Join us for a talk by Rebecca T. Alpert, Professor of Religion Emeritus at Temple University.

Zoom link forthcoming

While it is commonly accepted that all American Jews stand with Israel, American Jewish views on Israel (and Israeli views of American Judaism) have reflected the reality that, like all religions, Judaism is not monolith. We will seek a better understanding of the nuances and complexities of American Jewish connections to Israel by examining the history of American Zionism, the role of the Holocaust and Jewish identity, and the effects of October 7 on American awareness of the history and context of the long-standing conflict in Israel/Palestine.

Rebecca T. Alpert is Professor of Religion Emeritus at Temple University. She attended Barnard College before receiving her Ph.D. in religion at Temple University and her rabbinical training at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. After spending the early part of her career in academic administration, Alpert joined the faculty at Temple University in the department of Religion and the Women’s Studies program.

She has published 8 books, 28 peer-reviewed anthology chapters, 14 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 60 articles and essays for general audiences on twentieth-century American Jewish history and culture, gender and sexuality, Israel/Palestine, and Jewish ethics. As an extension of these interests, she has, over the past several years, developed an expertise on religion and sport. Her major work in the field, Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball, was published by Oxford University Press in June 2011. Her latest book is an anthology she edited with Arthur Remillard, Gods, Games, and Globalization, published by Mercer University Press in 2019. She is currently the book review editor for the International Journal of Religion and Sport and co-editor of a soon to be published Routledge Handbook on Religion and Sport.

She serves on the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission and is active in Jewish Voice for Peace Action and Rabbis for Ceasefire, where she is the team lead for lobbying.