Programs

The Magnes educational and public programs include tours, lectures, artist talks and scholarly symposia, as well collaborations with local cultural and performing arts institutions.

Click on "Upcoming Programs" to find information about events taking place at The Magnes in the near future. Be sure to check the calendar!

No current programs found

Holocaust Survivors Memoir Writing Group - Public Reading

Thu, 06/06/2013 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm

We are honored to present a reading by members of the Holocaust Survivors Memoir Writing Group, sponsored in conjunction with JFCS East Bay.

The Future of Rachel Marker: A Closing Program

Moira Roth in conversation with Alla Efimova

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Please join us for the closing of our Spring Exhibition, "Through the Eyes of Rachel Marker | A Literary Installation by Moira Roth".

The Magnes Recommends: The Tenth Annual Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry

Fri, 05/17/2013 - 6:30pm

Introduction by Lyn Hejinian Nikky Finney, Poet

The Reconstruction of Jewish Synagogues in Kerala, South India

Dr. Shalva Weil, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Fri, 05/03/2013 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm

The Paradesi synagogue, constructed 1568, is the most famous synagogue in Asia.

Movies @ The Magnes | The Swing Girls (Italy, 2010)

Introduction by Francesco Spagnolo

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Swing Girls (Le ragazze dello swing)

Saved by the Bay

Refugees from Fascist Europe at UC Berkeley

Thu, 04/25/2013 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm

Free and open to the public. Followed by reception.

Ethnography and The “Cochin Jews” of Kerala: Insights from Fieldwork in India and Israel, 1972-2012

Barbara C. Johnson, Emerita Professor of Anthropology, Ithaca College

Tue, 04/23/2013 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm

After introducing the Kerala Jews, their history and culture in South India for more thana millennia, and their community life since migrating to Israel, Johnson will offer a fewhighlights from her

Robert Alter on his new book

Ancient Israel : The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings: A Translation with Commentary

Thu, 04/18/2013 - 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Robert Alter’s award-winning translation of the Hebrew Bible continues with the stirring narrative of Israel’s ancient history.

Movies @The Magnes | My So-Called Enemy

Film Screening followed by Q & A with Director Lisa Gossels

Mon, 04/08/2013 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Spanning a seven-year period, “My So-Called Enemy” follows six Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls committed to justice and mutual understanding

Pell Lecture: Film Screening and Discussion with Filmmaker Lisa Gossels and Peter Gossels

The Children of Chabbanes (Dir. Lisa Gossels and Dean Wetherell)

Sun, 04/07/2013 - 3:00pm - 5:00pm

"THE CHILDREN OF CHABANNES"

11th annual City of Berkeley Holocaust Remembrance Day Event

Sun, 04/07/2013 - 11:00am

Music @The Magnes | Psoy Korolenko in Concert

$10 at the door ~ FREE for UCB students w/ ID

Sun, 03/24/2013 - 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Psoy Korolenko (pseudonym of Pavel Lion) is a Russian/Jewish multilingual poet-singer, known as a 'wandering scholar' and 'singing professor'.

Writing Identity: Sayed Kashua

In conversation with dr. Leon Wiener Dow

Thu, 03/14/2013 - 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Sayed Kashua was born in the Arab town of Tira in central Israel.

A Sweet Diaspora Song. Paths of Jewish Music in America. Performance by Michael Alpert in conversation with Francesco Spagnolo

Introduction by Mark Slobin

Tue, 03/12/2013 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm

Presented in association with the 28th Jewish Music Festival, this p

Immigrants, Cantors, and Klezmers: Lecture by Mark Slobin

Berkeley Seminars in Modern Jewish Culture

Tue, 03/12/2013 - 5:30pm - 6:45pm

A professor of Music and American Studies at Wesleyan University, Mark Slobin is one of the most distinguished ethnomusicologists working today.

The Jewish Mother

Yahil Zaban, Hebrew University, Diller Post-Doctoral Fellow, UC Berkeley

Thu, 02/28/2013 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm

“The Jewish Mother” has become an icon in film, fiction and popular culture. On one hand, her image reflects the yearning for lost childhood, family and traditional community.

