UCLA professor to speak at B’nai Abraham

LIVINGSTON, NJ — On Monday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m., Temple B’nai Abraham Adult Learning presents professor David Myers, who teaches in the history department at UCLA; his topic will be “Jewish History and Jewish Memory.”

“We Jews are interested in our history. But what we call our history is often our collective memory and the two are frequently in conflict,” a press release from the shul stated. “Archeologists cannot be sure the Exodus actually happened; yet each Pesach we praise God for freeing us from Egypt. ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ makes us nostalgic for the shtetl, even as historians make it clear Anatevka was a place of poverty and strife. The success of Jewish life depends on the balance of the historical rootedness of our past and the sometimes less than historical memories and traditions that flow from it. No one is better equipped to explore this balance with us than professor David Myers, the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Professor of History at UCLA and a frequent visitor to Temple B’nai Abraham.”

Myers, who was chairman of UCLA’s history department and directed its Center for Jewish Studies, has written and lectured widely on modern Jewish history and Jewish intellectual history. Myers’ last presentation at Temple B’nai Abraham dealt with the Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel, the subject of a forthcoming book. The present topic comes from another forthcoming book, “The Stakes of History,” which explores the relationship between history and memory.

This lecture is free and open to the public. TBA is located at 300 E. Northfield Road in Livingston. For more information, call 973-994-2290 or send an email to [email protected]. Visit the TBA website at www.tbanj.org.

UPDATE: This release was updated to reflect the new time for the lecture, which will now be held at 7 p.m. rather than the original 7:30 p.m.

  Temple B’nai Abraham