The A. Pearly and Edith C. Feen Lecture Series was created to honor the memory of A. Pearly Feen, one of Vermont’s most outstanding attorneys and legal scholars, and Edith C. Feen, his wife. Feen was especially known for hiring a number of new lawyers, just starting out, many of whom were also members of OZ.
The lecture series was established in 1988 by Feen’s daughter Elaine Kaufman, described as follows:
“The A. Pearly and Edith C. Feen lecture presents speakers who can contribute significantly to public conversations of interest to a broad community, often but not exclusively related to law. The lecture is open to the general public, without charge, and publicized within local media as well as within Ohavi Zedek Synagogue. The Feen lecture reflects the depth of Ohavi Zedek Synagogue’s commitment to intellectual inquiry and community engagement.”
The series, which typically occurs every other year has had such distinguished guests in the past as Chief Justice Rhenquist of the US Supreme Court and renowned Jewish author Chaim Potok.
The most recent speakers and topics are listed below. To inquire about the Feen Lecture, contact the Adult Education Committee.
May 2025 – Rabbi Jill Jacobs: CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Among Forward’s Top 50 influential American Jews, Author of books including “Where Justice Dwells: A Hands-On Guide to Doing Social Justice in Your Jewish Community”
2023 – Dahlia Lithwick, lawyer, Senior Editor at Slate and award winning journalist; author of columns: “Supreme Court Dispatches” and “Jurisprudence” and host of Amicus podcast Topic: Separation of Church and State and the Supreme Court. See details here.
2018 – Yossi Klein Halevi, author, Journalist in Jerusalem, and Co-Director for the Muslim Leadership Initiative and Senior Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute; and Imam Abdullah Antepli, author and Senior fellow on Jewish -Muslim Relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute, Co- Director for the Muslim Leadership Institute and faculty at Duke Divinity School. Topics: Understanding Israel’s left-right divide, paradoxes, Palestinian neighbors
2016 – Joyce Antler, author and Samuel Lane Professor of American Jewish History and Culture, Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University, with her Daughter, Lauren Antler, performer. Topic: Our Mothers, Ourselves: the Jewish Mother Revised and Re-Invente. See event info and flyer.
2013 – Rabbi Amy Eilberg, the first woman Rabbi ordained in Conservative Judaism and
co-founder of the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center; Topic: Jewish healing, spirituality, and peace.
2012 – James Carroll, author of ten novels and six works of non-fiction, including the National Book Award winning An American Requiem; the New York Times bestselling Constantine’s Sword, House of War, which won the first PEN-Galbraith Award; Practicing Catholic. His most recent book is Jerusalem, Jerusalem: How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World, published in Spring 2011. Video here.
