The Jews have lived in Syria since the Biblical period. There is a legend that associates the Arabic name for Aleppo, Halab,
  with Abraham milking his cows and giving the milk to the poor of Aleppo. The history of the Jews of Aleppo in the first half of the   twentieth century is a rich and fascinating one. This lecture will explore this history with a focus on the rabbinic tradition that       developed in Aleppo during this period.

Jews have lived in England for over one thousand years.  However, they were expelled in 1290 and not readmitted until 1655. This
lecture will explore the Jewish community in London at the beginning of the twentieth century. We will focus on the career of Chief Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz and his attempt to unite the British and immigrant Jewish
communities and his attempt to improve the reputation of the Jews amongthe non-Jews in England.

The Jews have lived in Alsace since the early medieval period. However, the relationship of the Jews to Alsace underwent many changes as the region oscillated between French and German rule. In 1871, Alsace was conquered by the German and the Alsatian Jews were faced with the difficult decision of whether to switch their allegiance to the Germans. Initially, the Jews remained patriotic to the French. However, following the Dreyfus Affair in the 1890's where Alfred Dreyfus was criticized as a both a Jew and an Alsatian, the Jews began to express allegiance to the German cause. This lecture will explore the issue of these conflicting allegiances and their implication for the history of the Jews in Modern Europe.

The Jewish community of Berlin following World War I consisted of both German Jews and Eastern European Jews. Each of these communities played an important role in the development of the Jewish community during the short lived democratic Weimar Republic. This lecture will explore the importance of each of these communities and the both the friction and cooperation that existed among the Jews of Berlin during this period.