First (Second) Thursdays: Tribal Encounters

This session meets on the SECOND Thursday of the month!

Tribal Encounters: Jewish-Indian Relations in American History
Presented by Dr. Brien Brothman
Thursday, January 8, 7:30 pm (Hybrid)

“Strange–you will think–why all of a sudden Indians?” These words were penned in 1919 by New York Yiddish poet Eli Almi. They appeared in an essay in his travelogue Tvischen Indianer (Among Indians). Would it be out of place for Jews today to ask the same question? Why bring up Indians now, and what does this have to do with us? Along with being active in struggles for racial equality and social justice, American Jews have figured prominently in research concerning all manner of people in America and around the world. This kind of interest and commitment, however, does not seem to have extended so much to Native Americans right here at home. Yet there is a fascinating and important story about the Jewish and Native American relationship that needs telling, a story that bears on shared concerns with identity, persistence, and survival.

Drawing on recent scholarship, this session will offer brief historical glimpses into the Jewish-Native American relationship. By training, Brien Brothman is an archivist and historian of ideas. He received a BA (history) from McGill University and PhD (history) from McGill/Université Laval. His early work examined Canadian history and European overseas expansion. More recently, he has turned to the evolution of the relationship between the concepts of “history” and “memory,” and the history of time consciousness—what factors (political, cultural, religious) have accounted at different times for how individuals, communities, and societies have experienced different aspects of the past as still present, as having happened “just yesterday” or “a long time ago,” or as “dead and gone.”

No cost for congregants; $15 per non-congregant.
Registration requested by January 6 so we can adequately prepare.

First Thursday programs bring you guest speakers, including congregants and rabbis from around the country, to share their expertise on topics of interest. We will also include several discussions of films with Jewish themes.

Sponsored by our Adult Education Committee.