Future Talks

Please contact jonathanbergwerk@gmail.com for further information.

Sunday 28 September. 17.00-18.30. Radlett Reform Synagogue	Jonah	Sleeping on the job, swallowed by a fish - and still God’s chosen prophet? What makes Jonah one of the most relatable (and frustrating) characters in the Bible?
Sunday 5 October. 15.00-16.00. B'nei Brith First Unity	Titus Flavius Josephus	The 1st century priest, politician, soldier and writer who deserted the Jewish cause, rejected its leaders as Zealots and became the first Jewish historian. Was he a traitor to the Jewish cause or a hero of moderation?
Monday 6 October. 15.00-16.00. St James Club, Bushey.	Jerome Kern	One of the most important American theatre composers who transformed musicals from light entertainment into powerful storytelling. He wrote more than 700 songs, including classics as Ol' Man River, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and The Way You Look Tonight.
Wednesday 8 October. 13.45-14.45. Heath Hill Women’s Club	Rosalind Franklin	An English chemist, whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA;. Was she airbrushed out of history because she was a woman?
Monday 13 October. 15.15-16.30. Radlett U3A - Remarkable Women.	Golda Meir	Pivotal to the founding of Israel and its fourth Prime Minister. She was said to be both "the best man in the government" and at fault in the Yom Kippur war. What is the real truth about her?
Monday 20 October. 20.00-21.00. B'nei Brith Pinner.	What makes Jews so special?	What drives Jews to audaciously challenge the status quo and have so much impact on the world?

Wednesday 22 October. 19.45-21.30. Radlett Reform Synagogue	Stephen Sondheim	The American composer and lyricist who transformed musical theatre with works such as Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods. How Jewish was his genius, and how did his background shape his art?
Wednesday 29 October. 14.00-15.00. JC Presents (Zoom)	Irving Berlin	The greatest American songwriter. He wrote Cheek to Cheek, There's No Business Like Show Business. White Christmas and God Bless America. A classic rags to riches story of a Jewish immigrant to America from Russia who made good. A musical extravaganza.
Sunday 2 November 20.00-21.00. B’nei Brith Radlett	Groucho Marx	The American comedian, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. One of the Marx Brothers.
Monday 3 November. 14.00-15.00. Stanmore & Edgware League of Jewish Women.	Jerome Robbins	The American choreographer and director of West Side Story and the creative genius behind Fiddler on the Roof.
Wednesday 5 November. 19.45-21.30. Radlett Reform Synagogue.	Abraham	The biblical patriarch, revered as the first Jew to enter into a covenant with God. But what do the Covenant and the Akedah - the Binding of Isaac - really mean, and how have these defining stories been interpreted in Jewish and Christian traditions? Joint session with Jeremy Newton.
Monday 10 November. 13.45-14.30. Jewish Care - Michael Sobell.	Dorothy Fields	The most successful female lyricist in the golden age of the American musical, who wrote songs such as The Way You Look Tonight, A Fine Romance and On the Sunny Side of the Street.
Thursday 13 November. 14.30-15.30. Radlett U3A Local History.	Stanley Kubrick	An American photographer and innovative filmmaker. Is 2001 A Space Odyssey one of the greatest religious films ever made?
Monday 17 November. 19.30-20.30. Highwood Women's Club.	Dorothy Fields	The most successful female lyricist in the golden age of the American musical, who wrote songs such as The Way You Look Tonight, A Fine Romance and On the Sunny Side of the Street.
Wednesday 22 November. 19.45-20.30. Radlett Reform Synagogue.	Judith Kerr	The German-born British writer and illustrator best known for The Tiger Who Came to Tea, her books about a cat called Mog, and her semi-autobiographical novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. How did her refugee experience shape her stories for children?
Wednesday 22 November. 20.45-21.30. Radlett Reform Synagogue.	Tom Lehrer	The American satirist and songwriter whose witty, biting lyrics skewered politics, religion and society. Was his humour simply entertainment, or a deeply Jewish form of social commentary?
Wednesday 3 December. 19.45-21.30. Radlett Reform Synagogue.	Daniel Kahneman	The Israeli-American psychologist and Nobel Prize winner who with Amos Tversky did the foundational work for behavioural economics, and wrote the book Thinking Fast and Slow. How does this help us understand Judaism - with its balance of instinctive tradition and through reason?
Wednesday 17 December. 19.45-21.30. Radlett Reform Synagogue.	Gustav Mahler	The Austro-Bohemian composer and conductor who became one of the leading figures of late Romantic music. How did his symphonies mark a step change in musical history, and what made them so revolutionary? Joint session with Andrew Blankfield.