Lichter Lecture Series

At the beginning of each academic year, the department of Judaic Studies invites the entire community to attend the Jennie L. and Jacob Lichter Lecture Series, made possible by the Jacob and Jennie L. Lichter Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. The Lichter Lecture Series, endowed in 1981, is the department's major event of the academic year. Each year the lectures focus on a different theme, and three leading scholars or intellectuals are invited to address it from different angles.

Since the 1980s, the annual Lichter Lecture Series in Judaic Studies has enabled us to bring to UC close to a hundred of the best and the brightest in the various fields of Jewish thought and learning. These lecturers include: Yehuda Amichai, Yahuda Bauer, David Biale, Norman Golb, Paula Hyman, Amos Oz, Rabbi Dr. W. Gunther Plaut, Jonathan D. Sarna, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Sasson Somekh, Norman A. Stillman, James Tabor, Rabbi Mordecai Waxman, Jack Wertheimer, A.B. Yehoshua and Ronald W. Zweig.

Some of the themes of past Lichter Lecture Series have included: 'Eco-Judaism: New Jewish Approaches to the Environment'; 'Foodaism:  Do Jews Make Food or Does Food Make Jews?'; 'The Politics of Freedom'; 'Portraits of Israel: Society and Culture'; 'Jewish Women in a changing Society'; 'Heritage of Spanish Jews'; 'Holocaust and Rebirth'; 'From Spain to America: The Legacy of Spanish Jewry, 1492-1992'; 'Voices of Hebrew Literature'; 'Antisemitism: Modern Realities and Contemporary'; 'American Judaism: Present and Future'; 'Religion in American Society'; 'Biblical Archeology'; 'The Jews of France' ; 'Dead Sea Scrolls'; 'The Menorah'; 'Jews and War in the 20th Century'; 'Maimonides Medicine and Ethics'; and 'Jews and Muslims'; 'Jewish Neighborhood, Jewish City'; 'The Eichmann Trial: Fifty Years Later'; and "Are the Dead Sea Scrolls Dead?."

How Should Jewish Texts Be Read in the Twenty-First Century?

Jewish texts have played an essential role in Jewish experience.  Torah and Talmud, written and oral, scroll and codex, poetry, short stories, novels, plays, Hebrew, Greek, Ladino, Yiddish, English, the history of our texts could easily be a vehicle of the story of the Jewish people.  More recent developments in media that expand our notions about texts to include films, television, artworks, museums, podcasts, stand-up comedy, comic books and graphic novels, songs, music videos, Youtube, TikTok and many other new media platforms correlate with new forms of Jewish texts.  Torahpalooza offers an opportunity for learning, insight, and reflection on the place and role of traditional and more recent textual forms in contemporary Jewish life. Torahpalooza Cincinnati 2025 will bring together local teaching talent from across the community centered around an invited keynote speaker, Miriam Anzovin, well-known for her popular Talmud study videos on TikTok (https://www.miriamanzovin.com/).  It will be an evening of learning and community engagement.

Keynote Address delivered by Miriam Anzovin:  

“How To Encounter Jewish Texts Using the Miriam Anzovin Method”

Miriam Anzovin is a huge Jewish nerd, storyteller, and artist, putting ancient discourse in direct communication with modern internet culture, pop culture, and current events.   Some of her popular short-form video series include #DafReactions, #JewishLoreReactions, #JewishHolidayReactions, #JewishBookReactions, #AVeryJewishMakeupTutorial, the “Elder Millennials of Zion” skits, and more content on Jewish themes and ideas.

In The Daf Reactions Project, she shares her practice of daily study of the Babylonian Talmud in the Daf Yomi cycle from the viewpoint of a formerly Orthodox, now secular, Millennial feminist. In Jewish Lore Reactions, she explores her favorite epic characters and stories from the incredible, extended chain of imagination that is the collective narrative world-building of the Jewish people. Her videos are her authentic reactions, with commentary both heartfelt and comedic, centering Jewish joy.

Her role in her work is not as a teacher, nor as a rabbi, but rather as a fellow learner, a fellow traveler, on the path of Jewish discovery. Through her content she invites others to walk beside her on this journey and connect with Jewish teachings in ways that are relatable and personally meaningful to them. Miriam was the first Artist in Residence at Moishe House, and was previously the host of The Vibe of the Tribe podcast. Miriam was part of the Digital Storytellers Lab’s 2024 cohort for Jewish Lore Reactions. Miriam is one of four artists in the 2024–2025 CJP and JArts Community Creative Fellowship cohort.

Miriam exists at the intersection of Sefaria and Sephora. And, also in some people’s minds, where she lives rent free. 

What is Torahpalooza?

Torahpalooza is an evening of community learning anchored by a keynote speaker and featuring an array of talented local educators including university faculty, rabbis, podcasters, and community leaders and is sponsored by a wide range of local organizations.  The program starts with havdallah, followed by the keynote and two study sessions where participants have an opportunity to choose to learn on a variety of topics in smaller groups.  Refreshments and shmoozing will also be offered.  In addition to the keynote by Miriam Anzovin, “How to Encounter Jewish Texts Using the Miriam Anzovin Method,” study sessions include The Book of Job in Art (Abby Schwartz); Zemer Torah (Matt Check); How to Be a Balabusta (Andrea Beck and Melissa Hunter); Reconstructing a Rumble (Dr. Julia Olson); Holocaust Museum as Text (Sarah Crane and Trinity Johnson); Too Stubborn to Stone (Rabbi Sam Schapera);It’s the end of the [Jewish] world as we know it, and I feel…(Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp); Beer in the Torah (Rabbi Drew Kaplan);A House on Fire (Jacob Kraus-Preminger); Music as Midrash (Rabbi Meredith Kahan); Rest in Peace (David Harris); Welcoming the Ger (Rabbi Shirah C Kraus).

The Jacob and Jennie L. Lichter Series has been in existence for over 35 years and is made possible by the Jacob and Jennie L. Lichter fund of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. 

For more details about the schedule and presenters click here or see

 https://www.artsci.uc.edu/departments/judaic/lichter.html

 The event takes place begins with Havdallah on Saturday, November 15, 2025

6:00 P.M. at Rockwern Academy 8401 Montgomery Rd (Please use the Sturbridge Drive parking lot)