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MAY 2026 PROGRAMS

IDEALS OF FREEDOM: JEWISH IMMIGRATION, ARTS AND ADVOCACY IN AMERICA

Immigrant Voices in Color: Murals and other Art from America’s Synagogues

Wednesday, May 13, 7:00 pm ET   

Join art and architectural historian Dr. Samuel D. Gruber for an illuminating journey through the vibrant art and design of America’s historic synagogues. This illustrated lecture explores how Jewish immigrants expressed their faith, identity, and aspirations in a new land through color, pattern, and imagery. Dr. Gruber will highlight the beautifully painted ceiling, pillars, and curtains of the Walnut Street Synagogue in Chelsea, one of the few surviving examples of the richly decorated immigrant-era sanctuaries that once flourished across the country. He will also present murals and artwork from other current and former synagogues, revealing how these sacred spaces became canvases for storytelling and memory.  Through his engaging talk and striking visuals, Dr. Gruber will show how these works of art—created by and for immigrant congregations—continue to speak to us today, celebrating a legacy of creativity, resilience, and community that is central to the American Jewish experience.
Dr. Samuel D. Gruber has been a leader in the documentation, protection, and preservation of historic Jewish sites worldwide since 1988. He was founding director of the Jewish Heritage Program of World Monuments Fund (1988-1996) and Research Director of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad (1998 through 2008).He presently directs Gruber Heritage Global, a cultural resource consulting firm and is president of the not-for-profit International Survey of Jewish Monuments. He has taught as part-time faculty in Art History and Jewish Studies at Syracuse University (1994-2022) and at Binghamton, Colgate, Cornell, and Temple universities and Le Moyne College.  Sam received his BA in Medieval Studies from Princeton University, his Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History from Columbia University and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Rome, where he won the prestigious Rome Prize in Art History. Sam writes and lectures about Jewish art and architecture.  He is author of American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community (2003), Synagogues (1999), and scores of reports, articles, and book chapters. Since 2008, he has written the blog Samuel Gruber’s Jewish Art and Monuments . He is a frequent invited speaker and consultant across the United States and in Europe.  Session partners – Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at American Ancestors, Massachusetts Antisemitism Synagogue Task Force (MAST), Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program (CSP)
 

 

From Synagogue to Museum: The Journey of a Jewish Immigrant Woodcarver and His Torah Arks

Wednesday, May 27, 7:00 pm ET   (RESCHEDULED)

Torah arks and furnishings by immigrant woodworker Sam Katz once graced numerous synagogues in New England and beyond. One of his largest surviving works remain in Chelsea’s Walnut Street Synagogue. Simona Di Nepi, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Curator of Judaica at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, will tell the behind-the-scenes stories of two works by this artist in the museum’s collection, from the acquisition of a mysterious gilded lion 65 years ago, to the recent display of a rescued Torah Ark from Chelsea and its transformation into the focus point of the MFA’s Judaica gallery.  The presentation will also highlight other works by American Jewish immigrant artists represented in the gallery.
Simona Di Nepi is the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Curator of Judaica at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, where she is responsible for building and displaying the Judaica collection, and for curating ‘Intentional Beauty: Jewish Ritual Art from the Collection,’ the museum’s first Judaica gallery. Originally from Rome, before moving to the United States, Simona studied and worked in London and Tel Aviv for 25 years. She filled curatorial roles, in both decorative arts and Old Masters, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, The National Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts in London, where she cared for permanent collections and curated exhibitions. In Israel, she worked as curator at Anu: The Museum of the Jewish People and as a Lecturer in Italian Renaissance Art at Reichman University, Herzliya. Simona curated the exhibitions and wrote the accompanying publications for “Reunions: Bringing Early Italians Paintings Back Together” (The National Gallery, London, 2005), and “Dreyfus: The Story of a French-Jewish Family” (Anu: the Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv, 2014). She is also the author of the National Gallery’s collection catalogue From ‘Duccio to Leonardo: Renaissance Painting 1250-1500.’ In Judaica, Simona wrote the essays “Itinerant Sephardic Judaica: from Dutch Ports to the Harbours of Europe and the Americas,” “Jewish Things at the Museum of Fine Arts: a History,” “The Servi Shaddai: the Family History of an amulet at the MFA Boston,” and “Treasures from storage: Two Rediscovered Italian Jewish Textiles.”  Simona is guiding Boston University students in the development of “Real and Imagined: Rembrandt and the Jews of the 17th-Century Dutch Republic,” an in-focus MFA exhibition that opens in December 2025. Session partners – Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at American Ancestors, Massachusetts Antisemitism Synagogue Task Force (MAST), Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program (CSP)
 

Learn more about the series here 

 

CSP

The Walnut Street Synagogue is pleased to be a partner congregation of the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program.  Please join us at an upcoming program!

