The Foundation for Jewish Studies

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses how the expansionist ambitions of the Neo-Assyrians from Mesopotamia in the eighth century BCE spelled an end to the kingdom of Israel and gave rise to the tradition of the Ten Lost Tribes. The question of where the exiled members of these tribes ended up continues to be debated.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two discusses David and Solomon. Both kings have been the subject of controversies and debates. A reference to the "House of David" was found in 1993 on an inscription in the north of Israel — the first extra-biblical mention of David yet discovered — allowing us to reconsider the evidence for David and Solomon.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one discusses the account of the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Naftali Rothenberg, Senior Research Fellow and Jewish Culture and Identity chair at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute; Rabbi of Har Adar, Israel.

Location: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Washington, DC

Most people are familiar with two possible approaches to love: the puritanical, which they ascribe to religion, Scripture and “spirituality;” and the permissive, which they generally consider to be materialistic and anti-spiritual. According to the rabbis, love exists within the harmony of spirit and matter, mind and body. The Jewish sources promote just such a relationship between man and woman - on the cognitive-intellectual, spiritual-emotional and physical planes.

Cosponsored by Sixth & I Historic Synagogue

Speaker: Professor Marsha Rozenblitz, Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Jewish History at the University of Maryland,College Park

Location: Temple Shalom; Chevy Chase, MD

What has life historically been like for Jews in these bastions of Jewish culture? In this lecture, Dr. Rozenblit provides an understanding of Austro-German Jewry by exploring the place of Jews in these regions.

Speaker: Rabbi Barbara Aiello, Director, Jewish Culture and Hebrew Language Institute (Calabria, Italy) and first woman Rabbi in Italy

Location: Temple Shalom; Silver Spring, MD

Jewish life in Italy has a history that dates back to the time of the Maccabees when Jews settled in Southern Italy 300 years before the Common Era. In this lecture, Rabbi Barbara Aiello shares fascinating stories of Italy’s rich Jewish history; from ancient times through WW II.

Speaker: Rabbi Barbara Aiello, Director, Jewish Culture and Hebrew Language Institute (Calabria, Italy) and first woman Rabbi in Italy

Location: Temple Shalom; Silver Spring, MD

Jewish life in Italy has a history that dates back to the time of the Maccabees when Jews settled in Southern Italy 300 years before the Common Era. In this lecture, Rabbi Barbara Aiello shares fascinating stories of Italy’s rich Jewish history; from ancient times through WW II.

Speaker: Professor Menachem Kellner, Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Haifa

Location: Ohr Kodesh Congregation; Chevy Chase, MD

This lecture discusses the use, misuse, and possible abuse of this famed Jewish philosopher by such people as Rav Soloveitchik, Yeshayahu and Nechama Leibowitz, R. Abraham Joshua Heschel, R. Kotler, and R. Yizhak Hunter.

Cosponsored by Ohr Kodesh Congregation

Speaker: Professor Menachem Kellner, Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Haifa

Location: Ohr Kodesh Congregation; Chevy Chase, MD

This lecture discusses the use, misuse, and possible abuse of this famed Jewish philosopher by such people as Rav Soloveitchik, Yeshayahu and Nechama Leibowitz, R. Abraham Joshua Heschel, R. Kotler, and R. Yizhak Hunter.

Cosponsored by Ohr Kodesh Congregation

Speaker: Professor Walter Laqueur in conversation with Rabbi Joshua Haberman

Location: Temple Shalom; Silver Spring, MD

In this lecture, Professor Laqueur and Rabbi Haberman discuss the New Germany and its Jews, the rise of anti-Semitism, and Israel and the Jewish Future.

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four discusses how pluralism can be found - even within the texts of Judaism.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses how Spinoza's life and beliefs were interpreted by Moses Mendelssohn.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two discusses the life of Baruch Spinoza, who is known as the first person to voluntarily live outside any religious fold.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one sets the stage for the life of Baruch Spinoza by discussing the controversies over philosophy in the middle ages.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Charles Butterworth, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four returns to the topic of the Quran and discusses its teachings in greater detail.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat