Depictions of religious practice are relatively rare in the American televisual landscape. Nonetheless, a few select series have depicted characters’ experience of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. How many focus on the day’s religious theme, repentance (“teshuvah” in Hebrew)? What other themes would take center stage? What might that mean in the context of Jewish life in America? Come prepared for the Days of Awe by sharing clips from, among others: The Goldbergs, Northern Exposure, Entourage, Gossip Girl, and Broad City.
Rachel Greenblatt has taught at Dartmouth College, Harvard and Wesleyan Universities. Rachel holds a Ph.D. in Jewish History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and B.A. in Histor from Cornell. She has also studied biblical and rabbinic text at the Pardes Institute and at Matan - the Sadie Rennert Women’s Institute for Torah Study, both in Jerusalem. Rachel’s scholarship focuses on the cultural and social history of Jews in central and eastern Europe.
A complimentary guided tour of the Vilna and its history will run approximately 45 minutes before the start of the program.
Interested in this? Check out Rachel's class that looks at how and why Jews are portrayed on the small screen throughout the decades. "From Sarnoff to Seinfeld: Televisual Jews in Historical Context" will be on select Mondays starting in October.