Featured JCLP Events

April 20, 2017 - 3:00pm to 5:00pm

The exclusion and inclusion of Jewish students and faculty have been central themes in the shaping and story of elite American universities. Despite the significant place of the University of Michigan among the nation’s public universities, little historical attention has been devoted to documenting U-M Jewish experience.

Students in Social Work 513/Judaic Studies 441: Jews at the University of Michigan: Exclusion and Inclusion in American Higher Education will present the results of their research projects focused on Jewish experience at U-M during the 1930s.

Short student presentations will focus on a range of issues including Hillel, fraternities, gender issues within student life, spirituality, athletics; student radicalism; the experience of Jewish faculty members; and U-M responses to anti-Semitism and the rise of Hitler.

Please join us as our undergraduate and graduate students add layers to the narrative and understanding of Jewish experience at the University of Michigan. 

April 13, 2017 - 12:30pm to 1:30pm

Please join the Jewish Communal Leadership Program for a discussion about coalition building, global policy, and young leadership with Benny Fischer, the President of the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS). Mr. Fischer has been involved in coalition building with other minority groups in Europe to educate on discrimination and denialism. Additionally, with observer status in the European Union and United Nations, the EUJS has spoken out about the refugee crisis, free movement in Europe, and the dangers of the far right political movement. The EUJS is a student driven organization and Mr. Fischer is young leader himself and we're excited to have him here!

Bring your questions, your ideas, and your lunch for a meaningful conversation!

We will have Passover-friendly snacks. 

February 19, 2017 - 6:30pm to 9:30pm

Familiar with the Hebrew aleph-bet? Continue learning with Rabbi Benay Lappe for a deeper dive into the study of Jewish texts and an opportunity to transform your relationship to the tradition. If you'd like to join us but are not familiar with the aleph-bet, please indicate this on the registration form or give us a call at 734-764-5392. We can provide you with resources and support to prepare for this text study.

Part of the Jewish Communal Leadership Program's "WHAT NOW? Communal Conversations for Unreasonable Times" a weekend of provocative study and discussion that can help us meet this challenging moment. Programs run February 18th and 19th, and feature diversity educator Yavilah McCoy and Rabbi Benay Lappe.

RSVP here »

Rabbi Benay Lappe is Founder and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA, a traditionally radical yeshiva based in Chicago that offers accessible, complex, and highly accountable traditional Jewish education from a Queer perspective. Ordained in 1997 by the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabbi Lappe has founded multiple programs to support LGBTQ Jews of all ages, taught at six different universities, and been named by The Forward as one of America's Most Inspiring Rabbis (2014). Rabbi Lappe is an award-winning educator, and a 2016 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award and is an associate at two progressive Jewish think tanks (Institute for the Next Jewish Future and CLAL). While learning and teaching Talmud are Rabbi Lappe's greatest passions, she is also a licensed pilot, shoemaker, and patent-holding inventor.

Presented as part of the Frankel Speakers Series with the generous support of the Covenant Foundation.   Co-sponsored by Jean & Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, Michigan Hillel, Department of America Culture, Dean's TBLG Matters Initiative, and AHAVA.

February 19, 2017 - 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Join us for a lecture, text study, and discussion with Rabbi Benay Lappe while we explore what it means to include and give voice to folks in our community who have often been overlooked or unrecognized. Rabbi Lappe approaches the study of Talmud through the application of queer theory and guides learners in finding their own stories within the text. During this session, we hope to convey and grapple with the notion that identities that are best equipped to enhance the Jewish tradition may not be the mainstream ones that we're used to seeing represented at the front of the room.

Part of the Jewish Communal Leadership Program's  "WHAT NOW? Communal Conversations for Unreasonable Times" a weekend of provocative study and discussion that can help us meet this challenging moment. Programs run February 18th and 19th, and feature diversity educator Yavilah McCoy and Rabbi Benay Lappe.

RSVP here »

Rabbi Benay Lappe is Founder and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA, a traditionally radical yeshiva based in Chicago that offers accessible, complex, and highly accountable traditional Jewish education from a Queer perspective. Ordained in 1997 by the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabbi Lappe has founded multiple programs to support LGBTQ Jews of all ages, taught at six different universities, and been named by The Forward as one of America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis (2014). Rabbi Lappe is an award-winning educator, and a 2016 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award and is an associate at two progressive Jewish think tanks (Institute for the Next Jewish Future and CLAL). While learning and teaching Talmud are Rabbi Lappe’s greatest passions, she is also a licensed pilot, shoemaker, and patent-holding inventor.

