Chai-er Learning

Chai-er Learning Continues!

Our 2027 Chai-er Learning lecture series is a collaboration between Beth Tzedec Congregation and the 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.

In the first session of the 2027 Chai-er Learning series, we welcome Dr. Anna Shternsis, Director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies and the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies, for a presentation on “Soviet Anti-Zionism: History and Legacy”.

There is no charge but pre-registration is required. To register, click HERE.

UPCOMING SESSIONS

Thursday, March 18 Dr. Robert Brym—Why They Hate Us
Wednesday, April 7 Dr. Allan Verskin—Maimonides and the Identity Crisis of a Jew-by-Choice
Wednesday, May 5 Dr. Ron Levi—Varieties of Antisemitism and Varieties of Anti-Antisemitism

Anna Shternshis is the Director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies and the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto.

She is a distinguished scholar with an international reputation for her expertise in Jewish culture in Russia and the Soviet Union, oral history as well as Yiddish music. She received her doctoral degree (DPhil) from Oxford University in 2001. Shternshis is the author of three critically acclaimed monographs, including  Soviet and Kosher: Jewish Popular Culture in the Soviet Union, 1923 – 1939 (Indiana UP, 2006), When Sonia Met Boris: An Oral History of Jewish Life under Stalin (Oxford UP, 2017), and Jews in the Soviet Union: Post-War Life, Hopes, and Fears, 1945-1953 (NYU Press, 2026).  She is also a co-author of Jews in the Soviet Union: War, Conquest, and Catastrophe, 1939 -1945 (NYU Press).  She wrote over 30 articles on the Soviet Jews during World War II, Russian Jewish culture, post-Soviet Jewish diaspora and Yiddish culture of the Holocaust. Together with artist Psoy Korolenko, Shternshis created and directed the Grammy-nominated Yiddish Glory project, an initiative that brought back to life forgotten Yiddish music written during the Holocaust in the Soviet Union. A recipient of 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship and President’s Impact Award at the University of Toronto, she is currently finishing her book about Yiddish music created in Nazi-occupied Ukraine.Professor Shternshis was appointed as the Special Advisor to the Dean on Community Engagement in March 2020. As Special Advisor, she will provide advice to the Dean on matters related to the strategic priority of increasing community engagement. She will assist in evaluating opportunities for partnership, including working with external organizations and advisory groups. She will also help increase the Faculty’s profile in the community and enrich opportunities for students and faculty, especially related to experiential learning and innovative scholarship.