Watch, Listen, Learn

The Jewish community is being offered a false choice between countering antisemitism and protecting democracy and civil rights. But there is no inclusive democracy without Jewish safety — and no Jewish safety without inclusive democracy. Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and a nationally recognized leader on countering antisemitism and extremism and protecting democracy — who previously led the successful lawsuit against the Charlottesville neo-Nazis — joined Rabbi Sharon Brous for a conversation on how we can reject the false binaries of this moment and advance a more just and inclusive world for Jews and all communities. Helpful Links: Sign up to receive JCPA updates Jewish communal statement led by JCPA, rejecting the false choice between Jewish safety and democracy Civil rights coalition statement organized by JCPA and the Leadership Conference on recent antisemitic violence June 2024 webinar with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Antisemitism x Democracy report Op-ed by Amy Spitalnick and Randi Weingarten – To Fight Antisemitism and Preserve Democracy, Educators and the Jewish Community Must Partner Closely

After Services, join us for a conversation with Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of J Street. Jeremy Ben-Ami is an American lawyer and activist who is the founder and president of J Street, a liberal advocacy organization dedicated to promoting American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Israel-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically

Join us after services for a conversation with Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove.

Join us after services for a conversation with Rep. Laura Friedman.

We welcome Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah, Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the forefront of a burgeoning new peace movement. In conversation with Rabbi Brous, they will share their personal journeys and vision for a shared society. This conversation will be a rare and powerful opportunity to hear from two of the most courageous voices mobilizing Israelis and Palestinians toward peace. We hope you’ll join us in showing up, listening deeply, and supporting their work. Joining us virtually? Sign up here!

Seeking the Hiding God: A Personal Theological Essay invites readers to join the author in asking, perhaps for the first time, what they actually believe about ultimate matters of faith and doubt – and rewards fellow- searchers for ultimate meaning with reassurance that the search itself can be a source of personal fulfillment, vibrant community, and great joy.”

The two are members of the Parents Circle – Families Forum, a grassroots organization of Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost immediate family members in the conflict, and who believe that only together can they achieve a sustained peace. Rabbi Brous will join them in dialogue after Shabbat services. Please join us.

Stay for the hilarity from humorist and comic actress Annie Korzen – as seen on Seinfeld, Pen15, Why Women Kill, Thelma – who has spent her career making people laugh. Hear more of the best live comedy performances from this master storyteller! And check out The Book of Annie: Humor, Heart, and Chutzpah from an Accidental Influencer and Annie Korzen: Funny, Jewish & Live! Volume 2.

Join us for “We Are All Hostages,” an important event where we will hear from families of the October 7th hostages leading protests inside of Israel. Learn about their efforts to call on the government to negotiate a deal to end the war and bring their loved ones home. Discover how you can support this critical cause and help make a difference. Visit allhostages.com for more information.

We gather bringing with us a myriad of concerns: personal, social, and national division and conflict, technological change and political uncertainty, the demands of individual leadership challenges, and a sense of isolation and depletion. Amidst these challenges, the urgency to reconnect with our common humanity has never been more critical. Dive into the turbulent histories and present-day challenges that shape our world and find inspiration in leaders who have confronted seemingly insurmountable obstacles. How do we find hope in moments of dark despair? Where does our resiliency come from? How might we transcend the frameworks that keep us entrenched in polarization and paralysis to move toward a brighter future? Each summer, the Resnick Aspen Action Forum offers the opportunity to come together with high-integrity, action-oriented leaders to reflect, refresh, and recommit to confronting some of society’s greatest challenges. About the Aspen Institute: The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

Join Executive Producer, Marshall Goldberg as he talks about his new docuseries, Justice, USA and criminal justice reform.

At a time when polarization around the world has never been greater, SHARON BROUS, author and leading American rabbi, will talk with JEFFREY GOLDBERG, editor in chief of The Atlantic, about the extraordinary challenges posed at every level of society—social, familial, individual—by the most difficult and intractable moral issues. How do we begin to talk honestly and effectively with each other, for example, about Israel and Gaza? How do we talk about politics and the monumental election facing us a few months from now? Freedom of speech? Religion, race, gender? As the founding rabbi of IKAR in Los Angeles, one of the most diverse, fastest growing and influential Jewish communities in the nation, Rabbi Brous has spent the last 20 years trying to foster conversations and thoughtfulness that can see us through these seemingly impossible times.