Presented as part of the Frankel Speakers Series with the generous support of the Covenant Foundation.   Co-sponsored by Jean & Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, Michigan Hillel, Department of America Culture, Dean's TBLG Matters Initiative, and AHAVA.

February 18, 2017 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Dr. Martin Luther King stood within the particular of his Christian faith and reached outward in brotherhood to people of all faiths for the sake of a "worldwide fellowship" for justice. For generations, the biblical commandment from Deuteronomy 16:20 "Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof," "Justice, justice shall you pursue," has inspired Jewish social justice leaders - many of whom energized and helped shape the civil rights, women's rights, environmental, workers' rights and antiwar movements of the last century.

What does hearing the call to justice mean for contemporary Jews? How can Jewish text and tradition support us in shaping our commitments to racial justice? What can we look forward to in contemporary efforts to realize this obligation across the diversity of religious and spiritual affiliations that comprise contemporary Jewry and the sisterhood of faiths?

In these challenging days and times, where the four corners of our world are crying out for healing, justice and repair, join Yavilah McCoy for an exploration of music, Jewish text, and the inner and outer journeying toward justice, deeper equality, and more beloved community.

Part of the Jewish Communal Leadership Program's "WHAT NOW? Communal Conversations for Unreasonable Times" a weekend of provocative study and discussion that can help us meet this challenging moment. Programs run February 18th and 19th, and feature diversity educator Yavilah McCoy and Rabbi Benay Lappe.

RSVP here »

Yavilah McCoy is the CEO of the international diversity consulting group, VISIONS Inc. in Boston[bl1]. She is also the founder of Ayecha, one of the first nonprofit Jewish organizations to provide Jewish Diversity education and advocacy for Jews of Color in the United States. Yavilah is an educator, activist and spiritual teacher that has worked extensively within multi-faith communities to increase racial justice and expand equity and inclusion. In celebration of the musical traditions passed down to her from three generations of her African-American Jewish family, Yavilah is also the writer, producer and performer for the Jewish Gospel theatrical production "The Colors of Water."

Presented as part of the Frankel Speakers Series with the generous support of the Covenant Foundation.   Co-sponsored by Jean & Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, Michigan Hillel, Department of America Culture, Dean's TBLG Matters Initiative, and AHAVA.

February 2, 2017 - 4:00pm to 5:30pm

Karla Goldman, Sol Drachler Professor of Social Work and professor of Judaic Studies at U-M, will speak about “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Michigan during the Era of Jewish Admissions Quotas, 1925-1939.” Kosher reception to follow.

The lecture relates to the exhibit "Striving to Stimulate Serious Thought: Jewish Scholarly and Cultural Life at Michigan Across Two Centuries" which runs through February 22. The exhibit chronicles Jewish life and Judaic studies at the University of Michigan from the 19th century to the first Hebrew language and Hebrew Bible courses in 1890 to the founding of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies in 1988 to the present day. On display are Hebrew grammars that once belonged to John Monteith, first president of the University in 1817; pamphlets, periodicals, and programs on early 20th century Jewish social life at the University; documents relating to the inauguration of Judaic studies in 1972; and a variety of other objects, correspondence, and photos.

October 20, 2016 - 12:00pm to 2:00pm

Join the students of the Jewish Communal Leadership Program in the Sukkah Thursday (10/20) from 12 PM to 2 PM for a Lunch and Learn text study! 

The Sukkah is a temporary dwelling in which, traditionally Jews sleep, eat, and celebrate during the annual Sukkot harvest festival.

We'll be engaging with traditional Jewish texts and contemporary reflections to explore how the holiday's themes of safety and refuge are relevant to our experiences as social workers. 

Drop in and join us when and for as long as you can. No knowledge/experience with Judaism/Hebrew necessary. All are welcome!

A light lunch from Jerusalem Garden will be provided.

October 19, 2016 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Sukkot is a Jewish holiday centered around the sukkah (a temporary booth), a place of celebration, harvest, and connection, that dates back to biblical times.

Please join students, faculty, and staff of the Jewish Communal Leadership Program in the School of Social Work's courtyard sukkah to celebrate our community and Sukkot with seasonal fare, creative activities, and conversation.