Video Interviews
with Study Guides
These engaging discussions between HUC-JIR scholars were originally live-streamed to participating congregations. They are here for you to download and play in educational settings.  For most interviews, a study guide is provided to help plan your session.
Click on the below links or scroll down to learn about individual interviews.

​Hosted by Dr. Joshua Holo, dean of the HUC-JIR Jack H. Skirball Campus in Los Angeles and associate professor of Jewish history.  He publishes on the Jews of the medieval Mediterranean.

Israel: Bridging the Divide

The American Jewish conversation on Israel needs a makeover. Weigh in as we get a glimpse into unexpected takes on Israel today.

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Dr. David Myers is the professor & Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has written extensively in the fields of modern Jewish intellectual and cultural history, with a particular interest in the history of Israel, Zionism and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Psalms: The Roots of Jewish Spirituality

The Psalms count amongst our most ancient and varied prayers. How do they live in Jewish prayer today?

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Rabbi Richard Levy is Rabbi Emeritus of the Campus Synagogue and former Director of Spiritual Growth. He is a past president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, in which he shepherded the creation of the Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism in 1999, which is the subject of his book, A Vision of Holiness: The Future of Reform Judaism.

Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot is best known for her joyful spirit, her soulful singing, and her passion for Jewish learning. She is dedicated to revitalizing worship and integrating the ancient sounds of Jewish tradition with contemporary music, and her background in theatre brings life and energy to synagogue experiences. Alison's deepest mission as a teacher, is to make the beauty and joy of Jewish text and liturgy accessible to all.

American Jews and the Culture of Show Biz

Music, film, comedy, theater, and literature: America reflected in the Jewish experience.

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Dr. David Kaufman is visiting professor of American Jewish Studies at HUC-JIR, Los Angeles. Previously the Florence and Robert Kaufman Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies at Hofstra University, he has also taught in the undergraduate Jewish studies program of the University of Southern California. He is the author of Jewhooing the the Sixties: American Celebrity and Jewish Identity (Brandeis University Press, 2012).

Yiddishkeit and Politics: Election Analysis

How will Jews shape Election 2016? And how will the election shape us?

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Dr. Raphael Sonenshein is the Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at CSU Los Angeles. Previously, he was Chair of the Division of Politics, Administration, and Justice at CSU Fullerton. He received his B.A. from Princeton, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale. He is the author of three books on Los Angeles politics and government.
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Dr. Steven Windmueller served as the Dean of the Los Angeles Campus of HUC-JIR from June of 2006 until June of 2010. In March of 2009, he was appointed to the Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk Chair in Jewish Communal Service. Dr. Windmueller has served as a consultant and program resource specialist to a wide array of institutions including the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federation of the Silicon Valley and the St. Louis Jewish Federation.

Synagogue Innovation

Jewish life is changing, at all levels and among all demographics. How are we taking that change by the horns rather than allowing it to take us unawares? Join us as we talk with leaders taking the leap: a synagogue that helps boomers ease into their next stage of life; a JCC whose mission is to reinvent traditions, and one of the largest temples in LA embraces an alternative congregation within its walls.

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Rabbi Laura Geller, rabbi emerita, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, was the first Reform woman rabbi to be selected as the senior rabbi of a major metropolitan congregation. She has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including being named one of Newsweek’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis in America for two years in a row, and receiving the California State Legislature’s Woman of the Year Award.

Rabbi Susan Goldberg, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, has a special focus on revitalizing the Jewish community on the east sides of Los Angeles. She served previously at Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock and as rabbi-in-residence for East Side Jews, a project of the Silverlake Independent JCC. She serves on the board of New Ground: A Muslim Jewish Partnership for Change and Bend the Arc. She is on the Interfaith Clergy Roundtable for the Department of Mental Health, and is the rabbi consultant for the groundbreaking television program, Transparent.

Ayana Morse, executive director of the Silverlake Independent JCC in Los Angeles, has over a decade of experience in non-profit management and Jewish education. Her work has been featured in Lilith Magazine, Sh’ma, the Jewish Journal and she has been a presenter at several conferences including the National Council for Jewish Women and JCPSCA.

Rebirth in Germany? 

Many American Jews harbor deep suspicion towards Germany due to the Holocaust. Germany has confronted its past and now Germany is the site of Judaism’s most vibrant revival.

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Professor Sharon Gillerman’s scholarship focuses on modern German and central European Jewish history with a particular interest in gender history, cultural studies, popular culture, and transnational history.
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Dr. Leah Hochman directs the Louchheim School for Judaic studies at the University of Southern California and serves as associate professor of Jewish Thought at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles.

Armed with Scripture: Qur'an and Torah 

We tend to call on the authority of religious texts to validate our own views. When those views, however, get adversarial, sacred texts also become militant ones.

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Rabbi Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, is the Effie Wise Ochs Professor of Biblical Literature and History at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles. She is an award winning scholar and Editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary and the first woman appointed as professor to the Rabbinical Faculty of HUC-JIR’s long history which began in 1875.
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Edina Lekovic is the former Director of Policy and Program at Muslim Public Affairs Council. She also serves on the board of NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change. She frequently acts as a national spokesperson for the American Muslim community.

