Jewish Ideas to Change the World (Valley Beit Midrash)

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Mira Neshama Weil

Event Co-Sponsored by Rodef Shalom

About The Event:

At a time in winter where we’re invited to trust the silent work of nature under the earth before the explosion of spring, this session is an opportunity to revisit the idea of faith (emunah) in the Jewish tradition. Not just to check in with where we are at with our own emuna and relationship (or not ) with ‘God,’ but also to explore our idea of faith. What if it was other than what we took it to be? Looking at some Jewish texts and familiar prayer, In this session, we’ll play with the idea of seeing faith, a sometimes loaded topic, in a different light.

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Dr. Mira Neshama Weil is a student of Life, Torah, and Meditation. Born in Paris, she earned a Ph.D. in Sociology of Religion at Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (EHESS) and received orthodox smicha from Rav Dr. Daniel Sperber at Beit Midrash Har’El in Jerusalem. A certified Jewish Experiential Educator (Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies), Yoga instructor (Sira, RYT 200), and Mindfulness Teacher (Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Mindfulness Training Institute) Mira is on the Faculty of Or Ha Lev, Applied Jewish Spirituality and the Romemu yeshiva, and she teaches internationally organizations and individuals about Jewish wisdom and contemplative practice.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Steven Windmueller 

The Event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ. 

About The Event: The Gaza Conflict has no doubt changed the landscape of the Middle East, redefined Israeli society and culture, and impacted American Jewry. In this presentation, we will be examining these key transformative factors, evaluating the long-term implications of this moment on Zionism, Jewish history, and the Jewish people. 

About The Speaker Dr. Steven Windmueller is an Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Studies at the Jack H. Skirball Campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. Before coming to HUC, Dr. Windmueller had served on the staff of the American Jewish Committee (1969-1972), directed the Albany (NY) Jewish Federation (1973-1985), and the JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Committee) of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation (1985-1995). 

During his tenure at the College, Dr. Windmueller served for ten years as the Director of its School of Jewish Nonprofit Management and, in 2005, was named to the deanship of the LA campus (2006-2010). In 2009, he was named to an endowed chair, and in 2014 was awarded an honorary doctorate by Hebrew Union College. 

The author of four books and numerous articles, Professor Windmueller holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania. His research has been primarily focused on Jewish communal trends, Anti-Semitism, and Jewish political behavior. His articles have appeared in several secular and Jewish publications. 

Currently, Dr. Windmueller is consulting with national agencies, federations, synagogues, and foundations in connection with his current studies on virtual and privatized Judaism, the impact of COVID, and the broader social, economic, and political trends reshaping American Jewish life. In 2014, he had to teach in China, offering lectures on American Jewry, Israel, and Zionism at various universities in the People's Republic. 

He recently served as guest editor for USC’s Casden Institute, producing The Impact of Donald Trump’s Presidency on American Jews and Israel (2021) and is now focused on producing a volume analyzing 21st Century American Judaism and continues to write on Jewish political behavior for the Times of Israel and other publications in advance of the November 2024 elections. 

Dr. Windmueller serves as a Fellow of the Jerusalem Institute of Public Affairs and as a Board Member of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State, Los Angeles. For the past eight years, he has been on the faculty of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, teaching across the globe.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Mark Nanos

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion 

About the Event: 

Most interpretations of Paul understand the apostle to argue that Jews who did not share their faith in Jesus Christ had lost their original covenant standing. Yet, at the same time, they maintain that there will come a time when Jews will believe (based on the same terms as Gentile sinners), and then “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). In this class we will trace some of the developments in Dr. Nanos’ lifetime journey, as a Jew, to read and then re-read the texts in Romans 11, wherein Paul sets out his view of his fellow Jews and discover alternatives for translating and interpreting these texts.

About the Speaker: 

Mark D. Nanos is a widely known lecturer and author of many books and articles. He received his PhD from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and an Honorary PhD from the University of Lund, Sweden. His book, The Mystery of Romans, won The National Jewish Book Award in Jewish-Christian Relations in 1996 and he is a co-founder of the “Paul within Judaism” section at the Society for Biblical Literature.

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with author Maggie Anton. 

Maggie Anton is an award-winning author of historical fiction, a Talmud scholar, and an expert in Jewish women's history. Her novels include the Rashi's Daughters trilogy; Rav Hisda's Daughter: Apprentice (a National Jewish Book Award finalist) and its sequel, Enchantress; and The Choice: A Novel of Love, Faith, and the Talmud, which is a cross between midrash and fan fiction inspired by Chaim Potok's early novels. She also won a Gold Ben Franklin Award in the religion category for Fifty Shades of Talmud: What the First Rabbis Had to Say about You-Know What, a lighthearted in-depth tour of sexuality within the Talmud.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Andy Kahn

About the Event:

As world temperatures continue to rise, and weather patterns, ocean levels, and wildfires continue to shift, change, and intensify, it is easy to feel unmoored and disconnected. The Sacred Earth: Jewish Perspectives on our Planet, seeks to provide new ways to approach each other and the earth around us to keep us engaged, connected, and hopeful. This session will review some of the ways the book addresses these issues and will offer tangible Jewish modes of maintaining our equilibrium and earth-consciousness.

About the Speaker:

Rabbi Andrue (Andy) Kahn (he/they) grew up in Tacoma, Washington, and has lived in New York since 2009. Before starting rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, he received a BA from Kenyon College in Ohio, an MA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and an MA from the Jewish Theological Seminary in Manhattan. He served as associate rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York from 2018 to 2023, where he has invigorated community members in their 20s and 30s, organized interfaith programming, and led people of all ages in deep Jewish learning geared towards spiritual development. He recently joined the team at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, New York as the associate director of Yachad and adult education at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, New York. His edited volume The Sacred Earth: Jewish Perspectives on our Planet, was published in June 2023 by CCAR Press.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel 

About The Event: 

Time is crucial for our self-perception, cultural orientation, and social structure: whoever controls time controls the conversation. We will examine ancient and more recent debates regarding the Jewish calendar and will ponder why there are few such controversies today—with one notable exception.

About The Speaker: 

Rabbi Dalia Marx, Ph.D., is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy and Midrash at HUC-JIR’s Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem and teaches in various academic institutions in Israel and Europe. 

