The Scandal of Kabbalah
Speakers: Yaacob Dweck The Scandal of Kabbalah is the first book about the origins of a culture war that began in early modern Europe and continues to this day: the debate between kabbalists and their critics on the nature of Judaism and the meaning of religious tradition. Drawing on a range of previously unexamined sources, […]
Etgar Keret
Speakers: Etgar Keret, Ilan Goodman, Tim Samuels The critically acclaimed master short-story teller Etgar Keret gave us a taste of his magic with his new collection of stories, Suddenly, A Knock on the Door. More absurd, humorous, surreal and compassionate than ever, they reflect Israel’s uncanny reality. Yet, at the same time, Keret’s characters are […]
The Patagonian Hare
Speakers: Claude Lanzmann, Alan Yentob Claude Lanzmann fought in the Resistance, opposed the war in Algeria, was Simone de Beauvoir’s lover and Jean-Paul Sartre’s friend. He played a very important role in French intellectual life and is above all known for his magisterial nine-and-a-half hour film Shoah. He tells all this and much more in […]
The Search for Joseph Roth
Speakers: Dennis Marks, Micahel Hoffman n this psycho-geography Dennis Marks traveled through Austria and Ukraine in search of a great author who was both a compulsive liar and the prose poet of displacement. Wandering Jew: The Search for Joseph Roth juxtaposes Roth’s unique vision with the statelessness of those who live on the frayed edges […]
Constructs of Place: What Makes Cities Tick?
Speakers: Avner De-Shalit, Barbara E Mann, Ziona Strelitz What shapes a city’s identity? Who defines it? Is New York about individualism or community? Is Jerusalem about religion, conflict or cafés? This session looked at cities as diverse as these, plus Hong Kong, Berlin and Tel Aviv – at their DNA, and how it changes through […]
Israel After the Arab Spring
Speakers: Jeffrey Goldberg, Robin Lustig Will the Arab Spring lead to peace between Israel and its neighbours, or does it mean perpetual war? Is what we’ve been seeing really an Arab Spring, or is it in fact an Islamic Awakening? Join Robin Lustig, who will be asking these questions to Jeffrey Goldberg, the man hailed […]
Six Word Memoirs 2012
Speakers: Lail Arad, Shalom Auslander, David Mills, Francesca Beard, Larry Smith, Jamie Glassman Hemingway’s legendary challenge to write a novel in six words—”For sale: baby shoes, never worn”— has unintentionally created one of the hottest modern literary trends. In 2006, SMITH Magazine gave the six-word story a personal twist, calling it the Six-Word Memoir. Now, […]
Six Word Memoirs 2012
Speakers: Lail Arad, Shalom Auslander, David Mills, Francesca Beard, Larry Smith, Jamie Glassman Hemingway’s legendary challenge to write a novel in six words—”For sale: baby shoes, never worn”— has unintentionally created one of the hottest modern literary trends. In 2006, SMITH Magazine gave the six-word story a personal twist, calling it the Six-Word Memoir. Now, […]
Poet in the City: Bob Dylan
Speakers: Clinton Heylin, Jackie Oates, Sophie Solomon, Dorian Lynskey Bob Dylan’s songs formed an indispensable soundtrack to the 1960s, and have continued to capture the imagination of audiences ever since. His song lyrics are often praised for their poetry and he has been acclaimed by some as one of the great unsung poets of the […]
Yehuda Halevi
Speakers: Hillel Halkin, Anthony Julius Ron Arad is a central figure in contemporary design, renowned for his willingness to push boundaries between disciplines and experiment with processes and materials. Many of his designs such as the Rover chair and the Bookworm bookshelf are iconic. His architectural projects including the Tel Aviv Opera House and Holon […]
The First Lady of Fleet St
Rabbinical Creativity
Speakers: Raphael Zarum, Binyamin Lau Rabbi Binyamin Lau discussed with Dr. Raphael Zarum whether today’s religious establishment apparently considers that reality should be adapted to conform to religious law and what can be done to revive the innovative spirit of the Sages.