February 5, 2023 (SUNDAY)

February 13, 2023 (Hazak Monday)

10:00am
Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and What is Really Going on at our Southern Border

Joe Goldman
HIAS Community Engagement Director, Western Region

From Afghanistan to Ukraine to people from around the world trying to exercise their legal right
to seek asylum at our southern border, there’s so much confusion and misinformation about
today’s refugee crises. With over 100 million forcibly displaced people across the planet – more
than after World War II – take a moment to learn more about the very Jewish history and
origins of our global refugee resettlement system that gets to the heart of Jewish existence in
LA, the US, Israel, and beyond

Click Here To Watch

11:15am
High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic

Glenn Frankel
Author and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist

With Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz, commentator

One of the great movies of Hollywood’s golden age, High Noon (1952) was an instant box office
hit and won four Academy Awards, including Best Actor for screen legend Gary Cooper. Yet
what has often been overlooked is that High Noon was made during the height of the Red Scare
and the Hollywood blacklist, a time of political inquisition and vituperation that has eerie
echoes in our own troubled era. The movie’s screenwriter and associate producer, Carl
Foreman, was called to testify in the middle of the film shoot about his former membership in
the Communist Party, and he refused to name names and was compelled to flee the country.
Jews were a particular target for those seeking to take back America from usurpers whom they
accused of stealing our country and destroying its values. Recommend viewing High Noon prior
to this date (Prime Video, Hulu, Roku, Starz, Vimeo, Netflix, etc.)

Click Here To Watch

February 27, 2023 (Hazak Monday)

10:00am
Amazed -- Heschel's Masterwork in Music

Cantor Phil Baron, Valley Beth Shalom
Professor of Sociology (Retired), California State University Northridge

“Ladies and gentlemen, a great miracle has just taken place...the sun has gone down.” Cantor
Phil will provide an update on the Heschel tribute project and play pieces of the concert. If you
missed the “Amazed” concert at VBS in December, do not miss today.

11:15am
The Legal History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Steve Zipperstein, JD
Assistant Adjunct Professor Public Policy, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

As we approach the 75 th  anniversary of Israel's independence, we will look back at a series of
dramatic courtroom trials pitting Jews against Arabs during British rule in Palestine between
1922-1948.  While this may sound esoteric, it represents a crucial part of Israel's history,
involving the leading Jewish, Arab and British personalities of the period.  The legal history is
also extremely important for understanding the modern-day Palestinian "lawfare" campaign
against Israel at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

March 13, 2023 (Hazak Monday)

10:00am
UNKL MOSES: MENTSH or MAMZER? Good Guy or Scoundrel?

Miri Koral
Founding Director, California Institute for Yiddish Culture and Language

As depicted in the 1932 Yiddish film featuring the then-world-famous actor and director
Maurice Schwartz, Uncle Moses is a larger-than-life character you either love or hate, or both.
Based on the 1912 novel by the acclaimed popular author Sholem Asch, Unkl Moses explores
the themes of the Jewish immigrant experience in America, the early labor movement in NY’s
garment industry, and the true nature of benevolence vs. exploitation.
The film will be introduced by Miri Koral with a brief background about Asch and Schwartz and
will be followed by a Q&A, sure to be a lively discussion.

April 10, 2023 (Hazak Monday)

10:00am
Passover Music and Traditions from Around the World

Cantor Jacqueline Rafii, Valley Beth Shalom

Cantor Rafii will share the songs, Seder rituals, and other traditions of Pesach that are practiced by some of the wonderfully diverse cultures within our Jewish family. This includes Persian, Ashkenazic, Sephardic, Mizrahi and other Passover songs; the friendly scallion beating ritual; Ha Lachma Anya traditions, and more.

11:15am
Raising A+ Human Beings

Bruce Powell
Founder and Head Emeritus, de Toledo High School

This session focuses on how parents and grandparents, or significant others, can help create
cultures of kindness and excellence both in the homes and schools of their children and
grandchildren. The talk will explore the keys to this process as we understand and apply Jewish
values in our day-to-day lives.

May 8, 2023 (Hazak Monday)

10:00am
Better with Age: The Psychology of Successful Aging

Alan Castel, PhD
Professor, UCLA Department of Psychology and head of Memory & Lifespan Cognition Lab

Better with Age brings together cutting-edge research and personal stories of inspiration to
help us understand the effects of aging on memory, emotion and interpersonal behavior.
Better with Age addresses the many myths and paradoxes about the aging process. Although
most people think of their later years in terms of decline, they can be one of the best times in
life. Professor Castel will present the latest scientific research about the psychology of aging,
coupled with insights from those who have succeeded in doing it well, such as Maya Angelou,
Bob Newhart, John Glenn, and John Wooden.

11:15am
Music is Medicine for the Mind

Carol Rosenstein, Founder and Executive Director Music Mends Minds
John Kander, Co-Executive Director, Music Mends Minds

Music Mends Minds was created out of love, but quickly merged with science to bring free
music therapy and engagement to seniors with neurodegenerative challenges. Music is the one intellectual capacity seniors do not lose when dementia is otherwise destroying their senses of self. Individually it is nothing less than “medicine for the mind”, as vital as good sleep, nutrition, and exercise. However, with 6 million Alzheimer’s patients in the US and a new dementia
diagnosis every 3 seconds, it may also be the most revolutionary new idea in Public Health.

Stay Tuned for More Hazak Programming, including:

• Hazak Shabbat Dinners, with programs
• Field Trips
• Small Discussion Groups
• Special Series
• And more…..