Marx, a tenth-generation Jerusalemite, earned her doctorate at the Hebrew University and her rabbinic ordination at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem and Cincinnati in 2002. She is involved in various research projects and is active in promoting liberal Judaism in Israel. Marx writes for academic and popular journals and publications.

Marx is the lead editor of the Israeli Reform siddur, Tfillat HaAdam (2020). Her book From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar (Yeditos Sfarim 2018), was translated into several languages and is available in English from the CCAR Press. She is the author of When I Sleep and When I Wake: On Prayers between Dusk and Dawn (Yediot Sfarim, 2010, in Hebrew),  A Feminist Commentary of the Babylonian Talmud (Mohr Siebeck, 2013, in English), About Time: Journeys in the Jewish-Israeli Calendar (Yediot Sfarim, 2018, in Hebrew) and the co-editor of a few books.

Her new book, From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar (CCAR 2023) presents a fascinating exploration of the treasures of the Jewish year and artfully blends traditional and contemporary perspectives on each Hebrew month and its holidays. See Marx’s website for more information.

Marx lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Roly Zyblersztein, Ph.D. They have three children.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo

Event Co-Sponsored by BMH BJ

About The Event:

This shiur (session) deals with the questions of whether the kelalot (curses) in the Torah are applicable to the Holocaust and the different shitot (theories) concerning the Holocaust.

About The Speaker

Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo is the Founder and Dean of the David Cardozo Academy and the Bet Midrash of Avraham Avinu in Jerusalem. A sought-after lecturer on the international stage for both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, Rabbi Cardozo is the author of 13 books and numerous articles in both English and Hebrew. Rabbi Cardozo heads a Think Tank focused on finding new Halachic and philosophical approaches to dealing with the crisis of religion and identity amongst Jews and the Jewish State of Israel. Hailing from the Netherlands, Rabbi Cardozo is known for his original and often fearlessly controversial insights into Judaism. His ideas are widely debated on an international level on social media, blogs, books, and other forums.

Written by NLC and Ilana Sinclair

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller speaks at Valley Beit Midrash.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
The onset of the coronavirus brought with it a slew of perverse efforts to identify the ‘sinful’ behaviors for which the plague was God’s punishment. Through an analysis of “Vehaya im Shamoa” (Deut.11:13-21) I offer an alternative understanding of punishment as a disciplinary act attributed to God but, actually, the direct consequence of human conduct. Proceeding to outline the Pharoanic behavioral antecedents of the Egyptian plagues I move on to focus on the causal chain of human missteps that have led to the current crisis. In doing so I hope to diminish the degree of randomness with which we frame the pandemic and argue that this human-induced ‘plague’ imposes on us a moral obligation to take corrective actions that could bring healing to our beleaguered planet.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: 

Chaim Seidler-Feller recently celebrated his fortieth year of working with students and faculty as the Executive Director of the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA. He is currently Director Emeritus.. He was ordained in 1971 at Yeshiva University where he completed a Masters in Rabbinic Literature. Chaim has been a lecturer in the Departments of Sociology and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA and in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He is currently a faculty member of the Shalom Hartman Institute, North America and of the Wexner Heritage Foundation. He was the founding director of the Hartman Fellowship for Campus Professionals and a founding member of Americans for Peace Now. In 2014 he initiated a fact-finding mission for non-Jewish student leaders to Israel and the Palestine Authority which is now offered on ninety campuses. In 2020 a Festschrift entitled "Swimmimg Against the Current: Reimagining Jewish Tradition in the 21st Century" was published in Chaim’s honor. He is married to Dr. Doreen Seidler-Feller, a clinical psychologist, and is the father of Shulie, a photojournalist and Shaul, an ordained rabbi who is currently serving as a Judaica consultant at Sotheby’s while pursuing a doctorate in Jewish History at the Hebrew University.

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Watch VBM classes on YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ

Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: 

•  Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) 

•  Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) 

Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:

•  Website:   https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org

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A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair

EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: 
Temple Chai

ABOUT THE EVENT:
“Shabbat Ha’aretz” by Rav Kook is the most influential book in 800 years about Shmita, one of Judaism’s most radical and transformative ideas. Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair, whose new book on Shabbat Ha’aretz has just come out from Maggid Press, joins us to discuss why Rav Kook’s thinking was so critical, and how it points the way to the creative renewal of shmita’s socio-economic and ecological dimensions that we are starting to see today.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi Yedidya (Julian) Sinclair is an economist, writer and rabbi. He began his career as an economist advising the UK government, was Vice President and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, an Israeli solar power developer, and today works as an independent consultant on development projects in Africa. Yedidya was Senior Rabbinic Advisor for Hazon, the largest faith-based environmental organization in the U.S., and Campus Rabbi at Cambridge University, where he also taught Jewish Studies in the Divinity School. He holds degrees from Oxford and Harvard Universities and lives with his family in Jerusalem. His book, “The Sabbath of the Land,” will be published by Maggid Books in February.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:
https://korenpub.com/products/the-sabbath-of-the-land
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Stay Connected:
•  Website:   www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ 
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A virtual event presentation by Melanie Gruenwald

The event was co-hosted by Beth El Phoenix 

About the Event: 

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” ~ Leonard Cohen Please join us for this workshop on Kabbalistic and contemporary sources and conversations about light, darkness, hope, grief, and resilience.

About the Speaker: 

Executive Director of Kabbalah Experience Melanie Gruenwald brings over 25 years of non-profit leadership and community organizing to her position. Engaged with senior citizens, families, college students, and teens, Melanie has extensive professional experience with communal leadership and informal Jewish education.

Melanie is energized by building relationships, understanding people’s needs, and finding ways to connect them. She loves the balance of organizational leadership and teaching, which she engages in daily at Kabbalah Experience.

She earned her B.S. in Psychology from Binghamton University (S.U.N.Y) and her Masters in Social Work and Certificate in Jewish Communal Service from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University. Melanie has pursued additional Judaic and spiritual studies at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, the Conservative Yeshiva, and most recently, the Kabbalah Experience.

