2020–2021 Events
Public Events
Summer Salon Series 1: Renewable Energy Revolution under Conditions of Geopolitical Conflict: The Case of the Gaza Strip
June 23, 2020
Watch the recording here.
Summer Salon Series 2: What Can Theater Teach Us in Times of Crisis and Transformation?
July 8th, 2020
Watch the recording here.
Summer Salon Series 3: Reconsidering the Druze Narrative in the wake of the Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People
August 18th, 2020
Watch the recording here.
Meet Me In The Market: Live Dance Performance From Mahane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Join the Berkeley Institute as we travel (virtually) to Jerusalem for an exclusive show, as part c.a.t.a.m.o.n. Dance Group’s ‘From Jaffa to Agripas’ Festival. This performance features Ori Lenkinski as Jackie Kennedy walking through the Mahane Yehuda market. Watch the recording here.
Israel And The Great Powers: The Case Of China
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Israel Institute Visiting Professor Ehud Eiran (Haifa University) joins Professor Ron Hassner, the Helen Diller Family Chair in Israel Studies, for a conversation exploring Israel’s new alliance with China and what this might mean for geopolitics as we know it. Watch the recording here.
Lunch Talk: “Was The Biblical Joseph On The Spectrum?”
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
The biblical Joseph’s behaviors, interpersonal relationships, and personal development are often difficult to understand, and at times seem to defy explanation. Professor Samuel J. Levine’s book, Was Yosef on the Spectrum? (Urim Publications, 2019), offers a coherent and cohesive reading of the well-known Hebrew Bible story, presenting a portrait of Yosef (Joseph) as an individual on the autism spectrum. Samuel J. Levine joins us in conversation with Stephen Rosenbaum to discuss the story of Joseph through his lens. Watch the recording here.
Diaspora-Israel Relations And The U.S. Presidential Elections: A Conversation With David Horovitz, Founding Editor Of The Times Of Israel
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
David Horovitz joins us as the Morton and Amy Friedkin Scholar-in-Residence. In conversation with Sue Fishkoff, he will reflect on the potential ramifications of the U.S. presidential elections on diaspora-Israel relations and U.S.-Israel bilateral relations. He will also address other hot topics in the media as well as the role of the Times of Israel, as an English language newspaper, in covering the news in Israel. Watch the recording here.
Cyber-Hate: Defining And Combating Antisemitism And Hate Online
Thursday, February 4 & March 4, 2021
This symposium will explore the phenomenon of cyber-hate. What are the key issues and manifestations? What are the appropriate responses to online hate? What are the frameworks available — legal, social, technological — and possible constraints to responding? How do we evaluate the success of various solutions? Join us for a two-part virtual symposium this spring – each session includes a keynote address and a moderated panel. Watch the recording here.
The Absurd World Of Etgar Keret
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Please join us for an intimate conversation with acclaimed Israeli author Etgar Keret and GTU Jewish Studies Professor Deena Aranoff. They will discuss Keret’s most recent writing and film projects, his approach to storytelling and to the world, his penchant for the absurd, and more. Keret is an internationally acclaimed Israeli writer and filmmaker. Known for his short stories and books, Keret fuses the bizarre with the banal, and offers a window on a surreal world that is both dark and comic. Watch the recording here.
Robbins Collection Lecture in Jewish Law, Thought, and Identity
Jewish Law For The Digital Age
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Does Jewish law speak to the most important issues of our day? Drawing on Judaism’s millennia-old jurisprudence of radical relevance in the face of change, Professors Bamberger and Mayse make the counterintuitive argument that Jewish law’s millennia-old approach to surveillance, communication, and information collection, sharing, and use, offer missing frameworks for the struggle to protect privacy in an age of big data. Watch the recording here.
Live From Jerusalem! “Premier” Dance Performance And Insights With Artists Elad Schechter And Rand Taha
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
“Premier” is a solo dance choreographed by Elad Schechter, founder and principal choreographer of CATAMON, for Rand Zeid Taha, a Jerusalem born Palestinian dancer. This interreligious and intercultural dialogue through dance negotiates the sociopolitical tensions and rifts evoked by east/west Jerusalem through the expressive forms of dance and movement. Watch the recording here.
