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In Maine, a weekend of talks on anti-Semitism
ORONO, Maine - As students returned to the University of Maine campus here after a summer of turbulent national politics, a three-lecture series by scholar-in-residence Prof. Roger Brooks encouraged them to engage in dialogue about Judaism and the dangers of anti- Semitism.
On Sept. 7, Brooks spoke to a robust audience at an informal brown-bag luncheon at the university's Memorial Union, delivering an illustrated lecture, "Jerusalem from Antiquity to the Present." That evening at the university's Wilson Center, he spoke on "Defining Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism," following his remarks with an open discussion with an audience made up of students and community members.
Brooks is president and CEO of Facing History and Ourselves, the Brookline-based nonprofit international educational organization that promotes to students of diverse backgrounds an examination of racism, prejudice and anti-Semitism. He is the Elie Wiesel professor emeritus of Judaic studies at Connecticut College, and has written widely on topics that range from Judaic law in antiquity to the Holocaust and contemporary issues of social injustice.
Following a Shabbat morning service and brunch in his honor on Sept. 8 at Congregation Beth Abraham in Bangor, Brooks delivered his final lecture in the series, "Reconciling Jewish Theology with the Holocaust."
The series was co-sponsored by the University of Maine Hillel, the university's Judaic Studies Program and its Cultural Affairs/ Distinguished Lecture Series...