Great Stories | Spring 2016

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Dr. Noreen Green, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony (LAJS), which she founded in 1994, discusses the history of film music, concentrating on the contribution of Jewish émigré composers. The talk will include the screening of movie highlights, as well as recordings from the LAJS performances.

Israeli Film Series: The Band’s Visit

Berkeley Law, Warren Room 295 Boalt Hall

The Band's Visit (Israel, 2007, 87 min.) A band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves lost in the wrong town. Reception included. Free and open to the public. RSVP at bit.ly/Bandsvisit.     A year-long series on Israeli […]

Israeli Film Series: Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

GETT: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem An Israeli woman (Ronit Elkabetz) fights for three years to obtain a divorce from her devout husband (Simon Abkarian), who refuses to grant his permission to dissolve the marriage. Reception included. Free and open to the public. RSVP at bit.ly/vivianeamsalem.       A year-long series on Israeli cinema, co-presented by […]

Music & Activism: Israeli superstar Noa (Achinoam Nini) in conversation with Professor Ben Brinner

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

6:30 p.m. reception. 7 p.m. program start time. RSVP here. Center for Jewish Studies Faculty Director and Professor of Music, Ben Brinner, will interview Israel’s international singer, songwriter, and peace activist, Achinoam Nini. This is a Regents’ Lectureship co-sponsored by the Center for Jewish Studies, the Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies, and the Magnes […]

PopUp Exhibition | Howard Freedman on 78rpm Records and the Sound of American Jewish Experience

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

The pinnacle of Jewish immigration to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century coincided with the rise of the phonograph disc (which was itself invented by a Jewish immigrant). This presentation will offer a guided tour of sounclips from the first decades of the twentieth century, including rare 78rpm discs from the […]

Perspectives on Jewish Art & Islamic Art

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

SPEAKERS 12:45-2:30 pm Francesco Spagnolo Curator at The Magnes and Associate Adjunct Prof, UCB Carol Bier Islamic Art Historian and Visiting Scholar, CIS/GTU 11.22.2016 The Graduate Theological Union would like to acknowledge and thank the Walter & Elise Haas Fund for their generous support of the Center for Islamic Studies and Center for Jewish Studies […]

Israeli Film Series: Late Marriage

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Late Marriage (Israel, 2001,102 minutes) Zaza (Lior Louie Ashkenazi) is an eligible 31-year-old bachelor who has done his best to remain unattached. His traditional Georgian-Jewish family is growing impatient, however, and they aggressively join forces to choose a young bride for him, with the stipulation that she be a virgin. Reception included. Free and open to […]

Book Talk | Walter Zev Feldman. Klezmer: Music, History, and Memory

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Join musicologist and klezmer music pioneer, Walter Zev Feldman, for a fascinating talk based on his new book, Klezmer: Music, History, and Memory. Klezmer: Music, History, and Memory (Oxford University Press 2016) is the first comprehensive study of the musical structure and social history of klezmer music, the music of the Jewish musicians' guild of Eastern Europe. Emerging […]

Israeli Artists in Performance: Israeli Artists in Conversation with Israel

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

The Magnes is delighted to co-sponsor, The Berkley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies' Israeli Artists in Conversation with Israel, An International Conference on Israeli Art and Society Thursday, April 6 ISRAELI ARTISTS IN PERFORMANCE 6:00pm DINNER RECEPTION 6:30pm PERFORMANCES Yair Dalal c.a.t.a.m.o.n dance troupe Ibrahim Miari 8:30pm End of Program

Jewish Songlines: Charting & Chanting the Moroccan Diaspora

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

In this multimedia, multidisciplinary presentation, Samuel R. Torjman Thomas explores the place of musical expression in the definition of Moroccan Jewish culture. Through discussion and live musical performance, Dr. Torjman Thomas analyzes the place of liturgical, para-liturgical, and folk repertoires in Moroccan musical life, highlighting the juxtaposition of several fundamental diasporic identities: Jewish, Sephardic, and […]

David Kertzer | In the Name of the Cross: Christianity and Anti-Semitic Propaganda in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Heated debate surrounds the question of the role Christianity and Christian churches played in the Nazi and Italian Fascist demonization of the Jews. This talk brings to light similarities and differences in the Nazi and Italian Fascist uses of Christianity in their efforts to turn their populations against the Jews through examination of two of […]

Cold Case in Constantine: Anti-Jewish Violence and the Colonial Situation in French Algeria

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Life and Art 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

Cole’s prize-winning book solves the mystery of the Constantine riots of August 1934, an episode of violence between Muslims and Jews in French Algeria that resulted in the deaths of 25 Jews and 3 Muslims. The murders in Constantine were the most lethal episode of anti-Jewish violence in peacetime in modern French history. Cole argues […]