Race And Responsibility: Black-Jewish Relations And The Fight For Equal Justice
Monday, April 12, 2021
How are the historical experiences of the Black and Jewish communities at once distinct and interconnected? Should we see efforts to combat racism and antisemitism as separate struggles? What are African Americans’ and Jews’ responsibilities to one another in America’s current racial reckoning? In this conversation, Eric K. Ward, a leading expert on the relationship between racism, antisemitism, and authoritarian movements; and Michael Rothberg, an eminent scholar of historical exclusion and its legacies, will tackle these questions and other pressing matters in contemporary Black-Jewish relations. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Tina Sacks of the School of Social Welfare. Watch the recording here.
The Helen Diller Institute 10th Anniversary Naming Celebration
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Former Israeli Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch in conversation with Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. Welcome Remarks by Carol Christ, Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley. Justice Dorit Beinisch, the first woman to serve as President of the Israeli Supreme Court and the first woman State Attorney of Israel, will be joined in conversation by Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, the Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law. Watch the recording here.
The Art of Leaving: A Conversation with Ayelet Tsabari
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Acclaimed Israeli author Ayelet Tsabari will discuss her memoir, The Art of Leaving and its themes of longing and belonging, growing up Mizrahi in Israel, and reclaiming her Yemeni identity. She will be joined by discussant Rabbi Miriyam Glazer, Emerita Professor of Literature at American Jewish University.
Join her and Prof. Miriyam Glazer, as they discuss growing up Mizrahi in Israel, and re-finding and reclaiming that identity through writing and extensive research into Yemeni culture and traditions. In the discussion, they will also explore how a writer’s cultural background, mother tongue, and origins influence and inform her writing, in terms of both content and style. Watch the recording here.
The Current Crisis In Israel: A Conversation With Prof. Chuck Freilich
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
The Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies presents a conversation with Professor Chuck Freilich. Author of Zion’s Dilemmas: How Israel Makes National Security Policy (2012), and Israeli National Security: A New Strategy for an Era of Change (2018); Former Deputy National Security Adviser in Israel; Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center. Watch the recording here.
Academic Events
The Yemenite Children Affair: History, Access to Information, and Public Discourse
Roy Peled, Koret Visiting Professor in Israel Studies, UC Berkeley; Dov Levitan, Head of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program, Ashkelon College. Recording here.
How Space is Culturally Transformed: Religious and Aesthetic Creativity on the Israeli-Palestinian Border
Elisa Farinacci, Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Bologna
Let the Creators Sing: Informing Democracy Indices with Israeli Creators’ Voices
Daniella Wegner, Former Fulbright Scholar, Hebrew University and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design; UC Berkeley Alumna. Recording here.
Lessons Learned from Football Players and Epilepsy to Understand Brain Aging
Daniela Kaufer, Professor of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience and the Associate Dean of Biological Sciences at UC Berkeley. Recording here.
Israeli Women in Combat
Ayelet Harel-Shalev, Associate Professor, The Conflict Management and Resolution Program. Recording here.
Gil-li Vardi, Lecturer in History, Stanford University
Student Events
Black Power, Jewish Politics: Reinventing the Alliance in the 1960s
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Marc Dollinger, Jewish Studies Professor, SFSU; Author, Black Power, Jewish Politics: Reinventing the Alliance in the 1960s and Quest for Inclusion: Jews and Liberalism in Modern America
Marc Dollinger joins us to share the story of Black and Jewish relations from the Civil Rights Era alliances to Black Lives Matter today. Undermining widely held beliefs about Black-Jewish relations, Dollinger describes a new political consensus, based on identity politics, that drew Blacks and Jews together and altered the course of American liberalism and discusses the challenges that remain today. Recording here.
Racial Justice, Jews of Color, Jewish Community: A Talk With Ilana Kaufman
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Ilana Kaufman, Executive Director, Jews of Color Initiative
Join us to hear Ilana Kaufman about her work which sits at the center of Jewish Community, Racial Equity, and Justice is anchored by the voices and experience of Jews of Color and is focused on grantmaking, research and field building, and community education.
