"Years Have Sped By"

Season 3, Episode 1

In this episode, presented in collaboration with the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, we investigate the life and work of the poet Chaya Rochel Andres, who emigrated as a young woman in 1921 from Poland to Dallas, Texas, where she spent most of her adult life. Her story serves as an entry point for us to explore some of the social, political, and cultural dynamics of Jewish life in the South.

Throughout the episode, a variety of poems from Chaya Rochel's body of work are intercut with information about the circumstances of her life, the time in which she lived, and the organization with which she was involved, the Arbeter Ring, which many people now know as the Workers Circle.

Scholarship from the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life includes expertise from Dr. Josh Parshall, Director of History, who discusses Chaya Rochel's work and its connections to the Yiddish speaking world, as well as Jewish life in Eastern Europe and the South, and Nora Katz, Director of Heritage and Interpretation, who speaks about how Chaya Rochel's story intersects with the Jewish history of migration to and within the Southern United States. Also featured in the episode is an interview with Chaya Rochel from 1981, courtesy of the Dallas Jewish Historical Society, in which she shared about her writing and her personal history.

This episode is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

"Why I Was a Zionist and Why I Now Am Not"

Season 3, Episode 2

coming Friday, December 9

In this episode, presented in collaboration with the Jewish Museum of Maryland, we share selections from a speech by Rabbi Morris S. Lazaron, which was given at the convention of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1937. Portions of this speech are featured along with excerpts from his unpublished autobiography in an article from the Museum's journal, Generations, titled “Why I Was a Zionist and Why I Now Am Not.” A prominent and nationally known leader affiliated with the Reform movement, Morris Lazaron served as Rabbi for Baltimore Hebrew Congregation from 1915 through much of 1946, and, later, as Rabbi Emeritus.

Rabbi Lazaron’s words and work serve as an entry point for us to explore the American Council for Judaism: a non-Zionist, anti-nationalist organization that he co-founded with a group of Reform rabbis in 1942.

Dr. Matt Berkman, visiting professor at Oberlin College in Ohio, takes us through the history, philosophy, and formation of the American Council for Judaism while Rabbi Andrew Busch, current Rabbi of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, and Peggy Wolf, Rabbi Lazaron’s granddaughter, share about the rabbi’s life, work, and legacy.

Thank you to the Covenant Foundation for its support of The Dybbukast and related educational resources.