Melanie is married to Rabbi Salomon Gruenwald, Associate Rabbi at the Hebrew Educational Alliance, and is a mom to three children Koby (z”l), Hannah, and Micah.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Abigail Pogrebin and Rabbi Dov Linzer

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel, The Denver Kehillah, BMH-BJ

About the event: 

Orthodox Rabbi Dov Linzer and Reform Journalist Abigail Pogrebin will be in conversation with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz about their unlikely journey together through the Five Books of Moses during two of the most turbulent years in American history.

About the Speakers: 

Abigail Pogrebin is the author of the National Jewish Book Award finalist My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew” and “Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish.” She’s written for The Atlantic, the Forward, and Tablet and moderates public conversations for The Streicker Center and the Jewish Broadcasting Service. 

Rabbi Dov Linzer is the President and Rosh HaYeshiva (Rabbinic Head) of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, an Orthodox rabbinical school and Torah center, which promotes a more open and inclusive Orthodoxy. He has written for the Forward, Tablet, and The New York Times and hosted highly popular Torah podcasts.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Joseph Benatov

Event Co-Sponsored by Temple Emanuel

About the Event:

Join us for a dynamic interactive trip through Bulgaria’s rich Jewish heritage. Our virtual tour will make stops in Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s largest cities, and will take us inside the sumptuous Neo-Moorish Sofia synagogue. Other highlights along the way include the medieval capital, the grand Rila Monastery, and the mountain town of Samokov, home to the affluent Arie dynasty. You will have a chance to learn about the history and culture of the Bulgarian Sephardic Jews. We will discuss the historical details surrounding both the deportation to Treblinka of nearly 11,400 Greek and Macedonian Jews as well as the survival of all 50,000 Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust. We will note some of the most prominent politicians, clergymen, and intellectuals who stood up for their Jewish neighbors. Our final destination will be Jaffa, Israel, where large numbers of Bulgarian Jews settled between 1948 and 1952.

About the Speaker:

Joseph Benatov holds a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches Hebrew. He has written on competing national narratives of the saving of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II; Jewish identity politics in Philip Roth’s early fiction; and the sensationalism of U.S. representations of life behind the Iron Curtain. He has translated fiction, poetry, and drama, including several plays staged to wide acclaim in Sofia, Bulgaria. He is also the English translator of the contemporary Bulgarian novel Zift. Every summer Dr. Benatov leads Jewish heritage trips to the Balkans.

A virtual event presentation by Professor Joshua Shanes

EVENT CO-HOSTED BY: Temple Solel

ABOUT THE EVENT:

This class will be a conversation/talk about the competing definitions of antisemitism, what led to their foundation, the differences between them, and what’s at stake.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Joshua Shanes is an Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, and Director of the Arnold Center for Israel Studies, at the College of Charleston. He has published widely on modern Jewish politics, culture, and religion – as well as antisemitism and contemporary politics – in academic and popular outlets including Washington Post, Slate, Haaretz, and Tablet. He is currently writing a history of Jewish Orthodoxy.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Dara Horn

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About the Event: 

In her latest book, acclaimed author Dara Horn explores a pointed question: Why do far too many people seem to love dead Jews, but ignore the living ones? In 2022, the Holocaust continues to make headlines, fill our films and fiction, and generate extraordinary interest far beyond our community. Yet ignorance and indifference towards Jew hatred today seem to be higher than ever. What’s going on?

About the Speaker: 

Dara Horn is the award-winning author of six books, including the novels In the Image (Norton 2002), The World to Come (Norton 2006), All Other Nights (Norton 2009), A Guide for the Perplexed (Norton 2013), and Eternal Life (Norton 2018), and the essay collection People Love Dead Jews (Norton 2021). One of Granta magazine’s Best Young American Novelists, she is the recipient of two National Jewish Book Awards, the Edward Lewis Wallant Award, the Harold U. Ribalow Award, and the Reform Judaism Fiction Prize, and she was a finalist for the JW Wingate Prize, the Simpson Family Literary Prize, and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Her books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books, Booklist’s Best 25 Books of the Decade, and San Francisco Chronicle’s Best Books of the Year, and have been translated into eleven languages. Her nonfiction work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, and The Jewish Review of Books, among many other publications, and she is a regular columnist for Tablet. Horn received her doctorate in Yiddish and Hebrew literature from Harvard University. She has taught courses in these subjects at Sarah Lawrence College and Yeshiva University and has held the Gerald Weinstock Visiting Professorship in Jewish Studies at Harvard. She has lectured for audiences in hundreds of venues throughout North America, Israel, and Australia. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and four children.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Gershom Sizomu

The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ

About the Event: 

Rabbi Sizomu will speak about the origins of Abayudaya, the challenges occasioned by the dictatorial reign of President Iddi Amin Dada, antisemitism, and living as a minority in a country that is predominantly Christian and Muslim. 

About the Speaker: 

Rabbi Gershom Sizomu is a Be’chol Lashon Rabbinic Fellow and the spiritual leader of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda. Gershom is the current leader of the 100-year-old Abayudaya community of almost 2,000 Jews living in rural villages in Eastern Uganda. He is the grandson of community elder “Rabbi” Samson. He lives near the Moses Synagogue in the village of Nabagogye, which he and others from the community’s early 1980s “Kibbutz movement” built with their own hands. Their goal has been to gather what was left of the Abayudaya community back together after the devastating reign of Idi Amin Dada ended in 1979. As a visionary leader, Gershom’s dream was to attend a rabbinic seminary to understand ancient and modern egalitarian Judaism better and bring the Ugandan community into mainstream Jewish life. Gershom was awarded a Be’chol Lashon Fellowship in 2003 to attend the five-year Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He returned to Uganda in 2008 as the first native-born black rabbi in Sub-Saharan Africa. He opened a Yeshiva to train African teachers and rabbis to serve their ancient and emerging Jewish communities. In 2016, Gershom became the first Jew ever elected to Uganda’s parliament.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel 

About the Event: 

In this seminar, we will consider how we’ve arrived at this moment of an outpouring of anti-Jewish venom on campus and what can be done to reintroduce civility and mutual respect between the alienated and offended groups. What is the underlying cause of this explosion of hostility and what is the University’s responsibility to address the issue? A sober and nuanced assessment by a 50-year veteran of the campus wars.

About the Speaker: 

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller is a faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He recently celebrated 40 years of working with students and faculty as the Executive Director of the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA, where he is now Director Emeritus.