Tragic Komiks: Immigrant Identity in Translation

Poet Marina Temkina in conversation with translator Boris Dralyuk

Thu, 02/21/2013 - 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Marina Temkina is considered one of the most important Russian poets of her generation. Born in St. Petersburg, she emigrated from the former Soviet Union in 1978 and now lives in New York.

Purim: A Diaspora Story in Jewish Art and Folklore

Lecture by Prof. Shalom Sabar (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Tue, 02/19/2013 - 5:30pm - 7:30pm

In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition, Case Study No.

Computing and the Practice of History

Public lecture with Daniel Cohen, Avenali Resident Fellow in History

Wed, 02/13/2013 - 4:00pm - 6:30pm

British and American intellectual and religious historian Professor Daniel Cohen is an internationally recognized leader in digital humanities, and the director of the Center for History and New Me

Movie Night | Fluchkes (Dir. Ofer Inov | Israel | 2011)

Thu, 02/07/2013 - 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Fluchkes is an honest, humorous look at growing older and its relationship to creativity and art.

Movie Night | Dressing America: Tales From the Garment Center (USA 2011)

Film Screening in collaboration with the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

DRESSING AMERICA: TALES FROM THE GARMENT CENTER Dirs. Stepehen Fischler and Joel Sucher | USA | 2011 | 57min.

Movie Night | Life? Or Theatre? (Netherlands/Germany/USA/France 2012)

Documentary Film Screening in collaboration with the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

LIFE? OR THEATRE? Dir. Frans Weisz | Netherlands, Germany, USA, France | 2012 | 85min.

Book Reading: Artist Helene Aylon

Whatever is Contained Must Be Released: My Jewish Orthodox Girlhood, My Life as a Feminist Artist

Tue, 12/04/2012 - 12:00pm - 1:15pm

Artist Helene Aylon on her memoir- Whatever is Contained Must Be Released: My Jewish Orthodox Girlhood, My Life as a Feminist Artist (The Feminist Press, 2012).

The Book of Genesis: A Biography

Ronald Hendel in conversation with Rabbi Stephen Pearce and the Very Rev. Dr. Jane Shaw

Thu, 11/29/2012 - 5:00pm - 6:15pm

Ronald Hendel will introduce his forthcoming book, The Book of Genesis: A Biography (Princeton, November 2012) in conversation with Rabbi Stephen Pearce of Temple Emanu-El, San Franc

Emma Goldman Papers Project Reception

Sun, 11/18/2012 - 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Reception to honor the publication of the third in the four-volume series, Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years- 1890-1919 (Stanford University Press, November 2012).

Annual Kristallnacht Commemoration; Author Alex Kershaw on "The Liberator"

Thu, 11/08/2012 - 7:30pm - 8:30pm

A Program in Commemoration of Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass

Captives of the Dawn: Remembering Soviet Yiddish Culture

The Annual Taube Conference in Eastern European Jewish Culture and History

Sun, 11/04/2012 - 2:00pm - 6:30pm

This year’s conference is dedicated to Yiddish culture and literature in the former Soviet Union and brings together nationally renowned scholars in the field.

Music @The Magnes: Theodore Bikel

SOLD OUT

Sat, 11/03/2012 - 7:30pm - 9:00pm

An Academy Award-winning and Tony-nominated actor and internationally renowned folksinger, who was also active in the Soviet Jewry Freedom Movement will present a one-night-only special perfo

Movie Night | Tinghir Jerusalem, Echoes from the Mellah (Israel 2011)

Documentary Film Screening in collaboration with the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

Thu, 11/01/2012 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Tinghir Jerusalem, Echoes from the Mellah Dir. Kamal Hachkar | France, Morocco, Israel | 2011 | 86min.

Modern Jewish Studies Colloquium: What is Jewish Studies?

Jeffrey Shandler in conversation with John Efron, moderated by Francesco Spagnolo

Mon, 10/15/2012 - 5:00pm - 7:00pm

The Modern Jewish Studies Colloquium is inaugurated by a conversation about the formative history and the current state of the field of Jewish Studies, featuring Jeffrey Shandler (

Sunday Street Berkeley Open Galleries at The Magnes

Sun, 10/14/2012 - 12:00pm - 4:00pm

This Sunday, downtown Berkeley closes its streets to automobile traffic so people get out and connect with their community.

