2024 – 8-29-24 – COMPELLING CONVERSATIONS
UKRAINE UPDATE WITH JCC KRAKOW’S CEO JONATHAN ORNSTEIN
In this 50th Anniversary episode of Compelling Conversations,
Congregation Ner Tamid’s Rabbi Sanford Akselrad invites Jonathan Ornstein,
the CEO of JCC Krakow, Poland, to give an update about his JCC’s efforts to help displaced Ukrainian refugees.
Rabbi Akselrad traveled to Poland and the Ukrainian border on a Rabbinic mission in April 2022.
CNT raised $75,000 and collected supplies for Rabbi Akselrad to bring to Ornstein’s JCC.
In total, the group of Reform Rabbis collected more than two tons of medicine
and personal supplies and raised more than $800,000.
Rabbi Akselrad then invited Ornstein to CNT as CNT’s first International Scholar-In-Residence in January 2023.
In this Friday, June 7, 2024, Compelling Conversations interview, Ornstein gives Rabbi Akselrad an update
about ongoing refugee relief efforts and all that his JCC continues to do
to support the rebirth of Jewish life in Krakow, Poland.
DONATE HERE: www.friendsofjcckrakow.org
2024 – 7-5-24 – COMPELLING CONVERSATIONS
ANTISEMITISM ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES
As part of Congregation Ner Tamid’s year-long 50th Anniversary celebration,
Rabbi Sanford Akselrad invited UNLV History Professor Gregory Brown,
ADL Regional Director Jolie Brislin,
and University of Nevada, Reno college student Clayton Greb
to the bimah for a special live taping of his award-winning online video show Compelling Conversations.
On Friday, July 5, 2024, they talked about anti-Israel protests that have rocked college campuses across the nation.
2024 – 6-7-24 – COMPELLING CONVERSATIONS
WITH CHEF ALON SHAYA
In this 50th Anniversary episode of Compelling Conversations,
Congregation Ner Tamid welcomed James Beard award-winning Chef Alon Shaya
to host its inaugural Nosh Shabbat, on Friday, June 7, 2024.
Chef Shaya was invited to the bimah and both Rabbi Akselrad and Cantor Jessica Hutchings
asked Chef Shaya questions about his culinary history, his cookbook,
and his new chef residency at Wynn Las Vegas where his restaurant, Safta 1964,
is serving his world-renowned hummus and Mediterranean-inspired cuisine.
2024 – 5-3-24 – COMPELLING CONVERSATIONS
WITH RABBI DR. LAURA DUHAN-KAPLAN
In this 50th Anniversary episode of Compelling Conversations,
Congregation Ner Tamid invited Visiting Scholar Rabbi Dr. Laura Duhan-Kaplan,
on Friday, May 3, 2024, to share her sermon “Judaism: 50 Years From Now”
and to talk with Rabbi Sanford Akselrad about the topic.
2023 – 4-14-23 – COMPELLING CONVERSATIONS
WITH ISRAELI DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR YONATAN NIR
In the United States, the annual commemoration of the Holocaust Days of Remembrance
runs from the Sunday before Yom HaShoah through the following Sunday.
It’s when we remember the six million Jews who were murdered during WWII,
and honor and pay tribute to the survivors, rescuers, and liberators.
At Congregation Ner Tamid, Rabbi Sanford Akselrad hosted Israeli Director Yonatan Nir
in November 2022 to screen his documentary “The Essential Link: The Story of Wilfrid Israel.”
Wilfrid Israel was an unsung hero of the Holocaust who saved
15 times more people than the famed Oskar Schindler.
Rabbi Akselrad got to interview Nir on the bimah on Friday, November 11, 2022.
2023 – 1-18-23 – COMPELLING CONVERSATIONS
WITH JCC KRAKOW CEO JONATHAN ORNSTEIN
In this episode of “Compelling Conversations,” Congregation Ner Tamid’s Rabbi Sanford Akselrad
talks with CNT’s International Scholar-In-Residence Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of the JCC in Krakow, Poland,
ahead of Ornstein’s Congregational address at Friday Night Shabbat, Friday, January 20, 2023.
2022 – 4-20-22 – COMPELLING CONVERSATIONS
WITH TALI NATES, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
OF THE JOHANNESBURG HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDE CENTRE
On Wednesday, April 20, 2022, Rabbi Akselrad talked with special guest Tali Nates,
the founder and executive director of The Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre in South Africa.
On Sunday, April 24, Nates was also the featured speaker at the 2022 Yom HaShoah Observance
and Holocaust Memorial Plaza Dedication at King David Memorial Chapel & Cemetery.
2022 – 2-16-22 – COMPELLING CONVERSATIONS
WITH DAVID BROG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MACCABEE TASK FORCE
Watch Rabbi Akselrad’s latest episode of Compelling Conversations with special guest David Brog,
executive director of The Maccabee Task Force, and moderator Ira David Sternberg.
The Maccabee Task Force has found a way to combat antisemitism on college campuses.
Watch to find out what they do…
