What does it mean to be Jewish?

How do you formulate your own identity? How would do you describe yourself?

Would you put being Jewish at the forefront of how you define your identity? Or would it be the responsibilities you have as a professional, a mother, a father, brother or sister?

Would you give your nationality as the defining quality of your character?

Join Israeli writer, director and producer Tzipi Trope and philanthropist and producer Tzili Charney for an intriguing discussion with Chairwoman of the Board of ANU Museum of the Jewish People Irina Nevzlin on the impact of identity.

On Tzuzamen, Trope and Charney will dive in deep with Nevzlin into the processes of how to find yourself, how to formulate your own identity and what being Jewish means to them, as they each share their own experiences working through this process. 

All three of the participants are immigrants living their lives in foreign countries, and they describe the transformational events that shaped their lives and formed their identities since their moves.

Trope and Charney are Israelis living in New York. Nevzlin immigrated to Israel from Russia. Within that there is an opening for a discussion of what it means to be Israeli, what it is like to completely pack up and move across the world, the way identity plays a part in navigating those new areas of life and their definition of what it means to be Jewish within these setting.

They also examine whether Judaism can be defined as a culture, a religion or a way of life, and how that fits into the general makeup of an individual.

Nevzlin recently wrote the book The Impact of Identity: The Power of Knowing Who You Are, which offers a way to establish a clear identity for oneself within an everchanging world - politically, religiously and socially. She asserts that to some extent, in this complex world, we are all immigrants searching for somewhere to belong.

Within her book, Nevzlin helps readers understand why its important to find their own identity, what it means to know where you belong and what the touchstone of the formation of an identity should be.

Become a part of the discussion with Trope, Charney and Nevzlin.

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Tzili Charney is a curator, costume designer, producer, and philanthropist. As a philanthropist, she is devoting all her efforts to improving the fields of education, conflict resolution and peace. She upholds her late husband Leon Charney, position as chairman of his real estate business at L.H. Charney Associates in New York, and continued his diplomatic legacy by founding the Charney Resolution Center in Israel in his honor. Tzili serves as vice chairman of the University of Haifa’s Board of Governors, where she and Leon founded the Marine Sciences School.

 

About Tzipi Trope Tzipi Trope was born in Israel. She holds a BA in Music and Sociology from Tel Aviv University and an MA and Ph.D. in Film and TV from the University of Michigan. Her doctoral dissertation is on Andre’s Bazin’s Mise-en-scene Theory. Tzipi has her own company, Maya Films Ltd. She writes, directs and produces documentaries and feature films. She is also an associate arts professor at Tisch.

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