Litquake's Berkeley Ramble

Sat, 10/13/2012 - 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Litquake, San Francisco’s annual literary festival, comes to Berkeley’s Allston Way.

Music @ The Magnes: Efrat Ben Zur

Free Solo Performance by a protagonist of the new Israeli music scene

Tue, 10/09/2012 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm

A collection of Emily Dickinson's poems set to music composed by acclaimed Israeli singer and actress, Efrat Ben Zur, results in songs blessed with a magical touch.

Fall Open House on Homecoming Weekend

Two days of free performances and exhibition tours at The Magnes (October 6-7)

Sat, 10/06/2012 - 12:00pm - Sun, 10/07/2012 - 4:00pm

Join thousands of alumni, families, and friends on October 5–7, 2012, for Homecoming at Cal — the

Movie Night | A Jewish Girl In Shanghai (China 2010)

Film Screening in collaboration with the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

Thu, 10/04/2012 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

A Jewish Girl in ShanghaiDir. Wang Genfa | China | 2010 | 85min.

Wartime Shanghai: A Microcosm of Eurasian Jewish Diversity

A Pell Lecture with Jonathan Goldstein, University of West Georgia

Thu, 10/04/2012 - 5:30pm

A professor of history at the University of West Georgia, Goldstein is the foremost authority on the history of Jewish com

Rosenberg Poetry Award Reception

Sun, 09/23/2012 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Please join us to celebrate the community-wide reception in honor of this year’s winners of the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Awards.

The 2012 Anna Davidson Rosenberg Awards for Poems on the Jewish Experience: Winners and Reception

Sun, 09/23/2012 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, UC Berkeley announces

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival - Best of SFJFF Online Shorts

Thu, 09/06/2012 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Every month, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival features a new full-length short film, available to view online for free.

Brunch with SFJFF

Sat, 08/04/2012 - 10:30am - 12:30pm

Raoul Wallenberg: A Biography

Book presentation with authour Bengt Jangfeldt

Wed, 04/25/2012 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Bengt Jangfeldt is a Professor of Literature and best-selling writer in Sweden.

City of Berkeley's Annual Holocaust Remembrance Program

Sun, 04/22/2012 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm

The City of Berkeley’s tenth annual Holocaust Remembrance Day will honor East Bay Survivors.

Cal Day Tours

Sat, 04/21/2012 - 12:30pm - 3:30pm

Special tours will be given by Director and Curator of The Magnes every hour.

Film Screening: The Rescuers

Thu, 04/19/2012 - 7:00pm

The film follows Stephanie Nyombayire, a young Rwandan anti-genocide activist who lost 100 members of her family in the Rwandan Genocide of the 1990s, and Sir Martin Gilbert, the renowned 20th cent

UC Berkeley Israeli Film Festival

Film Screening: Strangers No More (Dir. Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, Israel, 2010)

Tue, 04/10/2012 - 6:30am

In the heart of Tel Aviv, there is an exceptional school where children from forty-eight different countries and diverse backgrounds come together to learn.

UC Berkeley Israeli Film Festival

Film Screening: The Matchmaker (Dir. Avi Nesher, Israel, 2010)

Tue, 04/03/2012 - 6:30pm

Arik, a teenage boy growing up in Haifa in 1968, gets a job working for Yankele Bride, a matchmaker.

Bustan Quartet

Presented by the Jewish Music Festival

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Reunited members of an internationally acclaimed Arab and Jewish ensemble from Israel draw on Western and Middle Eastern classical traditions, Jazz and improvisation to create a stunningly ori

Dissolving Localities: Conversation with the Artist

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Multimedia artist Emmanuel Witzthum (Jerusalem) and scholar Jeffrey Shandler (Rutgers University), in conversation with Francesco Spagnolo (The Ma

Screening: Adam Resurrected

Thu, 02/23/2012 - 7:00pm - 9:30pm

Lehrhaus 360| Bridging Past and Future: The Bay Area Jewish Community

How We Got Here: Reflecting on the Past 150 Years

Sun, 02/12/2012 - 10:30am - 5:00pm

This conference offers a panoramic perspective on the history of the Bay Area Jewish community from the Gold Rush to the present and in-depth perspectives through workshops and a dramatic monologue

Pell Lecture: From the Ottoman Empire to the Holocaust

The Jews of Rhodes and the End of the Sephardi Levant, 1900-1944

Wed, 02/08/2012 - 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Aron RodrigueCharles Michael Professor in Jewish History and Culture, Stanford University.