Join Tamar Biala for a three-part series exploring how ancient forms of storytelling are being reshaped to respond to the most urgent realities of our time. Through the lens of contemporary midrash, these sessions bring together scholarship, personal testimony, and creative expression. Guided by Tamar and her guests, we will encounter voices that bridge past and present, revealing how traditional Jewish interpretive tools can help process grief, hold complexity, and search for meaning in moments that defy understanding.
Part 1 – A New Voice in Ancient Conversation – In this opening session, Tamar Biala shares the story behind Dirshuni – how the project first began and the vision that inspired it. She will explore how this project reclaims and reimagines a traditionally male-dominated genre, opening new pathways for interpretation and spiritual expression by contemporary women. Through this lens, participants will gain insight into how midrash continues to grow as a living, dynamic form.
Part  2 – Midrash After Loss and Rupture – Tamar will host Liora Eilon, a survivor of kibbutz Kfar Aza. Liora, a veteran peace activist who lost her son on Oct 7, as he was defending the kibbutz as the head of the Emergency Squad. Liora will share with us two midrashim she wrote, offering ways to cope with bereavement, and with ideological disagreements.
Part 3 – When Midrash Meets Devastation – Tamar will host Nurit Hirshfield Skupinsky, a survivor of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Nurit, herself a Professor of Midrash, was for many years teaching the traditional midrashim describing the destruction of the First and Second Temples. After Oct 7 she found herself writing midrashim describing the destruction around her, intertwining the tragedies around her with those described in the traditional midrash.
Tamar Biala teaches in various batei midrash, rabbinical schools, and adult education programs in the United States and Israel. Biala earned her Master’s Degree in Women’s and Jewish Studies from the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem. She taught at the Shalom Hartman Institute, trained teachers and IDF army officers. She is the editor of Dirshuni – Women’s Midrash, which was published in English by Brandeis in 2022, with a second volume forthcoming. She is also the co-editor of Toratah, the Gender-Bent Torah of Beit Toratah.
Part 1 – Program video
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Join us for a provocative and engaging series on some of the most eyebrow-raising practices in Jewish law — from the Eruv and selling Chametz to Heter Iska, Prozbul, Shemitah sales, Shabbat elevators, and more — beginning with an opening session titled “Are the Clever Jews Trying to Fake Us Out?”  We start with the nagging question many people have when they encounter these practices: are these authentic expressions of halachic seriousness, or just brilliant religious workarounds dressed up to look legitimate? With honesty, nuance, and intellectual rigor, this series will explore how generations of rabbinic thinkers confronted real human needs while remaining deeply anchored to the framework of Jewish law, revealing that what may first look like legal sleight-of-hand often opens into a much deeper story about responsibility, creativity, and the moral life of halacha.
Marc Michael Epstein, winner of CSP’s 4th Annual Maimonides Award for Excellence in Adult Jewish Education and the 2015 National Jewish Book Award in Visual Arts for Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink, grew up in Brooklyn in a family of Slonimer and Lubavitcher Hasidim and Romanian socialists. Since 1992 he has taught at Vassar College as Professor of Religion (and founding Director of Jewish Studies), offering courses on medieval Christianity, Jewish texts, and the interplay of religion, art, and politics. An Oberlin and Yale graduate with research at the Hebrew University, he is the author of numerous studies of Jewish visual and material culture, including The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination, named a Times Literary Supplement “Best Book of the Year.” Formerly Director of Hebrew Books and Manuscripts at Sotheby’s, he now consults internationally for libraries, museums, auction houses, and private collectors; his newest book is People of the Image: Jews and Art.
Part 1 – Program video
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In this powerful eight-part series, Prof. Stephen Berk guides us through the Holocaust, not as a single, inevitable catastrophe, but as a series of historical choices made by governments, institutions, communities, and individuals across Europe. Moving chronologically and geographically, the series explores how the “oldest hatred” was transformed into state-sponsored genocide, how different countries responded to Nazi pressure, and how moments of action, or inaction, shaped the fate of millions. With clarity, moral seriousness, and historical depth, Prof. Berk helps us understand not only what happened, but how it happened, and why those lessons still matter.
Stephen M. Berk, who served as CSP’s 10th Annual One Month Scholar in Residence in February 2011, is Professor of History at Union College in Schenectady, New York, former Chair of the Department of History, Director of the Program in Russian and Eastern European Studies and Faculty Advisor to the Jewish Student Organization. He is the author of Year of Crisis, Year of Hope: Russian Jewry and the Pogroms of 1881-1882 (Greenwood Press, 1985). He is currently writing a book titled: Our People Are Your People: American Jewry and the Struggle for Civil Rights 1954-1965. The book provides an interesting discussion of an extremely important chapter in the history of the civil rights movement and attempts to dispel the myths and misunderstandings surrounding the Black-Jewish relationship. A recipient of the Citizens Laureate Award of the University of Albany Foundation, Professor Berk has been a consultant to the Wiesenthal Holocaust Center in Los Angeles, has written articles on Russian and Jewish history, anti-Semitism, and the Middle East and has lectured on throughout the United States and Canada including such distinguished colleges and universities as Princeton, Vanderbilt, The University of Texas at Austin and Williams College.
Program video

