What’s Coming Up in November?
WHAT’S ON AT CSP THIS NOVEMBER?
November at CSP brings a fascinating mix of Talmud, Judaism and Islam, American politics, Jewish history, and personal storytelling. Gila Fine returns to teach for CSP and takes us on an eight part exploration of the ordinary objects hidden within the Talmud in The Pin That Slew the Serpent: Unearthing the Objects of the Talmud and the secrets they can teach us. Our Member’s Only eight part series starts this month as Prof. Marc Michael Epstein takes us into the rich and complicated relationship between Judaism and Islam in Judaism and Islam: Religious Parallels, exploring the shared theology, sacred history, law, ritual, and the possibilities and limits of religious kinship. On November 8, Rabbi Elie Spitz will be joined by renowned political scholar Norman Ornstein for The Impact of the Elections for Americans and Jews, unpacking the consequences of the U.S. midterm elections and asking how the results may shape American governance, Jewish life, and the conversations that follow. On November 22, we’ll travel back to 1920s Berlin with Ronen Altman Kaydar for Beyond Cabaret: The Weimar Period in Berlin, exploring the extraordinary openness, contradictions, creativity, and cultural experimentation of a city emerging from war and crisis and moving far beyond the familiar images of Cabaret. Finally, on November 29, poet, musician, and Torah teacher Alicia Jo Rabins joins us for an intimate conversation about her new memoir, When We’re Born We Forget Everything, weaving together Biblical women, Jewish tradition, music, motherhood, memory, and her own journey. From ancient objects to modern elections, medieval religious encounters to Weimar Berlin and contemporary Jewish memoir, November is a month designed to challenge assumptions, open new doors, and give you plenty to think about long after the Zoom ends.
The Pin That Slew the Serpent: Unearthing the Objects of the Talmud with Gila Fine
Tuesdays November 3, 10, 17 & 24 & December 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2026
10:00-11:00 AM PST / 1:00-2:00 PM EST / 20:00-21:00 Israel time
How does a hairpin become a deadly weapon? Why were jars so common in the ancient world? And who was the rabbi who rose to greatness through a skylight? There are certain stories only objects can tell. While texts reflect the interests of the literate elite, objects – furniture, clothes, kitchenware – provide a window into the lives of the illiterate masses. This course unearths the objects within the Talmudic text, exploring how the rabbis used ordinary household items to respond to the concerns of society at large. LINK
Judaism and Islam: Religious Parallels with Prof. Marc Michael Epstein
Member’s Series
Thursdays November 5, 12, 19 and December 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026
12:30-1:30 PM PST / 3:30-4:30 PM EST / 22:30-23:30 Israel time
This seven-part series challenges the familiar story of perpetual Jewish-Muslim enmity by exploring a much deeper history of religious proximity and shared traditions. From beliefs about one indivisible God and shared practices of prayer, calendar, and worship to medieval debates over prophecy, Muhammad, Kabbalah, Jerusalem, and messianic thought, we will uncover surprising points of connection. Drawing on classical sources and modern thinkers, the series asks whether this shared history can offer a foundation for Jewish-Muslim reconciliation today and what Jews and Muslims might owe one another now. LINK
Beyond the Ballot: America’s Midterms with Rabbi Elie Spitz in conversation with Norman Ornstein
Sunday November 8, 2026
10:00-11:00 AM PST / 1:00-2:00 PM EST / 20:00-21:00 Israel time
The U.S. midterm elections will do more than determine control of Congress—they will shape the direction of American politics, the balance of power in Washington, and the national conversation for years to come. We’ll examine the issues, movements, and demographic shifts driving voters and consider what the results may reveal about an increasingly divided America. Looking beyond the horse race, we’ll explore what the midterms could mean for American democracy, Israel and U.S. foreign policy, antisemitism, religious freedom, and our responsibilities as Americans and as Jews. LINK
Beyond Cabaret: The Weimar Period in Berlin with Ronen Altman Kaydar
Sunday November 22, 2026
10:00-11:00 AM PST / 1:00-2:00 PM EST / 20:00-21:00 Israel time
Weimar Berlin was a dazzling era of creativity, experimentation, and contradiction, where jazz clubs, cabarets, avant-garde art, film, theater, and new ideas about gender and sexuality flourished amid political and economic upheaval. Jewish artists, thinkers, performers, publishers, and entrepreneurs were deeply woven into this cultural revolution, even as antisemitism and political extremism gained strength around them. We’ll explore the nightclubs, theaters, cafés, cinemas, and streets of 1920s Berlin and consider why this brief period of liberation and instability continues to fascinate us a century later. LINK
When We’re Born, We Forget Everything: Biblical Women, Memoir, and Telling our Stories with Alicia Jo Rabins
Sunday November 29, 2026
12:30-1:30 PM PST / 3:30-4:30 PM EST / 22:30-23:30 Israel time
Join poet, musician, and Torah teacher Alicia Jo Rabins for an intimate conversation about her spiritual memoir, When We’re Born, We Forget Everything. Rabins traces her journey from a secular Jewish childhood through intensive Torah study in Jerusalem and years touring with klezmer-punk and bluegrass bands to a feminist reclaiming of Jewish tradition. Weaving her own coming-of-age story with the lives of Biblical women featured in her acclaimed Girls in Trouble songwriting project, Rabins explores memory, identity, faith, and the power of reclaiming ancestral stories. LINK