Chaim was ordained at Yeshiva University where he completed a Masters in Rabbinic Literature. He has been a lecturer in the Departments of Sociology and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA and the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He is a faculty member of the Wexner Heritage Foundation. Chaim was the founding director of the Hartman Fellowship for Hillel Professionals and a founding member of Americans for Peace Now.

Chaim was a rabbinic consultant to Barbra Streisand while making the film Yentl. He and his wife Dr. Doreen Seidler-Feller, a clinical psychologist, are the parents of two children.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Malka Simkovich

Event Co-Hosted by BMH BJ

About the Event:

In the Hellenistic era, Judean leaders in Jerusalem sent letters to Jews living in Egypt imploring them to observe the holidays of Chanukah and Purim. Why were these holidays important to these leaders, and why were they so focused on the practices of their Jewish kin in Egypt? This lecture will explore the complex dynamics of Judea-diaspora relations in the ancient world, and how the observance of holidays was used as an opportunity for Judeans to enforce the idea of Judean exceptionalism.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich is the Crown-Ryan Chair of Jewish Studies and the director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies program at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. She is the author of The Making of Jewish Universalism: From Exile to Alexandria (2016) and Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism (2018), which received the 2019 AJL Judaica Reference Honor Award. Simkovich’s articles have been published in academic journals such as the Harvard Theological Review and the Journal for the Study of Judaism, and in mainstream publications such as The Jewish Review of Books and The Christian Century. She is involved in numerous interreligious dialogue projects which help to increase understanding and friendship between Christians and Jews.

Valley Beit Midrash creates new podcast channels. Make sure to subscribe to "Social Justice in the Parsha" (weekly d'var Torah by Rabbi Shmuly) and to "Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness" (Rabbi Shmuly's 40-part class series). This channel – previously titled "Valley Beit Midrash," and now titled "Jewish Ideas to Change the World" –  will continue to contain the diverse Jewish perspectives for which Valley Beit Midrash is best known.

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Watch Valley Beit Midrash’s programs on YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ

Attended events live by becoming a member for just $18 per month:

https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member 

Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:

•  Website:   https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org

•  Donate:   https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate

•  Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash

•  YouTube:   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ

•  Become a Member:   https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member

Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: 

•  Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) 

•  Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz)

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Stephen M. Felton Ph.D., M.D.

The event was co-sponsored by the Bureau of Jewish Education and the Phoenix Holocaust Association. EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:

About The Event: 

Join us for a powerful event where Dr. Felton will share his story. He will discuss what it was like to be born into the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto and read excerpts from his mother’s memoirs which are published in the book “I Shall Lead You Through the Nights.” Alongside this, Dr. Felton will recount his journey to America and later return to Poland. He will also discuss the emotional significance of the “Righteous Among the Nations” honor bestowed upon the Matacz family, who risked their lives to save him.

About The Speaker: 

Stephen was born in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942. He came to the U.S. with his mother in 1947. He grew up in Brooklyn, went to Brooklyn College, and obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry at Rutgers University. He then did a postdoctoral fellowship in bio-organic mechanisms at Univ. of California at Santa Barbara. He obtained an M.D. from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of N.J. and then did an ophthalmology residency at Wills Eye Hospital. He started a practice in Princeton, N.J., which became the Princeton Eye Group. He is now retired, is married to Barbara, and has several children and grandchildren. He published his mother’s holocaust memoirs, “I Shall Lead You Through the Nights”. He has spoken of his holocaust history at schools, synagogues, and clubs.

A virtual presentation by Rabbi Avi Weiss

Event Co-Sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About the Event:

Learn with Rabbi Avi Weiss about the transformative potential of Jewish spirituality. How can prayer, meditation, learning, and even activism sustain our inner flame? How wisdom have the Hasidic masters left us on how to live a life that is soulful?

About the Speaker:

Rabbi Avi Weiss founded Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in 1999. He is also the founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale-the Bayit, a congregation of 850 families in the Bronx, New York, founder of Yeshivat Maharat, and the co-founder of the International Rabbinic Fellowship (IRF).  Rav Avi served as National Chairman of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) from 1982 to 1991 and subsequently as the National President of AMCHA – the Coalition for Jewish Concerns, raising a voice of moral conscience on behalf of the Jewish people and humankind throughout the world. He is the author of Women at Prayer: A Halakhic Analysis of Women’s Prayer Groups, Spiritual Activism: A Jewish Guide to Leadership and Repairing the World, Open Up the Iron Door: Memoirs of a Soviet Jewry Activist, and Journey to Open Orthodoxy. His new book, Torat Ahavah: Loving Torah will be published this year.

Professor Jonathan Sarna speaks at Valley Beit Midrash.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:

Some of the White Nationalists who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 hoped to trigger a “Great Revolution” that in its most extreme form would result in the extermination of the Jews. An examination of images related to the attack sheds light on extreme right-wing antisemitism in our day.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Jonathan D. Sarna is University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, where he directs the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. He also chairs the Academic Advisory and Editorial Board of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, and serves as Chief Historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.

Author or editor of more than thirty books on American Jewish history and life, his American Judaism: A History (Yale 2004), recently published in a second edition, won six awards including the 2004 “Everett Jewish Book of the Year Award” from the Jewish Book Council. His most recent books are Coming to Terms with America (JPS, 2021); (with Benjamin Shapell) Lincoln and the Jews: A History (St. Martin’s, 2015), and When General Grant Expelled the Jews (Schocken/Nextbook, 2012). His annotated edition of Cora Wilburn’s previously unknown 1860 novel, Cosella Wayne (University of Alabama Press), has also recently appeared.

Dr. Sarna is married to Professor Ruth Langer and they have two married children and two adorable grandchildren.
 

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Watch Valley Beit Midrash's classes on YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ

Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: 

•  Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) 

•  Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) 

Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:

•  Website:   https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org

•  Donate:   https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate

•  Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash

•  YouTube:   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ

•  Become a Member:   https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi David Saperstein & Dr. Tevi Troy

The event was co-hosted by Temple Chai

About the Event: 

As the 2024 elections loom, America and the Jewish community have rarely felt as divided over politics and policies as it does today. Are Jewish interests better served by conservative or liberal approaches to America’s domestic and global challenges? Are the values and lessons of Jewish tradition and history more resonant with the approach of conservatives or liberals to today’s issues? Are the interests of Jews in the U.S., Israel, and the world better served by the Republican Party or the Democratic Party?