 

Join us for a moving walk through Vienna’s 9th district, Alsergrund, once the neighborhood with the highest concentration of Jewish residents in the city and a vibrant center of Jewish professional, cultural, and middle-class life. As we trace the streets where Jewish families built lives, sought opportunity, and navigated the promise and pressures of integration into Austrian society, we will look for the lingering marks of a world shattered in 1938 and visit the Wall of Names, the powerful memorial to Austrian Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Along the way, we will encounter the story of Sigmund Freud at Berggasse 19 and reflect more broadly on the extraordinary Jewish thinkers, families, and communities who helped shape Vienna before their world was broken apart.
Our tour guide, Claudia was born and raised in a city that is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. She can often be seen walking the streets of Vienna, guiding guests from all over the world through the city’s most beautiful and interesting neighborhoods with knowledge, enthusiasm, and spirit. Claudia also specializes in Jewish Heritage tours of Vienna, sharing the rich history, culture, and stories that have shaped the city’s Jewish past and present.

 

Wednesday, May 20, 8:00 pm ET
(online program presented by the Massachusetts Antisemitism Task Force)

Join acclaimed pianist Joe Alterman for a fun and fascinating concert that explores the profound Jewish contributions to music. This isn’t just a history lesson—it’s an exploration and celebration of the creativity, resilience, and cultural impact Jewish artists, songwriters, and entrepreneurs have had shaping the soundtracks of our lives. From the golden age of songwriting to the Brill Building and beyond, this show promises insights, music and stories that will surprise and inspire. A must-see for music lovers, history buffs, and anyone curious about the deep connections between culture and music!    Alterman carries forward their groove-heavy, life-affirming approach to the piano — blending blues feeling and melodic clarity into a voice that is deeply rooted yet unmistakably personal.  Beyond the bandstand, Alterman is an accomplished writer and cultural historian. He has contributed liner notes to three albums by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and was the subject of Nat Hentoff’s final piece on music. He serves as Executive Director of Neranenah and hosts The Upside of Jazz on WABE 90.1 — Atlanta’s NPR affiliate.

 

Visit the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at American Ancestors to explore materials from their archives of the New England Jewish community (photos, scrapbooks, objects, historical documents, and more!), to tour their space, to create some archive-themed Shavuot crafts, to learn about our educational programming and classroom visits, and to have a nosh with staff and other community members.

 

YAD CHESSED 

Yad Chessed helps Jewish individuals and families who struggle with financial hardship pay their bills and buy food. As a social services agency rooted in the Jewish values of kindness (chessed) and charity (tzedakah), they are committed to helping those in need navigate a path toward financial stability while preserving their privacy and dignity.  They provide emergency financial assistance, grocery gift cards and compassionate advice for those trying to make ends meet. Hundreds of families and individuals throughout the state rely on Yad Chessed to provide for their essentials, and even at times, a Jewish burial for a loved one.  Members of our community, as well as others in the Jewish community, who need assistance may contact Yad Chessed by phone at 781-487-2693 or by Email at intake@yadchessed.org for a confidential conversation.    Questions can be directed to info@yadchessed.org.
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