by Sarai Brachman Shoup
New Perspectives, Timely Conversations, a series proposing to make academic resources and challenging ideas accessible to the wider Jewish community, kicks off on October 11, 2026. The three Fall 2026 offerings take place at the JCC Ann Arbor, noon – 1:30 PM.
Sponsored by The Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation and organized by Deborah Field and Sarai Brachman Shoup, the series is grounded in Reconstructionist Judaism, which considers Jewish culture and beliefs as evolving rather than fixed.
New Perspectives, Timely Conversations aims to provide fresh perspectives and raise new questions that allow the community to think differently about Jewish identity.
Most sessions consist of interview-style conversations with scholars, journalists, and educators about their work. This Fall, one of the sessions is a film, an Ann Arbor premiere.
On Sunday, October 11, Dr. Elliot Ratzman, a research fellow at U-M’s Raoul Wallenberg Institute, and experienced organizer and activist, discusses “Zipporah’s Sacrifice: Jewish Ethics and Race.”
On Sunday, November 15, the acclaimed 30-minute Scenes From the Divide screens for the first time in Ann Arbor. Scenes From the Divide explores the tensions among New York Jews over identity, history and responsibility surrounding the Mamdani campaign for mayor in 2024-25. A facilitated discussion follows the screening.
On Sunday, November 22, Ann Arbor native and senior politics editor at Jewish Currents, Mari Cohen, discusses “The Anti-Defamation League and Today’s Crisis of Jewish Politics.”
RSVP for each session is required. Email sbshoup@gmail.com for the RSVP link.