On issues like abortion, church-state relations, civil rights claims v. religious freedom claims, climate change, economic justice v. economic freedom, autocratic countries that support Israel, immigration, and religious freedom — what are the merits of their respective views? Are bipartisan/cross-ideological comity, compromise, and common ground possible?

Dr. Tevi Troy (best-selling presidential historian, former senior Bush White House aide, Deputy Secretary of HHS, and former White House Liaison to the Jewish Community) and Rabbi David Saperstein (former Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom in the Obama Administration) will debate these issues and model how even political protagonists with differing political, religious, and ideological views can debate respectfully and constructively.

About the Speakers: 

Rabbi David Saperstein

For 40 years, Rabbi Saperstein directed the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, representing the Reform Jewish Movement, the largest segment of American Jewry, to the U.S. Congress and Administration. 

Designated by Newsweek Magazine as the most influential rabbi in America and by the Washington Post as the “quintessential religious lobbyist on Capitol Hill,” during the second term of the Obama administration, Rabbi Saperstein served as the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, carrying out his responsibilities as the country’s chief diplomat on religious freedom issues. Since leaving government, he has served as the Senior Advisor on Policy and Strategy to the Union for Reform Judaism. Also an attorney, he taught seminars on Church–State law and on Jewish Law for 35 years at Georgetown University Law Center and later at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Center for Jewish Civilization.  A member of the Council on Foreign Relations he also serves as a “Distinguished Fellow” at the PM Glynn Center at the Australian Catholic University. 

Rabbi Saperstein served in 2019-20 as the President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, the international arm of the Reform Jewish Movement. 

Dr. Tevi Troy

Tevi Troy is a best-selling presidential historian and a former senior government official. His latest book is Fight House: Rivalries in the White House, from Truman to Trump.

On August 3, 2007, Dr. Troy was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As Deputy Secretary, Dr. Troy was the chief operating officer of the largest civilian department in the federal government, with a budget of $716 billion and over 67,000 employees.

Dr. Troy has extensive White House experience, having served in several high-level positions over five years, culminating in his service as Deputy Assistant and then Acting Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. Dr. Troy has held high-level positions on Capitol Hill as well. From 1998 to 2000, Dr. Troy served as the Policy Director for Senator John Ashcroft. From 1996 to 1998, Troy was Senior Domestic Policy Adviser and later Domestic Policy Director for the House Policy Committee, chaired by Christopher Cox.

In addition to his senior-level government work and healthcare expertise, Dr. Troy is also a presidential historian, making him one of only a handful of historians who has both studied the White House as a historian and worked there at the highest levels. He is the author of the best-selling book, What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of Popular Culture in the White House, as well as Intellectuals and the American Presidency: Philosophers, Jesters, or Technicians?, and Shall We Wake the President? Two Centuries of Disaster Management in the Oval Office. He has written over 250 published articles, for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Commentary, National Review, Washingtonian, The Weekly Standard, and other publications. He is a frequent television and radio analyst and has appeared on CNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, Fox Business, and The NewsHour, among other outlets. 

Dr. Troy’s many other affiliations include adjunct fellow at Hudson Institute; contributing editor for Washingtonian magazine; member of the publication committee of National Affairs; member of the Board of Fellows of the Jewish Policy Center; a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute; and a member of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense.

Dr. Troy has a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Troy lives in Maryland with his wife, Kami, and four children.

The event was presented in loving memory of Gloria & Herb Zeichick

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with Rabbi Dov Linzer to explore Jewish laws grounded in core Jewish values.

Rabbi Dov Linzer is the President and Rosh HaYeshiva (Rabbinic Head) of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, an Orthodox rabbinical school and Torah center, which promotes a more open and inclusive Orthodoxy. He has written for the Forward, Tablet, and The New York Times and hosted highly popular Torah podcasts.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Steven Windmueller

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel 

About The Event: 

This session will examine the history of Jewish political engagement, explore the types of Jewish political actors, and analyze why American politics has such significant meaning and impact on the Jewish community. As we approach one of this nation’s most critical elections, what should we know about this election and its specific importance to Jewish Americans?

About The Speaker: 

Dr. Steven Windmueller is an Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Studies at the Jack H. Skirball Campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. Before coming to HUC, Dr. Windmueller had served on the staff of the American Jewish Committee (1969-1972), directed the Albany (NY) Jewish Federation (1973-1985), and the JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Committee) of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation (1985-1995).

During his tenure at the College, Dr. Windmueller served for ten years as the Director of its School of Jewish Nonprofit Management and, in 2005, was named to the deanship of the LA campus (2006-2010).  In 2009, he was named to an endowed chair, and in 2014 was awarded an honorary doctorate by Hebrew Union College.

The author of four books and numerous articles, Professor Windmueller holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.  His research has been primarily focused on Jewish communal trends, Anti-Semitism, and Jewish political behavior. His articles have appeared in several secular and Jewish publications.

Currently, Dr. Windmueller is consulting with national agencies, federations, synagogues, and foundations in connection with his current studies on virtual and privatized Judaism, the impact of COVID, and the broader social, economic, and political trends reshaping American Jewish life. 

In 2014, he had occasion to teach in China, offering lectures on American Jewry, Israel, and Zionism at various universities in the Peoples Republic.

He recently served as guest editor for USC’s Casden Institute, producing The Impact of Donald Trump’s Presidency on American Jews and Israel (2021)and is now focused on producing a volume analyzing 21st Century American Judaism and continues to write on Jewish political behavior for the Times of Israel and other publications in advance of the November 2024 elections.

Dr. Windmueller serves as a Fellow of the Jerusalem Institute of Public Affairs and as a Board Member of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State, Los Angeles.  For the past eight years, he has been on the faculty of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, teaching across the globe.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Mike Feuer

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Chai

About the Event:
Zionism was initially a small element of Jewish life in America, running at times counter to the mainstream. Israel’s independence forced a revolution on American Jews as well, and a new covenant with the state was stuck which placed Zionism at the base of American Jewish life. This class will explore the nature of the relationship between American Jewry and Israel and the role Zionism has played in its evolution. A look at the past and present will serve as a foundation for asking the pressing questions of the future. What lies ahead for Israel and American Jewry, and what role will Zionism play between them?

