidents of the United States and the Jews, and The Myth of Hitler’s Pope. His many articles have appeared in periodicals such as American Jewish History, Commentary, and The Weekly Standard.

John F. Rothmann serves on the faculty of the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco. He is an author, teacher, archivist, political consultant, and talk show host on KGO in San Francisco. He has lectured on American politics, the Presidency, and the Middle East throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel.

January 15, 2009             Thursday, 7:30 pm
The 2008 Election and the Future of the U.S.-Israel Relationship
Speaker: Judah Lindemann, American-Israel Public Affairs Committee

What are the major challenges facing the U.S.–Israel relationship? How are common threats facing both countries affecting foreign policy? How will the result of the 2008 U.S. election affect these challenges? On the eve of the inauguration, Judah Lindemann will address these timely issues affecting how the complex U.S.-Israel relationship will evolve with the new Congress and President.

About the Speaker
As AIPAC’s South Bay Assistant Area Director, Judah Lindemann works with communities from the South Peninsula to Monterey and Carmel, organizing the political and grassroots efforts of pro-Israel activists. His portfolio includes congressional briefings, lobbying, grassroots organizing, fundraising, and leadership development. Judah graduated from Rutgers University with a B.A. in Political Science. He studied foreign policy and international law at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and took classes at Yeshiva Aish HaTorah. In addition to his B.A., Judah holds a teaching certificate from Gratz College. Prior to involvement with AIPAC, Judah worked with Grassroots Campaigns organizing and mobilizing political activists on the East Coast.

March 19, 2009                Thursday, 7:30 pm
People of the Hook: Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean
Speaker: Louis Dombro, Beth David member and Jewish history lecturer

1492 was a tragic and pivotal year in Jewish history, as the Jewish community in Spain was told to leave and not return under penalty of death. Since the Jewish community was well established in commerce and seafaring, unsurprisingly some Jews sought revenge on Spanish shipping. The most adventurous Jews took to the high seas as outlaws, attacked and plundered the Spanish fleet, and formed alliances with European powers to ensure the safety of Jews living in hiding. Based on his own extensive research on Jewish pirates and information from the new book Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean by Edward Kritzler, Louis Dombro will reveal the exploits of successful Jewish pirates, ignored by historians for many centuries, during a gritty and glorious era of history.

About the Speaker
Louis Dombro has been a member of Congregation Beth David since 1963 and was president of Beth David in 1966. He has been involved with adult education at Beth David for many years. He retired from a 30-year career in space communications in 1991. As a stamp collector and history buff, he decided to combine both of these interests during his retirement years into presentations on Jewish history through stamps. He has lectured extensively on Jewish history in the Bay Area since the early 1990s and was also a lecturer at the Magnes Museum in Berkeley. He has visited many places in Europe and South America that are significant in Jewish history, incorporating pictures from these lands in his lectures.

May 21, 2009                    Thursday, 7:30 pm
The Pariah as Rebel: Hannah Arendt’s Jewish Writings
Speaker: Ron H. Feldman, Ph.D., co-editor of The Jewish Writings of Hannah Arendt

The author of many books on political philosophy, including Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) is best known as the author of Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. Controversial during her lifetime and a contemporary

Jewish outcast – like Spinoza – Arendt is undergoing a serious reevaluation, especially among younger people in America, Europe, and Israel. The newly published The Jewish Writings (co-edited by Jerome Kohn and Ron H. Feldman) includes pioneering essays on the Enlightenment and anti-Semitism from the 1930s, wartime columns from refugee publications of the 1940s, and major essays on Zionism and Jewish intellectual history. Ron H. Feldman will discuss Hannah Arendt’s views on Jewish political issues and her position as a loyal critic, issues which continue to resonate and create interest in her work. Book sales and signing will follow the presentation.

About the Speaker
Ron H. Feldman co-edited and wrote the introduction for The Jewish Writings of Hannah Arendt. This book is an expanded collection of The Jew as Pariah, an earlier collection of Arendt’s essays on Jewish topics that he edited in 1978. He has also written Fundamentals of Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah, an introductory book about Kabbalah, as well as many essays and book reviews on Jewish subjects. He has taught Jewish studies at universities throughout the Bay Area. Ron received his Ph.D. in Jewish History and Culture from the Graduate Theological Union and earned an MBA at the University of California at Berkeley. He has worked in Silicon Valley high-tech companies, as well as in non-profit financial management, including serving as CFO at the JCC of Silicon Valley. In April 2007 he spoke at Congregation Beth David on Kabbalah. He grew up in Los Angeles and has lived in Israel, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Berkeley, where he now resides.