Upcoming LUAA Events
Our Class Theater Outing
June 15, 2025, 12:30pm to 6:30pm, with bus transport to/from Lexington (Curtain is at 2 pm, if you plan to use your own transportation.)
Needham-based Arlekin Players Theater’s production of Our Class will be at The Calderwood Pavilion at Boston Center for the Arts this June, fresh from a triumphant run in New York. Inspired by real life events surrounding a 1941 pogrom against the Jewish residents of Jedwabne, Our Class is the story of ten classmates — five Jewish and five Catholic Poles — who grow up as friends and neighbors, then face the awakening of hatred, with life and death consequences. This timely story follows their lives from childhood across eight decades in a new, contemporary production of Tadeusz Słobodzianek’s masterpiece, from Arlekin's director Igor Golyak.
The show will be followed by a special talk-back session with Igor Golyak, producer Sara Stackhouse, and members of the cast, moderated by Fran Jacobs, LUAA co-chair. We are eager to convene a robustly interfaith gathering. For information, including the availability of discounted tickets and transportation, contact Holly at luaa.lexington@gmail.com.
Learn more about Our Class
Discussion: They Were Our Neighbors: What Our Class Taught Us about Empathy, Betrayal, and Compassion
May 27, 2025, 7 to 8:30 pm. Location: Hancock United Church of Christ 1912 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington MA
LUAA co-chair Fran Jacobs will host a conversation with Our Class director Igor Golyak and producer Sara Stackhouse about their artistic and personal journey creating the show, their collaborations across religious and cultural differences, and their work to create powerful theater, dialogue, and empathy across borders.
To RSVP to this free event, contact Holly at luaa.lexington@gmail.com
Training Active Bystanders (TAB) Training
May 21, 2025, 6:30 to 9 pm (location TBD)
The next opportunity to attend a Training Active Bystanders (TAB) session will be presented by Quabbin Mediation and sponsored by LUAA. This free, 2.5 hour workshop helps participants know when they are bystanders, analyze situations, and evaluate consequences through a skill-building process. Click here to register!
Past LUAA Events
Parade Theater Outing
March 23, 2025
About 25 LUAAns attended the musical Parade at the Emerson Colonial Theater in Boston. Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry's Tony-winning 1998 musical is based on the true story of Leo Frank, a wrongly convicted Jewish Georgia factory owner who, in 1915, was murdered by a mob, fueled by hatred, hearsay, and hysteria. In a world where we continue to see the fallout of ignorant views, the musical carries a relevancy impossible to ignore. Following the show, we filled 5 tables and enjoyed post-show conversation at PF Chang’s in Boston.
Learn more about Parade
Lexington MLK Day Activator Fair
January 20, 2025
LUAA was honored to participate in the Activator Fair at the 12th Annual Martin Luther King Day of Service in Lexington. We joined about two dozen other organizations by sharing information about LUAA, meeting representatives of like-minded local groups in promoting social justice activities that reflect Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the promise of the United States.
Training Active Bystanders (TAB) Sessions
July, September, and December, 2024
LUAA sponsored two TAB workshops, presented by Quabbin Mediation, Inc., on how bystanders can interrupt harmful situations and generate positive responses. LUAA is also working with TAB to integrate stories of antisemitism into its case material. Over 25 individuals attended these two workshops. In addition, LUAA and Quabbin Mediation, Inc., convened two brainstorming/feedback conversations about how local stories of antisemitism might be elicited and used, in the TAB workshops and elsewhere.
Workshop and Luncheon: Understanding and Responding to Anti-Jewish Ideas: A Workshop for Allies by Project Shema
November 17, 2024
More than 70 people gathered at Follen Church for a buffet luncheon and a “workshop for allies” entitled, "Understanding and Responding to Anti-Jewish Ideas,” presented by Project Shema. The presentation covered who Jews are, the bases of antisemitism, and how Jews experience it, in a way that sparked interest in continued conversations. Participants appreciated both the educational component of the afternoon, and the luncheon opportunity to become acquainted with neighbors, from different faith traditions and cultural communities.
Discussions: White Nationalism and Antisemitism
October 24, 2024 and May 20, 2024
Two discussions about Christian Nationalism and how it intersects with antisemitism were led by LUAA Steering Committee member Maggie Herzig. We showed a compelling, short video of speakers tracing how antisemitism undergirds so much of current white nationalism, and broke into small groups for structured discussions. We repeated this experience five months later to deepen connection and understanding.
Learn more about this topic: Eric Ward, Skin in the Game: How Antisemitism Animates White Nationalism; also https://law.lclark.edu/live/files/35731-3wardpdf; and video of panel discussion (How antisemitism fuels white nationalism), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EiRxLsn8HY
Film Screening and Conversation: Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life
March 5, 2024
After a swastika was discovered at Lexington High School, LUAA and LHS co-hosted a community-wide screening of the documentary “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life,” with a subsequent panel discussion with LHS students and faculty.
Learn more about Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life
Film Discussion: Constantine’s Sword and the Origins of Antisemitism
February 13, 2024
Constantine's Sword, a 2008 documentary produced by James Carroll based on his 2002 book, focusses on the Christian role in the development and perpetuation of antisemitism, across history. LUAA co-chair Stephen Van Evera led a LUAA community conversation using Carroll's illuminating and challenging work as a springboard to share ideas, beliefs, and opinions among ourselves on the history and nature of antisemitism, and what logic and experience suggest would be best practices for addressing it.
An Interfaith Gathering: What Can We Do About Antisemitism?
March 30, 2023
Professor (Reverend) Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski of Boston College spoke to an interfaith gathering hosted at Temple Emunah in Lexington, Massachusetts, outlining why antisemitism is a problem that Christians, in particular, should be working to address. This community dinner and lecture was attended by a broadly interfaith and cross-community gathering of over 60 individuals; included were several clergy and religious educators, representing local congregations, leaders of civic and non-profit organizations, and other interested residents. Those of us at the gathering who wanted to continue working locally on antisemitism constituted ourselves into an independent, citizens/residents action-oriented committee. Eventually we assumed the name LUAA (Lexington United Against Antisemitism).