About the Speaker:
Rav Mike Feuer is an educational entrepreneur, content creator, and spiritual counsellor who uses the power of story to teach and inspire. He is the host of the Jewish Story history podcast, co-author of The Age of Prophecy biblical fantasy series, and offers narrative therapy to people around the world. No matter how Rav Mike is engaged, his mission is always the same – telling a story of the past to uphold an identity in the present equipped to build the future of which we dream.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi David Wolpe

Event Co-Sponsored By Temple Emanuel and BMH-BJ

About The Event:

The search for happiness and meaning, lessons from ancient traditions and modern science.

About The Speaker:
Named The Most Influential Rabbi in America by Newsweek and one of the 50 Most Influential Jews in the World by The Jerusalem Post, and twice named one of the 500 Most Influential People in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal, David Wolpe is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple. Rabbi Wolpe previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and UCLA. A weekly columnist for the New York Jewish Week and weekly Torah columnist for the Jerusalem Post, Rabbi Wolpe has been published and profiled in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, The Atlantic, and many more. He has been featured on The Today Show, Face the Nation, ABC This Morning, and CBS This Morning. 

In addition, Rabbi Wolpe has appeared prominently in series on PBS, A&E, History Channel, and Discovery Channel, and has engaged in widely watched public debates with Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, and many others about religion and its place in the world. Rabbi Wolpe, who has spoken in seminars, public and scholarly forums, and scholar-in-residence appearances hundreds of times all over the world from Israel to India, is the author of eight books, including the national bestseller Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times (Riverhead). His new book is titled David, the Divided Heart (Yale U Press). It was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards and has been optioned for a movie by Warner Bros.

A virtual, five-part series presented by Professor Eitan P. Fishbane

About the event: 

In what would become the legendary kabbalistic hilltop town of Tzfat in the 1500s—the birthplace of such timeless texts as Lekha Dodi and Yedid Nefesh; a location whose larger-than-life figures included such luminaries as Rabbi Yosef Karo, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (the ARI), and many others— there unfolded one of the most remarkable chapters in the entire history of Judaism, and Jewish mysticism in particular. Through a variety of concerns, ideas, and genres of writing, the mystics of this time and place expressed a pronounced focus on the nature of the human self and spiritual psychology: its essence and character, its fundamental state of relationship to Divinity. In the sessions of this course, we will explore a range of these issues and modes of creativity as they appeared in sixteenth-century Tzfat. We will explore such major topics as Soul, Body, and Reincarnation (Gilgul); The Ethics and Piety of Self-Transformation (Kabbalistic Musar); Mystical Autobiography; Emotion, Feeling, and Mind. Please join us as we dive deeply into this fascinating and inspiring landscape of ideas, feelings, and spirituality!

About the Speaker: 

Dr. Eitan Fishbane is a Professor of Jewish Thought at The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), where he has taught for 17 years. A 2015-2016 JTS Chancellor’s Fellow, Fishbane has served on the JTS Faculty Executive Committee; as a B.A. and M.A. Advisor in Jewish Thought; and on The Rabbinical School Council. He is a former Division Chair for Jewish Mysticism at the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS); current Chair of the Oxford Interfaith Forum on Mysticism; and Book Review Editor for Jewish Mysticism at The Marginalia Review of Books. He is the recipient of grants from The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), as well as the Charles A. Ryskamp Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Among Professor Fishbane’s published books are: The Art of Mystical Narrative: A Poetics of the Zohar (Oxford University Press, 2018); As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist (Stanford University Press, 2009); and, most recently, Embers of Pilgrimage (Panui Poetry Series, 2021). He is currently at work on several book projects, among them Shabbat in Ḥasidic Thought: Sacred Time and Mystical Consciousness; Self & Identity in Sixteenth-Century Kabbalah; and The Zohar as Mystical Poetry. In addition to these academic projects, Fishbane is working on a spiritual-theological commentary on the Torah cycle and the Jewish holidays, tentatively entitled, Written on the Heart: Meditations & Readings; and he is completing his second volume of original poetry, entitled, Soul Fragments. Fishbane received his Ph.D. and B.A., summa cum laude, from Brandeis University. Visit him at www.eitanfishbane.com.

*Source Sheets: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GpesiI8tF9_PYCTkyiR-o2SPsxC4HD17/view
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/15TMnZbQhgdSLWFV63YpsELYByIoDxjeE/view
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/14iNuRnPDYXnFoyd1lZbaMamCEcL2-6-m/view

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc Gitler

About the Event: 

From Jesus to Shabtai Zevi to the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe, over the past 2000 years, numerous people, or at least their followers, have fashioned themselves the long sought-after Messiah.

But how does one prove that he or she is the true Messiah? While the messianic figures of the past pointed to various events, wonders, and symbols to demonstrate their authenticity, there is one idea that every claimant shares: direct lineage from King David. But what is special about King David that Jewish tradition believes him to be the father of the Messiah?

*Source Sheet: https://smallpdf.com/file#s=a2f5d65c-59c2-4f93-928c-3dc05ebb1981

About the Speaker: 

Marc Gitler is the visiting Rabbi of Aish SanDiego. A recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, he was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children.

The event was presented in loving Memory of David Schwartz

This class is in memory of Rabbi Gitler’s nephew, David Schwartz, who was recently killed fighting in Gaza.

A virtual, six-part series presented by Rabbi Dr. Darren Kleinberg

About the Event:

In this mini-course, we welcome back Valley Beit Midrash founder, Rabbi Darren Kleinberg, for a new encounter with the Torah. Commonly understood as a book of laws and stories, Rabbi Kleinberg will unlock new ways of reading through the words of Judaism’s foundational sacred text to unlock practices that can be incorporated into our daily lives to increase insight and well-being.

About the Speaker:

Rabbi Darren Kleinberg, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow with the Concentration in Education and Jewish Studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. In partnership with a group of visionary community leaders, Rabbi Kleinberg became the Founding Executive Director of Valley Beit Midrash in 2007.