Comparative Election Law: Israel and the US
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Speakers: Roy Peled, Koret Visiting Professor in Israel Studies
Jay Footlik, Special Assistant to President Clinton in the White House
A comparative view on Israeli and US election law as we conclude a year in which Israel had not one, but 3 election cycles, and the US approaches it’s Nov. 3 presidential elections. The event will compare the legal context in each country, and provide an analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of each case. Some topics that will be touched upon include procedural fairness, inclusion (universal suffrage) and equality (in funding and other means between the contestants). Recording here.
Diversity Training: How to Build Inclusive Spaces
Wednesday, October 16, 2020
Facilitators: Shekhinyah Larks, Program Coordinator and Diversity Trainer, Be’chol Lashon, and Bezawit Abebe
Workshop on how to talk about race, ethnicity and identity while engaging in Jewish and Israel-related programming (limited capacity).
Mizrahi Identity in the US
Thursday, November 12, 2020
Featuring: Hadar Cohen, Multimedia Feminist Artist, Dancer, and Artist; Tamar Zaken, Chief Program Officer, HaMaqom, Former Director of Programs; Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, Director, Sephardic Educational Centers
Moderators: Maya Shemtov and Ben Diwan
The Forgotten Jews of South America: A Conversation with film director Gabriela Böhm
Monday, November 16, 2020
Join us for an interview and discussion with Gabriela Böhm, the director of The Longing, a film about a small group of South Americans who long to affirm their faith. Their ancestors were forced to convert during the Spanish Inquisition and now, isolated in Catholic countries, they battle to become Jews regardless of the consequences. Böhm will discuss her documentary film on the topic of crypto-jews during the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th and 16th century and the research that went into the film’s creation with moderator, Analucia Lopezreverado.
Gabriela Böhm, Documentary Filmmaker; Founder of Böhm Productions
Moderator: Analucia Lopezreverado, Founder and Executive Director, Jewtina y Co
“Where do we go from here?” David Horovitz on the 2020 Elections in the US and Israel
Thursday, November 19, 2020
David Horovitz, the Founding editor of the The Times of Israel
Join us for an intimate conversation with David Horovitz sharing a perspective on the 2020 elections, Israel/US relations, and the current political moment from his vantage point as the founder and editor at Israel’s leading English Language newspaper.
The Role of Hope in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Dr. Oded Adomi Leshem, Political Psychologist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr. Oded Adomi Leshem will join us to speak about his research around the pivotal role that hope and hopelessness play in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Leshem will be sharing the findings of The Hope Map Project, which he spearheaded along with Palestinian researcher Obada Shtaya in 2017.
COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution in Israel
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Israel is currently leading the world in per-capita COVID vaccine distribution—over one fourth of the population has already received a vaccine. However, there is still much that remains unknown. Join us to learn more about the Israel’s COVID-19 vaccination plan, and discuss the challenges that may lie ahead, such as new variants, access to care, and the potential impacts of Israel’s upcoming election.
Latin and Jewish Film Series: Conversation on “Esclavo de Dios”
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Centered around the film and the historical context surrounding the A.M.I.A. bombing, our event’s goal is to spark a conversation between Professor Adriana M. Brodsky and Director Joel Novoa about how the film illustrated the tensions that lead up to the bombing and its connection to the experience of Jews in Argentina at that time.
What Happens When the System Fails? The Case of Israel and Greece
Friday, March 19, 2021
Please join Dr. Roy Peled and Dr. Ioannis N. Grigoriadis in a comparative discussion of Israeli and Greek elections and electoral systems. They will discuss the transition from old political lines to new ones, public confidence in electoral systems, and the impact of corruption.
Exploring the Boundaries of Anti-Semitism: A Conversation with Journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon
Monday, April 19, 2021, Batya Ungar-Sargon, the Deputy Opinion Editor of Newsweek and former Opinion Editor at The Forward
Please join us for a discussion with Journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon, who will be speaking about the definitions and boundaries of antisemitism, the role that context plays, antisemitism on campus, and more.