We have hosted several events for students, faculty, and the wider community over the fall so far, and are looking forward to many more this academic year. Learn more about our past events below.
10/29/25 Together in Manzanar: Author Talk with Tracy Slater
Renowned Jewish-American author Tracy Slater gave a talk about her new book, Together in Manzanar:The True Story of a Japanese Jewish Family in an American Concentration Camp (Chicago Review Press 2025). The evening included a reading, discussion, book sale and signing.
Tracy Slater is a Jewish American writer from Boston, based in her husband’s country of Japan. Her latest book is a work of narrative history titled Together in Manzanar: The True Story of a Japanese Jewish Family in an American Concentration Camp (Chicago Review Press, July 8 2025), named a Jewish Book Council Recommended Summer Read and featured by NPR Morning Edition, among other media outlets. Her previous book was the mixed-marriage memoir The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self, and Home on the Far Side of the World (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2015). It was named a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and one of PopSugar’s best books of 2015, among other accolades. Slater has also published work in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Time magazine’s Made by History, and more. She taught writing for over ten years in Boston-area universities and in men’s and women’s prisons throughout Massachusetts. She is the recipient of PEN New England’s Friend to Writers Award and holds a PhD in English and American literature from Brandeis University.
9/16/25 Faith and Humanism: Activism and Ethics in Israel After October 7
Dr. Yael Assor and Esther Sperber gave reflections about the limits and rekindling of their core beliefs and activism, which were severely challenged by the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 2023 and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza. Yael Assor presented on “Reckoning with Humanism post-October 7,”, and Esther Sperber gave a talk entitled “What does God ask from you? Activism, Torah and Faith.” These lectures were followed by remarks from discussant Dr. Adam Seligman and a panel Q&A.
Yael Assor is a socio-cultural and medical anthropologist who studies how culturally dependent moral views shape seemingly “objective” medical policy tools. During the Israel-Hamas war Assor initiated an autoethnographic project on the entanglement of humanism and militarism among left-wing Israeli Jews. Along with her academic endeavors, Assor is the founding director of the Forum for Health Equity in East Jerusalem, an initiative attending to the stark gaps in community healthcare services between the two parts of Jerusalem.
Esther Sperber is the founder of Smol Emuni US, an organization of Orthodox and observant Jews committed to justice, equality, and dignity for Jews and Palestinians. They are building a courageous Orthodox Jewish voice for peace and for ending the occupation. Born in Jerusalem and based in New York, she is also one of the leaders of the Hostages’ Family Forum and the pro-democracy protests.
Sperber is an architect and writer whose work explores the intersections of religion, culture, and social justice. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Haaretz, The Forward, and more. She has lectured at Harvard, Yale, JTS, and Yeshiva University.
9/15/25 Israeli Folk Dancing
We celebrated the beginning of the semester with a night of Israeli Folk Dancing! Instructor Pazit Lahav taught students several popular dances, and the class was followed by a delicious Israeli dinner. This event was hosted by the Hebrew Program and the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, and we plan to hold more after the resounding success of the first.