Alix Cramer of Valley Beit Midrash interviews Doug Seserman, CEO of Americans for Ben-Gurion University.

• Americans for Ben-Gurion University Website: https://americansforbgu.org/
• Contact Doug Seserman: https://americansforbgu.org/americans-for-ben-gurion-university-a4bgu-2/contact-us/

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Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:

•  Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org 

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•  Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member

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Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: 

•  Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) 

•  Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) 

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz (President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) interviews Dara Horn.
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Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:
• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org
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• Follow Rabbi Shmuly: https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Joseph Ozarowski

Event Co-Hosted by Hebrew Education Alliance 

About The Event:

We will take an in-depth look at a tragic Biblical narrative for its contextual, halachic, and pastoral value.

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Dr. Joseph S. Ozarowski is Rabbinic Counselor and Chaplain for JCFS Chicago and Jewish Chaplain for the North Shore Health Care System. He is also an adjunct professor at Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership as well as the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles. Rabbi Ozarowski was cited by Chicago Jewish News as a “Top Jewish Chicagoan of 2013,” and received the “Rabbi Mordechai Simon Award” from the Chicago Board of Rabbis in 2014. He served as president of the Board of Rabbis from 2015 to 2017 and now serves as President of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC). An engaging, nationally known teacher and speaker, Ozarowski has served congregations in Pennsylvania, California, Minnesota, and the New York area.

Rabbi Dr. Ozarowski is a Board-Certified Chaplain. He received his undergraduate degree from the Loyola University of Chicago, his rabbinic ordination from Skokie’s Hebrew Theological College, and his doctorate from Lancaster (PA) Theological Seminary. He has served on the Jewish Federation of Chicago (JUF) Board and on the North Shore University HealthCare System Institutional Ethics Committee.

A prolific author, Rabbi Ozarowski co-authored Common Ground, (1998, Jason Aronson) and has written numerous articles. His first book, To Walk in God’s Ways – Jewish Pastoral Perspectives on Illness and Bereavement, (hardcover 1995, Jason Aronson, paperback 2004, Rowman and Littlefield) is considered a standard in the field of Judaism and Pastoral Care.

Rabbi Ozarowski is married to Ashira (nee Rapoport), and has four children and nineteen grandchildren.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Devora Steinmetz

The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ

About The Event: 

The Passover seder challenges us to see ourselves as participants in an ancient story. In this session, we will look at a variety of ways in which the hagada helps us enter into our ancestors’ story and make it our own.

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13b0-sp_J-Q4-WfRZbZAwrtIiHG5YYZgJ/view

About The Speaker: 

Devora Steinmetz serves on the Hebrew College Rabbinical School faculty and the Mandel Leadership Institute. She founded Beit Rabban, a Jewish day school profiled in Daniel Pekarsky’s Vision at Work: The Theory and Practice of Beit Rabban. She is the author of scholarly articles on Talmud, Midrash, and the Bible as well as of two books, From Father to Son: Kinship, Conflict, and Continuity in Genesis and Punishment and Freedom: The Rabbinic Construction of Criminal Law. She has served on the faculty of Drisha, the Jewish Theological Seminary, Yeshivat Hadar, and Havruta: a Beit Midrash at Hebrew University.

Rabbi Benjamin Berger, Vice President for Jewish Education and Experience Rabbi Ben Berger oversees Jewish and Israeli education at Hillel International, including three major priority areas: student experiences, educator development, and movement culture. Together these pillars of Hillel’s work center are Jewish learning and powerful Jewish experiences with the goal of growing the skills, knowledge, connections, and confidence of students and professionals. Ben has many years of experience at several campus Hillels including Cornell University, the University of Michigan, and The Ohio State University. He was formerly the director of the Wexner Heritage Program, which has the mission to expand the vision, deepen the knowledge, and build the confidence of Jewish volunteer leaders throughout the North American Jewish community. Ben was ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School.

He, his wife Rachel, also a Hillel International professional, and their four daughters live in Washington, DC.

Hillel website: https://www.hillel.org/

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash, interviews Rabbi Susan Silverman, reform rabbi and Executive Director of Second Nurture

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Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: 

•  Website:   https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org  

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Follow Rabbi Shmuly: 

•  https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz  

Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: 

• Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) 

• Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) 

Become a member of Valley Beit Midrash for just $18 per month:

https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member 

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Mary Zamore

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Chai

About the Event:
Explore the history of women in the Rabbinate from 1938 to 2023 and learn how this history has impacted Judaism as the face of Jewish leadership continues to change. Much has been accomplished, but there are still many challenges to full equity for women in the rabbinate.

About the Speaker:
Rabbi Mary L. Zamore is the Executive Director of the Women’s Rabbinic Network, a partner organization of the Reform Movement. For over 40 years, WRN has worked to narrow the wage gap, create safer, respectful Jewish communities, and promote equity, while also supporting and advocating for WRN rabbis. Rabbi Zamore co-leads the Reform Pay Equity Initiative and founded WRN’s Clergy: Safe Employees and Employers program, seeding respectful and harassment-free Jewish communities for all. Rabbi Zamore has been named a T’ruah-The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Rabbinic Human Rights Hero, 2022. She is in the 2022-23 cohort of JWI’s Jewish Communal Women’s Leadership Project (JCWLP), as well as a fellow with the Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life at Auburn Seminary, NYC, in the Oppressions and Repair Colloquium. She is the editor of The Sacred Exchange: Creating a Jewish Money Ethic (CCAR Press, 2019) and The Sacred Table: Creating a Jewish Food Ethic (CCAR Press, 2011), designated a finalist by the National Jewish Book Awards. Ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 1997, Rabbi Zamore graduated from Columbia College. She proudly served congregations in Central New Jersey for 18 years before joining WRN.

