Upcoming CNS Speakers and Programs!!

Events & Speakers at CNS! November 10, 7pm Race, Jews and Power: A conversation with David Mamet  CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS  In connection with West Coast premiere of Mamet's Play "Race," at American Conservatory Theatre, and hosted by CNS! Pulitzer Prize-winning  playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director David Mamet, engages in conversation with Dan Schifrin, writer-in-residence of the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Copies of Mamet's "The Wicked Son" and "Five Cities of Refuge" will be available for purchase and signing after the conversation. November 17, 7:30pm Jay Michaelson, Author of "God vs. Gay"  Jay Michaelson is a writer, scholar, and activist whose work addresses the intersections of religion, sexuality, spirituality, and law.  His newest book is God vs. Gay?  The Religious Case for Equality, will be published in October, 2011, by Beacon Press.  Jay is is the author of three other books and over 200 articles, essays, and works of fiction.  He is the Associate Editor of Religion Dispatches, a Contributing Editor to the Forward newspaper, and Founding Editor of Zeek magazine.  His work on behalf of sexual minorities in religious communities has been featured in the New York Times, CNN, and NPR, as well as several anthologies. - FREE EVENT, Books available for signing and purchase November 19, 8pm "Love & Taxes" on Stage & Screen with Josh Kornbluth  CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS  The inimitable Josh Kornbluth (credits include Haiku Tunnel, Red Diaper Baby, Love and Taxes, Ben Franklin Unplugged, Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?, The Josh Kornbluth Show) will entertain, inspire, and thoroughly delight you. Josh and his brother Jake have just completed a new film, Love and Taxes, based on Josh's highly successful solo performance piece of the same name. The film is expected to be released--when else?--on Tax Day, April 15, 2012. But, as a benefit for Netivot Shalom, Josh will perform excerpts from Love and Taxes, and then he will tell us about how the theatre piece transformed into a film--including sneak previews of excerpts from the finished work.   November 20, 10:30am "Jewish Mysticism & the Spiritual Life" with Rabbi Or Rose  Over the last two decades or so, increasing numbers of Jewish and non-Jewish seekers in the United Sates and elsewhere have turned to the teachings of Kabbalah and Hasidism in their spiritual journeys.  What are some of the core teachings of these mystical traditions?  What has attracted people to them? And what might we glean from our Kabbalistic and Hasidic forebears?  Our discussion will include the study of several primary textual sources (provided in the original and in translation), and an open discussion of the possibilities and challenges of engaging these sources in our contemporary cultural contexts. The author or editor of several books and articles on Jewish spirituality, social and environmental justice, and interfaith cooperation, he recently co-edited Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections.  Rabbi Rose is a member of the Shalom Hartman Institute's North American Scholars Circle, and serves on the editorial committee of Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility. - FREE EVENT, Books available for signing and purchase   and don't miss... December 4, 10am: a special brunch to celebrate the Publication of Netivot: Paths of Torah, a professionally-published collection of 20 years of CNS Drashot, edited by Peter Strauss and Judith McCullough, with contributions from over 50 shul members, a foreword by Rabbi Kelman, and an introduction by Rabbi Creditor.   December 10, 8pm: Release concert of Rabbi Creditor's new CD "Within"  This new album, Rabbi Creditor's first solo musical creation, is a collaborative shul project featuring original compositions and the debut recording of "V'asu", a song composed by Debbie Friedman z"l upon the dedication of the physical home for Netivot Shalom on University Avenue 6 years ago.   February 11, 7:30pm: Anat Hoffman, Chairperson of Women of the Wall Anat Hoffman is the chairwoman of Women of the Wall. She is the executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, the legal and advocacy arm of the Reform Movement in Israel. Previously she held a seat on the Jerusalem City Council, where for fourteen years she stood in opposition to the policies of the city's right-wing and ultra-Orthodox administration. She has dedicated her adult life to the Jewish principle of tikkun olam, which literally means repairing the world.