Rabbi Joseph Asher served Congregation Emanu-El with dignity and distinction from 1968-1985. In 1993, a fund established to honor his memory as a scholar and a humanitarian, sponsors an annual lecture at Temple Emanu-El.

PAST LECTURES INCLUDE:

2007: Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam, Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles
HOW DO WE SEE EACH OTHER? Classic and Contemporary Views of Jews and Muslims Toward the Other Reuven Firestone

2006: Dr. John Stoessinger is an internationally recognized political analyst and a prize-winning author of ten leading books on world politics. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard and has taught at Harvard M.I.T., Columbia and Princeton. From 1967 to 1974, he served as acting director of the political affairs division at the United Nations. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and lectures extensively throughout the world.

2004: Dr. Dvora Weisberg , associate professor of Rabbinics and director of the Beit Midrash at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, Do We Speak A Common Language: Rethinking Jewish-Christian Dialogue

2000: Dr. Andreas Nachama, Director of the Berlin Jewish Community, The German Jewish Community Today

1998: Rabbi Walter Jacob, Retired Rabbi at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh German Jewry: A Glorious Past; Is There A Future?

1997: Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies, Emory University, Atlanta on Long Armed Women and Nursing Fathers: Leadership in Jewish Tradition

1995: Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut, Editor of The Torah: A Modern Commentary and Rabbi Emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple, Toronto, Canada;

1993: World famous archaeologist Dr. Avraham Biran, on New Discoveries at Biblical Dan