Jewish Ideas to Change the World
Religion & Spirituality:Judaism
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Joseph Benatov
Event Co-Sponsored by Temple Emanuel
About the Event:
Join us for a dynamic interactive trip through Bulgaria’s rich Jewish heritage. Our virtual tour will make stops in Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s largest cities, and will take us inside the sumptuous Neo-Moorish Sofia synagogue. Other highlights along the way include the medieval capital, the grand Rila Monastery, and the mountain town of Samokov, home to the affluent Arie dynasty. You will have a chance to learn about the history and culture of the Bulgarian Sephardic Jews. We will discuss the historical details surrounding both the deportation to Treblinka of nearly 11,400 Greek and Macedonian Jews as well as the survival of all 50,000 Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust. We will note some of the most prominent politicians, clergymen, and intellectuals who stood up for their Jewish neighbors. Our final destination will be Jaffa, Israel, where large numbers of Bulgarian Jews settled between 1948 and 1952.
About the Speaker:
Joseph Benatov holds a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches Hebrew. He has written on competing national narratives of the saving of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II; Jewish identity politics in Philip Roth’s early fiction; and the sensationalism of U.S. representations of life behind the Iron Curtain. He has translated fiction, poetry, and drama, including several plays staged to wide acclaim in Sofia, Bulgaria. He is also the English translator of the contemporary Bulgarian novel Zift. Every summer Dr. Benatov leads Jewish heritage trips to the Balkans.
Reading Megillat Esther More Closely
Activating the Soul! Lighting a Fire Within!
Agreeable Jews, Dead Jews, and the Challenge of Diversity
Jewish Spies in the Civil War and Contemporary Polarization: An Interview With Dara Horn
Esther the Graphic Novel: How the OG Wonder Woman Took Flight
Was the Holocaust a Divine Punishment?
What If: Faith for Non Believers and Other Ways of Rethinking Emunah
The Maternal Divine
Tu B'Shevat Seder: Tasting Israeli Fruit and Wine & Exploring Israels Political Landscape with a Settler-Orthodox Rabbi
Pharaoh Never Died: Midrash and the Art of Text-Weaving
This Book is On Fire: The Radical Linguistic Theology of the Rabbis
Get Real! Can Psychedelics Be Healing?
Women’s Resilience and Survival in the Holocaust
Being Intimate with the Bible
Can the Phoenix/Scottsdale Jewish Community Be United: Looking at our Unity and Divisions
Building a Better Life
Becoming Elijah: Daniel Matt Interviewed by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz
The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Anti-Semitism and White Supremacy After 1945
Letters from Chanukahs and Purims Past: The Establishment of “Minor” Holidays and Judea-Diaspora Relations
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Rav Gershon Ribner
For Heaven’s Sake
Unorthodox
18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers
Unpacking Israeli History