Rabbi Sarah Bassin is the associate rabbi at Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills. She serves on the boards of NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change and Joshua Venture Group. Prior to joining Temple Emanuel, Rabbi Bassin served as executive director of LA-based NewGround, a Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change.

Revolutionizing Bar/Bat Mitzvah 

The bar/bat mitzvah, so fixed in our imagination as a major religious and cultural coming-of-age, is ready for change. The B’nai Mitzvah Revolution is re-imagining the ceremony, to better engage youth and families in Jewish life.

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Dr. Isa Aron, professor in the HUC-JIR Rhea Hirsch School of Education, founded the Experiment in Congregational Education and the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution, both joint projects of HUC-JIR and the Union for Reform Judaism.
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Rabbi Becky Hoffman is the Religious School director and associate rabbi at Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills, CA.

Walking the Tightrope of Identity

Jews forever straddle their unique, minority identity and the majority culture around them. We come by it honestly. Since the Bible itself, Jews have navigated multiple cultures—sometimes conflicting ones—simultaneously. Professors Garroway and Zelkowicz will discuss with Dean Holo the various strategies we have employed over the millennia, as a minority group, to manage and embrace host cultures while keeping true to our unique minority identity.​

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Dr. Kristine Garroway was appointed Visiting Assistant Professor of Bible at the HUC-JIR Jack H. Skirball Campus in 2011. Her scholarly interests include the status of children in the ancient Near East, gender studies, and archaeology.
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Rabbi Dr. Tali Zelkowicz is assistant professor of Education in the Rhea Hirsch School of Education. From 2004-2010, she served as the Director of Jewish Programming for Day School Leadership through Teaching. Dr. Zelkowicz is currently working on, Teaching on Eggshells: Dissonance and Ethnic Identity Formation.

Zionism and Crisis

The Arab-Israeli conflict has taken on Short Version contours, and progressive Jews are challenged to navigate and reimagine the challenges and possibilities of Zionism. Dean Holo and Rabbi Rosove discuss not only the conflict but also Israel’s character as a Jewish democracy.
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Rabbi John Rosove assumed his duties as Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel of Hollywood in 1988. Since his Rabbinic Ordination from HUC-JIR (NY 1979), his mission has been to build Jewish community and draw Jews and their families closer to God, the Torah, Jewish tradition, the Jewish people, and the State of Israel as a Jewish national home. He has led locally and nationally in the discussion around progressive Zionism and advocated powerfully for ARZA, the Association of Reform Zionists of America.

Anti-Semitism: Roots and Reality

European racism and anti-Semitism are on the rise, and though American Jews enjoy the most successful time in our history, we face stereotypes and anti-Israel movements with increasing uncertainty. Dean Holo will plumb the fears expressed by the Jewish community with David Lehrer, who approaches the problem from a different angle, and challenges us to face up to good news.

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David A. Lehrer co-founded Community Advocates after 17 years as Director of the Pacific Southwest Region of the Anti-Defamation League. During his tenure with the ADL, Mr. Lehrer helped draft legislation that dealt with issues as diverse as the Arab boycott of Israel, paramilitary training in California and hate crimes. He is a leading expert on intergroup relations and extremist group activities, and he has served on governmental commissions on hate crimes and terrorism. Mr. Lehrer has appeared on national news programs, including ABC’s Nightline and NPR. His essays have appeared in numerous newspapers across the country.

The Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls 

The very words “Dead Sea Scrolls” evoke a sense of mystery. But what is the real story behind the Scrolls, and what do they teach us?

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Rabbi Dr. Joshua Garroway is associate professor of Early Christianity and the Second Commonwealth at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles. His first book, Paul’s Gentile-Jews: Neither Jew nor Gentile, but Both, explores Paul’s construction of Jewish identity and its role in Christianity.

Politics and the Pulpit

In the Reform world, social action is often inextricably linked to political action. And when politics appear on the pulpit, controversy sometimes surfaces. Either the topic is difficult or the very notion of politics on the pulpit is itself divisive. R. Stephanie Kolin discusses with Dean Holo why the stakes are so high, and how difficult it is to put your finger on the nature of the problem when we don’t even agree on what constitutes “politics.”​

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Rabbi Stephanie Kolin is the Co-Director of Just Congregations, the Union for Reform Judaism’s community organizing program. During Rabbinical school at HUC-JIR, Stephanie co-founded the Jewish Funds for Justice’s Rabbinical Student Fellowship. Upon ordination (NY 2006), Stephanie served as a rabbi of Temple Israel, Boston, where she guided the social justice community organizing on issues such as access to higher education, usury, and equal marriage. She was named as a Woman of Valor by the Jewish Funds for Justice and is included in The Forward’s: “The Sisterhood 50: America’s Influential Women Rabbis.”

How Jewish is Christianity?

Jews and Christians alike realize that Christianity was born in a Jewish context. This College Commons encounter will dissect the complicated relationship between these intimate strangers, and consider the implications for today.​

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Rabbi Dr. Joshua Garroway is associate professor of Early Christianity and the Second Commonwealth at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles. His first book, Paul’s Gentile-Jews: Neither Jew nor Gentile, but Both, explores Paul’s construction of Jewish identity and its role in Christianity.