Cordelia, Mein Kind

Magnes by The Marsh Performance

Thu, 02/02/2012 - 8:00pm - Sun, 02/05/2012 - 4:00pm

Thur & Fri at 8pmSat at 5pmSun at 3pm

Troika Journal Release Party

Hosted by the Russian Student Club, UC Berkeley

Thu, 01/26/2012 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm

The Magnes Open House

A Day of Celebration of The New Magnes Home in Downtown Berkeley

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 12:00pm - 4:00pm

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life is opening the doors of its new facility. See the new home of The Magnes.

Formations of Orthodoxy: Religious Life Now and Then

A program of The Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 5:30pm - 9:30pm

Opening Panel: 5:30-7:00 Naomi Seidman, GTU: "The Last Will and Testament of the Ninety-three Bais Yakov Girls of Krakow"

Reception | The Anna Davidson Rosenberg Awards for Poems on the Jewish Experience

Sun, 09/25/2011 - 3:00pm - 5:00pm

This year’s winners are:

An Apocalypse of Our Time: Sergei Nilus and "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm

The Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures, the Institute for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, the Institute for European Studies, and the Jewish Studies Program a

This Is Your Life: Holocaust Survivors

Sun, 09/18/2011 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm

UCLA Festival of Preservation

Magnes by The Marsh: Yehuda Hyman’s THE MAD 7

Thu, 09/15/2011 - 8:00pm - Sun, 09/18/2011 - 2:00pm

To kick off the new program series, Magnes by The Marsh,

Daniel C. Kurtzer, former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Israel

Tue, 08/30/2011 - 4:00pm

Pell Lecture Series: When the Music Stopped: The Spoliation of Europe's Musical Property, 1933-1945, and 21st Century Concerns presented by Carla Shapreau

Thu, 04/28/2011 - 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Gained in Translation: Jews, Germany, California circa 1849 – Opening Program

Wed, 03/02/2011 - 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Speakers:

Shoah: 25th Anniversary Screening (Part 2)

Sun, 02/27/2011 - 1:00pm

A sensation when it was released twenty-five years ago, Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah has long since passed from “mere” documentary (though it is praised as one of the greatest ever ma

Shoah: 25th Anniversary Screening (Part 1)

Sat, 02/26/2011 - 5:00pm

A sensation when it was released twenty-five years ago, Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah has long since passed from “mere” documentary (though it is praised as one of the greatest ever ma

Pell Lecture Series: Back “Home”? The Return of Jewish Intellectuals to Germany after the Holocaust

Thu, 02/24/2011 - 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Shoah: 25th Anniversary Screening (Part 2)

Sun, 02/20/2011 - 5:15pm

A sensation when it was released twenty-five years ago, Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah has long since passed from “mere” documentary (though it is praised as one of the greatest ever ma

Shoah: 25th Anniversary Screening (Part 1)

Sun, 02/20/2011 - 11:30am

A sensation when it was released twenty-five years ago, Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah has long since passed from “mere” documentary (though it is praised as one of the greatest ever ma

Zakheim: The Art of Prophetic Justice – Public Opening

Wed, 10/20/2010 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Public opening of the exhibition, Zakheim: The Art of Prophetic Justice.

Sounds of Two Cultures: Synagogue Life, and Jewish‐Christian Relations in Italy

Mon, 11/02/2009 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm

Lecture by Francesco Spagnolo, Director of Research and Collections, Judah L. Magnes Museum, Berkeley, CA.

Sills Lectures -- Introduction to Jewish Art

Sun, 02/25/1990 - Sun, 03/11/1990

The John S. Sills Memorial Lectureship was established in 1985 to hold annual lecture on Judaic art, history or culture.

The Last Arab Jews: The Community of Djerba, Tunisia. Lecture by Professor Lucette Valensi, EHESS (Paris)

Sun, 02/15/1987 - 2:00pm - 4:00pm

The Second Annual John S. Sills Memorial Lecture

Lithographs by Anatoli Lvovich (aka Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan)

Mon, 07/07/1969 - 5:00pm - 7:00pm

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Programs