At this pivotal moment in US politics, we launch a series to explore perspectives on Jewish life in the States. This series is run in partnership with the Lyons Learning Project.
Event start times vary; see below for details. Streaming links* will be sent out shortly before each event. See below for full details.
*If you booked your ticket and have not received the link by 5pm (GMT) on the day of the event, please check your spam folder and, if it's not there, email programming@jewishrenaissance.org.uk.
JR has an ethical ticketing policy and is offering free tickets to the online lectures, but if you can afford it, please donate to support our work. We are proposing denominations of 18 – the numerical value of the Hebrew word 'chai', meaning 'life'.
Tuesday 22 October
Election Perspectives
As support for Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas War and the prospect of a (partly) Jewish family in the White House all vie for political attention, we ask what’s at stake for Jewish Americans as they head to the polls. Join Jodi Rudoren, editor of the Forward, America’s oldest Jewish news publication; Washington-based journalist and author Emily Tamkin (Bad Jews); and former Washington correspondent and Sunday Times News Review editor Josh Glancy for an in-depth US election special. See our literary take on the election in a piece about Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America in the Autumn 2024 issue of JR.
7pm (BST)
Tuesday 19 November
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy, is also home to the United States’ third-largest Jewish population. To celebrate the launch of our October Issue, join us (virtually) in the Pennsylvanian city for a taste of the heritage and thriving contemporary Jewish culture of this vibrant community. Run in partnership with the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. Guest speakers include musician Ami Yares, artist Deborah Zakheim and Rabbi Lance Sussman.
8pm (GMT)
Monday 25 November
The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton
For more than two centuries, founding father Alexander Hamilton’s youth in the Caribbean has remained shrouded in mystery. Hamilton himself wanted it that way, and most biographers have simply assumed he had a Christian boyhood. Drawing from his award-winning book, The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton, Professor Andrew Porwancher debunks a string of myths about the origins of Hamilton, who he believes was born and raised Jewish. Porwancher upends assumptions and revolutionises our understanding of an American icon.
7.30pm (GMT)
Tuesday 3 December
Writing the Zeitgeist
A month on from the US election, we enlist a literary lens through which to examine what it means to be Jewish in America today. Featuring award-winning authors Josh Cohen (The Netanyahus) and Elizabeth McCracken (The Hero of This Book), this discussion will explore American Jewish life, past, present and future.
