Event

"Revolutionizing American Judaism: The Jewish Counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s”

In the 1960s and 1970s, a group of young Jews set out to reinvent Jewish communal worship and social life outside the framework of traditional synagogue denominations and structures. They experimented with new forms of prayer, study, and communal life, emphasizing spirituality, engagement with texts, and political activism.  

The University of Pennsylvania Jewish Studies Program, in partnership with the Penn Libraries, has completed a pioneering oral history project documenting the early years of this movement, complete with interviews from 32 founding members.  

Please join us as we screen excerpts from the oral histories, and hear from a panel of experts including:

Dr. Jayne Guberman (oral historian for the project)

Professor Riv-Ellen Prell (a leading scholar of the movement; University of Minnesota) 

Rabbi Michael Strassfeld (executive director of the project and a founding member of the movement

Professor Beth S. Wenger (academic director of the project; University of Pennsylvania)

This is the 24th Annual Silvers Visiting Scholar Program, endowed by David, C’71, and Patricia, CW’72, Silvers, and co-sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Jewish Studies Program, the Department of History, and the Department of Religious Studies. For more information, call 215-898-6654, or email: jsp-info@sas.upenn.edu

The Silvers Visiting Scholars Program is intended especially to engage an audience of Penn undergraduates, as well as faculty and community. Free and open to the public. No RSVP necessary. Photo ID necessary for entrance.