"Restoring Meaning to the Word After the Holocaust"
A talk and reading by Dr. David Patterson
7 p.m. | Monday, April 15, 2024
McIntosh Center , University Hall 3999
Loyola Marymount University
In his book, "Eighteen Words to Sustain a Life: A Jewish Father's Ethical Will," Dr. Patterson explores the profound impact of words on our lives, how words impart meaning to life, and the centrality of words to memory. Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi, who described the Holocaust as a war against memory, are poignantly invoked in this talk commemorating Yom Hashoah.
David Patterson holds the Hillel A. Feinberg Chair in Holocaust Studies, University of Texas, Dallas.
Kosher reception to follow.
About
Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day. The Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts and the Jewish Studies Program at Loyola Marymount University honor Yom HaShoah with special programming each year.
Past Events
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2023: The Texture of (Un)Remembrance: Holocaust Legacy and Immigrant Writing in the 21st Century
Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2023
McIntosh Center, University Hall 3999
Loyola Marymount UniversityFeaturing:
- A talk and reading by: Maxim Shrayer
Background Information:
LMU Jewish Studies welcomed acclaimed author and Boston College professor Maxim D. Shrayer for a reading and discussion of his book "Immigrant Baggage: Morticians, Purloined Diaries, and Other Theatrics of Exile." In this literary memoir, Shrayer writes about the legacy of his family’s past in Eastern Europe and about traversing the borders and boundaries of the three cultures that have nourished him―Russian, Jewish, and American.
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2022: Mute Memorials
Date: Thursday, April 28, 2022
A Virtual EventFeaturing:
- Keynote speaker: Jacqueline Osherow
Background Information:
LMU Jewish Studies welcomed Jacqueline Osherow, a distinguished professor of English at the University of Utah, for a talk on Mute Memorials. There was also a live performance by a graduate cantorial student from the Academy for Jewish Religion California.
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2021: The Right to Human Dignity
Date: Thursday, April 8, 2021
A Virtual EventFeaturing:
- Keynote speaker: Professor Thane Rosenbaum
- Student responses: Jonathan Amiri '22 & Taran Drummond '21
- Musical interludes: Eva Robbins
- Remarks: Jonathan Bar-El, Rabbi Anne Brener, & Rabbi Mel Gottlieb
Background Information:
LMU Jewish Studies welcomes Thane Rosenbaum, who will speak on the right to human dignity, an integral theme at the core of all Holocaust remembrance. The commemoration will also include LMU student responses and musical accompaniment from members of the Academy for Jewish Religion of California.
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2019: A Golem for Berlin
Date: Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Location: VDA Family Suite, 3rd Floor, William H. Hannon LibraryFeaturing:
- Artwork and Lecture by Joshua Abarbanel
Background Information:
In Jewish folklore, the golem is an inanimate creature brought to life by ritual incantations and sequences of Hebrew letters. In most tales the golem is conjured by a human and becomes a helper, companion, or rescuer of an imperiled Jewish community (when Berlin’s Weissensee Jewish Cemetery was spared destruction during the Holocaust, some said it was because a golem resided on its grounds). Often the creature runs amok and becomes a threat.
For generations, the golem has inspired artists, writers, filmmakers, and scholars who have been intrigued by the tale’s metaphors about creativity, hubris, the potency of words, and the conundrums of power. In 2015, Joshua Abarbanel was commissioned by the Jewish Museum Berlin to create a large-scale golem sculpture for their 2016 exhibition Golem. Abarbanel’s dramatic sculpture of a golem in repose is composed of thousands of wooden letters and was a centerpiece of the exhibition. A scale model of the larger sculpture was on display in the Library’s 3rd floor atrium throughout April 2019.