This event is the first in a series of lectures on music in Israel. On January 30th, Dr. Naomi Cohn Zentner—Assistant Professor at Bar Ilan University's Music Department—will discuss the important role music has played in Israeli society after October 7th.
Thursday, January 30, 202510:00 AM - 11:00 AM (Pacific Time)Webinar
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Organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Co-sponsored by the UCLA Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience.
About the Talk
The events of October 7th, 2023, have profoundly impacted Israeli society and continue to resonate deeply within the collective consciousness. In this context, music in Israel has taken on a dual role: on the one hand, it functions as a sensitive seismograph, capturing and reflecting the national mood and emotions in the aftermath of the tragedy and processing grief; on the other hand, it acts as a compass, framing interpretations of the traumatic events and offering possible pathways for comfort, resilience, and hope. Across all its genres, Israeli music addresses critical issues of belief, unity, and the collective identity of Israeli society in a moment of unprecedented crisis.
About the Speaker
Dr. Naomi Cohn Zentner is an Assistant Professor at Bar Ilan University's music department. Her research interests lie in Historical Ethnomusicology, sacred songs of the Ashkenazi domestic sphere and the cross-fertilization of Ashkenazi and Sephardi liturgical traditions in Israel. In 2024 she held the Katz Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 2019 she was a visiting Fellow at the Oxford Seminar in Advanced Jewish Studies focusing on early Jewish Music. In 2022, she was the recipient of a personal research grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) for a project titled "Embodying Spiritual Sound: New Musical Practices Among Religious Jewish-Israeli Women," which she is heading in collaboration with Dr. Abigail Wood of Haifa University. Her work has been published in Hebrew Studies, Ethnomusicology, Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, and the Oxford Handbook of Jewish music Studies.
DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.
Sponsor(s): UCLA Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience