Chai-er Learning: U of Toronto at BT Speaker Series

Our 2026-2027 Chai-er Learning lecture series is a collaboration between Beth Tzedec Congregation and University of Toronto’s Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies. We are honoured to showcase expert scholars in the humanities and social sciences, whose research, publishing and teaching explore complexities and challenges of the Jewish experience yesterday and today.

This this session, we welcome Dr. Allan Verskin, professor and Samuel J. Zacks Chair of Jewish History, for a presentation and discussion on “Maimonides and the Identity Crisis of a Jew by Choice“.

Watch for registration information coming soon.

UPCOMING SESSION

May 5  Dr. Ron Levi—Varieties of Antisemitism, and Varieties of Anti-Antisemitism

Presented in partnership by
Beth Tzedec Congregation and University of Toronto’s Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies

Alan Verskin is the Samuel J. Zacks Chair of Jewish History. His areas of research include religious, legal and social history in both Jewish and Islamic contexts, from the middle ages through the 19th century.

He is particularly interested in travel, translation and the migration of ideas between religious communities. He is also interested in intellectual responses to religious persecution and minorityhood.

What unites and connects all of these areas is an emphasis on paying attention to the first-person stories of those whose perspectives have been marginalized.