The 2009 AIPAC Membership Dinners around the Bay Area will feature a speech by Stephen M. Berk. Also scheduled to appear is AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr.

A history professor at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., Berk has lectured widely around the country, as well as in the former Soviet Union, Poland, Israel and Egypt. He has also appeared at other AIPAC gatherings, speaking on the topic of powerlessness and the rise of Jewish activism.

Dinners take place in Santa Clara, Sacramento, Oakland and San Francisco from Dec. 13 to 15. Tickets are $100 per person. To register online or to purchase a table, visit http://www.aipac.org/norcalevents, or call (888) 284-9078. The registration deadline is

Dec. 4.