CONVERSATIONS! 2022

Our guest on Conservations will be Alan Levine, one of a trio of pro bono heroes who scored a $26-mln verdict against Charlottesville rally organizers.

Hear the inspiring story of how he spent 4 weeks in “a bubble of hate and violence” as he cross examined the white supremacists that organized and led the antisemitic and racist violence that resulted in the death of Heather Heyer and the injuring of dozens of others, including seven of the plaintiffs in the suit.

Terry Swartzberg, a Jewish “Ethical Campaigner” who has lived in Germany for 45 years, speaks with us from his home in Munich Germany. Terry Swartzberg became a reporter for the International Herald Tribune. Terry talks about the time he met with Presitent Vladimir Putin and the profound effect the invasion of Ukraine is having on Germany.

Terry answered questions about his experiences openly wearing a kippah in Germany for the last 9 years as well as his involvement with the Stolperstein project, the world’s largest distributed commemoration project. The project has installed over 100,000 concrete cubes bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution in the sidewalks in front of their last place of residence before becoming victims of the Nazis.

Guest speaker Nurit Gery, director of Givat Haviva International School in northern Israel along with students Christina, Te’ena and Hussein from GHIS which is a coed boarding high school that brings together promising young students from diverse communities and varying economic backgrounds. Over three years they train to become leaders for cross-cultural cooperation and conflict resolution.

Their stories are fascinating and will give you hope.

Learn why the loss of abortion rights in Michigan is a real possibility and what’s being done about it.  It happened in Texas and other states and it most likely will happen in Michigan.

Shanay Watson-Whittaker of Reproductive Freedom for All  and Renee Chelian of the Northland Family Planning Centers illustrate why this freedom for women is so important.  They share personal stories, why it’s in jeopardy and how it can be avoided.

Derrick Miller is the Executive Director of the Community Action Network in Ann Arbor Michigan and he felt he had to do something to help the people of Ukraine.  The experience was intense, to say the least, but it was also highly impactful.  While he was there he was assisted by Nataliya Starak who has fascinating and heartwarming stories to share with us.

On Conversations they will touch on experiences at 2 refugee centers, a hostel with nearly 300 Ukrainian women and children, multiple border crossings, and hundreds of interactions with a myriad of foreign volunteers, refugees, Polish and Ukrainian authorities and even the pets of Ukrainian refugees.

What are the very real possibilities that it will become much more difficult to vote in Michigan and how the Promote the Vote ballot initiative can block the current effort to suppress the vote?

The views expressed by Chuck Newman and his guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ann Arbor JCC.

Can’t wait to join the conversation? Please email Noemi Herzig at [email protected] to request the Zoom link.

CONVERSATIONS! is presented by the Jewish Cultural Arts and Education (JCAE) department of the Ann Arbor JCC. For more information on this or other JCAE programs, please contact Noemi Herzig, director of Jewish Cultural Arts and Education, at [email protected].