Presented by Monroe County Library System Member Libraries and ROC Against Antisemitism
Join the Monroe County Library System and ROC Against Antisemitism for a series of online book discussions about antisemitism and the history of Israel.
Conversations will be held every other month, on the third Tuesday of the month, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM, online, focusing on the following books:
Online Discussions
February 20 – My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit. Discussion Facilitator: Michael Dobkowski Register to Attend
Get the Book
At the Library
In Libby
April 16 – Antisemitism: Here and Now by Deborah E. Lipstadt. Discussion Facilitator: Joy Getnick Register to Attend
Get the Book
At the Library
In Libby
June 18 – Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi. Discussion Facilitator: Julianne Miller Register to Attend
Get the Book
At the Library
In Libby
In Hoopla (Available through some MCLS Member Libraries)
August 20 – People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn. Discussion Facilitator: Ahavya Deutsch
Register to Attend
Get the Book
At the Library
In Libby
In Hoopla (Available through some MCLS Member Libraries)
October 15 – Jewish Pride: Rebuilding a People by Ben Freeman. Discussion Facilitator: Jacqui Lipschitz
Register to Attend
Get the Book
At the Library
In Hoopla (Available through some MCLS Member Libraries)
December 17 – Israel: A Simple Guide by Noa Tishby. Discussion Facilitator: Rachel Present Schreter
Register to Attend
Get the Book
At the Library
In Libby
About our Facilitators
Joy Getnick, PhD, (she) is the Executive Director of Hillel at the University of Rochester. Her prior role was as the Senior Director of Programming and Jewish Life at the Louis S. Wolk JCC of Greater Rochester, including as the founding director of the Camp Seneca Lake (CSL) summer program in Israel for teens. Joy is an ADL “Words to Action” Facilitator, and in her capacity at Hillel at the University of Rochester is often involved in equity, inclusion, and justice-related education and policy work around antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and conversations about Israel and the Conflict. A historian by training, Joy is the author of the Melton “Beyond Borders” course on the history of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and spent many years teaching part-time in the SUNY Geneseo Department of History. Joy lives in Pittsford with her husband and two sons, and loves to bake and celebrate her way through the four seasons and Jewish year.
Lauren אהביה Deutsch, Esq. is an attorney, activist, and Torah scholar, living in Rochester New York with her husband and three children. Lauren worked in migrant women’s health services before law school and began her legal career representing survivors of domestic violence at The Legal Aid Society of Rochester in 2010. She has worked in reproductive justice, and labor justice, and currently works in disability justice as the Executive Director of the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center, a national legal services organization. Lauren’s research interests include bruising injuries in victims of color, effective care and services for clients living with trauma, and the impact of poverty on health equity. Lauren lectures on Jewish topics in family law, biblical literature, and Jewish philosophy, and is currently a scholar at Ohr Torah Stone’s International Halakhic Scholars program.
Michael Dobkowski is a prolific author on the Holocaust and holds a doctorate in history from New York University. He also works with the Human Rights and Genocide Symposium to broaden student and community knowledge, encourage deep reflection and the pursuit of justice, and build student-leadership skills.
He is a founding member and frequent participant in the Goldner (now Weinstein) Holocaust Symposium at Wroxton College in England and was a fellow at the Institute for the Teaching of the Post-Biblical Foundations of Western Civilization at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
An engaged community member, Dobkowski has chaired the Jewish Community Federations Committee for Holocaust Awareness and Information, served as officer and president of the local Jewish day school and is the founder of Ora Academy, a Jewish high school for girls, and serves as an adult education teacher. He was also appointed as chair of the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundations committee that established the Farash Fellowship for the Advancement of Jewish Humanities and Culture.
Julianne Miller is the Assistant Director of the Center for Spirituality, Hillel Advisor, and Interfaith Program Specialist at Nazareth University in Rochester, NY. Prior to joining the Nazareth Community, she served as the Director of the Abbe Center for Jewish Life at Hobart and William Smith Colleges for eight years. Julianne graduated from Princeton University with a degree in history and teacher preparation and has an M.A. in American history from Brown University. A passionate educator, Julianne has worked in public and private education as well as in both formal and informal Jewish educational spaces for ages pre-K through adult. Julianne loves building pluralistic Jewish and multi-faith communities founded on respect for difference and enthusiastic curiosity. She particularly enjoys working with young adults to help them explore the ways that Jewish teachings and rituals can add meaning and richness to their lives. She also loves learning from individuals from other faiths about how their values and practices deepen their identities and experiences. When not engaging in conversations with students and colleagues, setting up for Shabbat, or baking challah, Julianne can be found listening to podcasts about food and Judaism (or food and Judaism), watching her kids play soccer and tennis, enjoying the beautiful Finger Lakes, and singing anything from Jewish a cappella to Broadway show tunes.
Jacqui Lipschitz was born and raised in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa, where she completed a Jewish Day School education and graduated from the University of Cape Town with a degree in Jewish Studies and Psychology. She joined her husband, Wayne, in Rochester, NY in 1995 and proceeded to dive into Jewish education at Temple B’rith Kodesh (where she still teaches), followed by a few years teaching Judaic Studies at Hillel Community Day School, leading PJ Library at the Jewish Federation, and currently teaching Judaic Studies to the teachers and students at Wolk Children’s Center at the JCC. She also completed a master’s degree in Jewish education in 2016. In a nutshell, Jacqui loves teaching Jewish Studies to all ages…! When she’s not teaching, she’s supporting animal rescue and reading lots of books…! Jacqui and Wayne have two grown children (Gabi and Matthew) and four rescued pets!
About Rochester Against Antisemitism
“ROC Against Antisemitism (ROCAA) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization committed to raising awareness of Jew-hate by igniting understanding and education and empowering community members to stand together and speak out against antisemitism.
Founded in 2022, ROCAA was created by the founders of Brighton Stands Against Antisemitism.
ROCAA is made up of neighbors, friends, parents, and allies who are committed to stomping out Jew hatred in all of its forms.” –https://www.rocaa.org/
This program is generously funded by the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation.
