The Jewish Community of Lebanon: Erasure and Memories

Leslie Hakim-Dowek - The Lebanese Jewish Community reaches back to Biblical times, but hardly has any remaining presence today. A complex mosaic of more than 20 religious denominations, Lebanon was a prosperous and tolerant society. However, after the Six-day war, fault lines started to appear, triggering the first major wave of Jewish migration. In 1975, the rest of the Jews had to escape a war-ravaged country. I will be drawing on my own family history, memories plus historical books. Furthermore, as a visual artist, I will also be presenting some of my photo-text series which often focus on the experience of war and displacement and the undeniable attachment to my birthplace, Beirut. Read more and sign up

Kavkazi "Mountain Jews": Ancient Hebrew and Persian roots at the border of Azerbaijan and Russia

Valeriya Nakshun - The Jewish community of the Caucasus lived for centuries in the mountainous region between the Black and Caspian Seas. However, their history dates back to biblical times, when they found refuge in the Persian Empire. They remained under the sphere of Persian influence until 1812 when these lands were ceded to Tsarist Russia to be later absorbed into the Soviet Union. This talk will feature an overview of Kavkazi Jewish origins and history and the way in which the diaspora is making efforts to preserve their heritage today.  Read more and sign up

The Jews of Egypt: From the Bible to the Golden Age and the Abraham Accords

Louise Arwas and Alec Nacamuli - The Jewish Community in Egypt is as old as the Jewish tradition itself. We will follow the Jewish presence from the time of the Bible through until its Golden Age, from around 1870 until the Suez Crisis in 1956. We will see how the tides changed for the community with the growth of Egyptian nationalism and the establishment of modern Israel. We will end by taking a look at the reality today, at the Jews, the synagogues and cemeteries that remain, and what efforts are being made to preserve this important part of Jewish and Egyptian history. Read more and sign up

Czeching In: The Rich History and Vibrant Present of Prague's Jewish Community

Emma Günsberger -  Join us on a captivating journey through time as we uncover the remarkable history of Jews in Czechia and delve deep into the heart of Prague to discover its vibrant Jewish heritage. Explore Prague's Jewish Quarter and learn about its history and contemporary life on a virtual guided tour. Learn about the current community, their cultural events, community initiatives, and the challenges they are facing today, which shape the lives of today's Czech Jews. Read more and sign up

The Jews of South Africa: a special community at the tip of the continent

Craig Nudelman -The history of the Jews in South Africa officially began in 1841, when a congregation of British Jews, known as the Gardens Shul, was founded in Cape Town. We will experience the history of the community's roots in Cape Town's city center, and we will learn about the role of the Lithuanian Jewish immigrants in development of Johannesburg during the years of the "Gold Rush". We will discuss the situation of Jews in South Africa before, during and after the Apartheid regime, and we will witness the growth from a small service of 17 men in 1841 to the healthy and vibrant community of today. Read more and sign up

The Two Millennia Story of Moroccan Jewry

Yona Abeddour - Morocco is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the Diaspora. This two-millennia heritage is the result of an intersection between various civilizations and traditions including Berber, Andalusian, and Arab among others. We will explore the past and present of Moroccan Jewry while addressing some central questions related to why the Jews left or stayed, what is Jewish life like in Morocco today, and what is the future of Moroccan Jews in the country. Read more and sign up

The Jews of Crimea and the story of the Karaites

Evgenia Kempinski - The peninsula of Crimea, on the northern shore of the Black Sea, has been historically a land of different peoples and contested borders. Two different Jewish communities also lived here side by side for a very long time: traditional Jews and Karaites. We are going to visit Crimea and learn the differences between traditional (Rabbinic) and Karaite (Non-rabbinic) Jews. We will also talk about Jewish agricultural settlements, Zionist training camps, and Soviet Jewish collective farms. Then we will discuss the history and traditions of the Karaites in the Russian Empire and we will look at the Synagogues, Karaite praying homes (Kenesas), and old Jewish cemeteries. Read more and sign up

Qesher Book Club - "Kantika - History Into Fiction, A Sephardic Journey"

Elizabeth Graver - Kantika ("song" in Ladino) was inspired by Elizabeth's grandmother Rebecca, who was born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Istanbul and whose tumultuous and shape-shifting life journey took her to Spain, Cuba, and New York. For Elizabeth, the process of writing Kantika was also a journey. She interviewed relatives and strangers, traveled to Turkey, Spain and Cuba, and read deeply to better understand the worlds of the novel. In this talk, she will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the writing of Kantika and discuss some of its central themes, among them music and language crossings, ideas of home, resilience and joy, and the rich, vanishing culture of Turkish Sephardic Jews. Read more and sign up for free

The Jews of Belarus: From the Pale of Settlement to the USSR and Beyond

Debra Brunner and Artur Livshyts - Belarus' Jewish story is rich, vital, traumatic, fascinating, and barely spoken of. The territory was ruled at different times by Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. It was invaded by Nazis and came under the rule of the USSR until 1991. This talk will give a snapshot of the history of the Jewish people of Belarus, its legacy on the Belarusian Jewish community of today, and an insight into the building of the Jewish Cultural Heritage Trail initiated by The Together Plan Charity. Read more and sign up

From the Inquisition to the Caribbean: The Jews of Jamaica

Rivka Campbell - The history of Jews in Jamaica is rich and extensive. The first wave of arrivals were escaping the Inquisition. Among the latest immigrants were European refugees running away from Nazism. Today the Jewish community is very connected with the local Jamaican population. Only one active synagogue remains, the sand floored Shaare Shalom, which hosts the United Congregation of Israelites in Kingston. Though the community today is but a fraction of its former size, its impact on Jamaica endures. Read more and sign up

A Look at Jewish Colombia: Its Community, History, and Challenges

Vivianne Tesone Milhem  - Learn about the Jewish presence in Colombia, its historical roots, how the communities were established, the challenges we faced during the country's Civil War, and how our identity has been shaped by all these factors. My name is Vivianne and I am a third-generation Jew living in Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia. I will tell you the history of my family and use that as a springboard to show you about my community and my country, illustrated by fascinating historical anecdotes and the recent resurgence of people who are rediscovering their lost Jewish roots. Read more and sign up

Jews of Denmark: A Virtual Tour of Jewish Copenhagen

Jews of Argentina: "They sowed seeds and harvested doctors"

Claudia Hercman - We invite you to a virtual tour of Jewish Argentina, the 6th largest Jewish Community in the world. Argentina has always been a refuge for those who fled from the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal, the pogroms in Russia, and the Holocaust in Europe. We will learn about the first Jewish immigrants, who settled in the rural areas and gradually moved to the cities. In the 60s there were half a million Jews in Argentina, now there are only 220,000. What happened to those who left and those who remained? Read more and sign up

Dublin's "Little Jerusalem": A Jewish History of Ireland