A virtual event presentation by Professor Shai Secunda

ABOUT THE EVENT:
The hit Israeli television series about an ultra-Orthodox Jerusalemite family, Shtisel, has become an unexpected international hit. In this discussion, we take a close look at Shtisel, which turns out to be brimming with Jewish insight and Jewish learning.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Shai Secunda is the Jacob Neusner Professor of Judaism at Bard College, and Contributing Editor at the Jewish Review of Books.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Matt Reingold 

ABOUT THE EVENT:

Over the course of the Coronavirus pandemic, Israeli cartoonists across the religious and political spectrums produced a treasure trove of visual materials about their own society. In this session, we will examine a select offering of cartoons about Jewish holidays and explore how cartoonists used their craft to offer commentary on both their own society and also on what it means to celebrate holidays during a pandemic.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Dr. Matt Reingold (York U, 2014) teaches Jewish History and Jewish Philosophy at TanenbaumCHAT. His primary research interests are Jewish and Israeli graphic narratives and Israel education. He is the author of Gender and Sexuality in Israeli Graphic Novels (Routledge, 2021) and Reenvisioning Israel through Political Cartoons: Visual Discourses During the 2018-2021 Electoral Crisis (Lexington, 2022).

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Elias Sacks

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel 

About The Event: 

We live in an anti-intellectual age—a time of scientific skepticism, doubts about the value of higher education, and hostility toward many forms of expertise and advanced learning. But anti-intellectualism is not an exclusively modern development; on the contrary, it has a long history in religious traditions, including Judaism, where many figures have cast science, philosophy, and other forms of rigorous intellectual inquiry as irrelevant at best and dangerous at worst. In this session, we will explore the history of Jewish anti-intellectualism, wrestling with diverse Jewish responses to questions such as: Do scientific and philosophical studies have a place in religious life? Do Jews have an obligation to pursue such forms of knowledge, or do these disciplines represent threats to religious practice and belief? And what resources—if any—does the Jewish tradition offer to individuals and communities troubled by anti-intellectual attitudes in the United States and worldwide?

About The Speaker: 

Elias Sacks is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he studies Jewish thought, philosophy of religion, Jewish-Christian relations, religious ethics, and religion and politics. He is the author of Moses Mendelssohn’s Living Script: Philosophy, Practice, History, Judaism (2017), as well as articles on medieval and modern thinkers, including Mendelssohn, Moses Maimonides, Baruch Spinoza, Nachman Krochmal, Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, and Jacob Taubes. Previously, Sacks served as Director of The Jewish Publication Society.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dina Najman

EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:
Beth El Phoenix
 
ABOUT THE EVENT:
This class will discuss Devorah as a leader that is not gender specific, as she is often compared to Moshe and David. Devorah is a prophet, a warrior, a general, a poet, a judge, a mother – the people follow her based on her skill.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi Dina Najman is the Marta d’Atra and Senior Rabbi of The Kehilah in Riverdale.  From 2006-2013, Rabbi Najman was the Marta d’Atrah at Kehilat Orach Eliezer in Manhattan (the first Orthodox synagogue to appoint a woman as senior Rabbi of a shul).  She is head of the Gemara department at SAR Academy in Riverdale, NY.  R’ Najman has extensive experience teaching and speaking in the Jewish community on topics ranging from bioethics to environmental law. Rabbi Najman has served on the board of the Halakhic Organ Donor Society (HODS) for more than a decade and presently serves on the YCT and JOFA Advisory Boards as well.  Rabbi Najman studied as a Drisha fellow and then went on to study at Nishmat, where she learned in their Machon Gavoha/Niddah learning program. She received her Rabbinic Ordination from Rabbi Professor Daniel Sperber. R’ Najman earned her certification in Bioethics and Medical Humanities from NYU/Einstein Bioethics and Medical Humanities Certificate Program.  She compiled Jewish legal source material for HODS and has developed and taught halakhic curricula for the Drisha Institute as well as Ma’ayanot and SAR Yeshivot.  Rabbi Najman is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
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A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Leila Gal Berner

The event was Co-Sponsored by Rodef Shalom

About The Event:

Having pioneered a new gateway into Torah learning called "kriat hakodesh,” (reading the holy), Rabbi Dr. Leila Gal Berner will lead us through a deep, contemplative journey through the heart of the Parsha, Vayera, helping participants to discover the profound personal meaning of the Torah text. Silence, learning about the text through midrashim, chant, deep personal questions (contemplated privately) and conversation will all be part of the experience. This approach stems from Rabbi Berner’s book, Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path. 

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Leila Gal Berner was ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and holds a second ordination from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (of blessed memory). She received her doctorate in medieval Jewish history from UCLA, with expertise in the history of Jews in medieval Spain. Her dissertation, “On the Western Shores: The Jews of Barcelona during the Reign of Jaume I, ‘el Conqueridor 1213-1276” has been widely cited and she has taught about the Spanish Reconquista in many Jewish communities. She has also taught in many communities about the “Golden Age of Spanish Jewry under Muslim Rule.”

Rabbi Gal-Berner served as Dean of Students of the ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal Ordination and continues to teach biblical and medieval history, feminist thought, and midrash.  She has recently published Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path. Dr. Gal Berner has taught in the Departments of Philosophy and Religion at American University and George Washington and Emory Universities, and in the Departments of Religion at Swarthmore and Reed Colleges. 

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Jeremiah Unterman

About the Event: 

The polytheism of the ancient Near East conceived of the gods as natural beings who needed sacrifices and libations to physically sustain them. The ethical monotheism of the Torah created a revolution against paganism which would ultimately change forever the concept of religion. One of the key ways in which the Jewish prophets shaped this revolution was their unique understanding of the relationship between ethics and ritual.

About the Speaker: 

Since 2013, Rabbi Dr. Jeremiah Unterman has been a Resident Scholar at the Herzl Institute and the Academic Editor of The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel (since 2017). From 2000-2006, he was the Director of the Association of Modern Orthodox Day Schools and Yeshiva High Schools, and Adjunct Professor of Bible at Yeshiva University. He also served as Executive Director of the Toronto Board of Jewish Education and Vice-President for Education of the UJA Federation of Toronto, as well as Director of Education of the Hillel Academy of Ottawa. From 1992-1997, he was Executive Director of the Commission on Jewish Education and Director of Boston’s Hebrew College Hartford Branch, Connecticut.  He was the Director and Associate Professor of the Jewish Studies Program at Barry University (Miami, Florida) from 1983 to 1992.  He received his B.A. in Hebraic Studies from Rutgers University, an M.A. in Bible from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Ph.D. in the Judaica Program of the Near Eastern Studies Department at the University of California, Berkeley. He received semicha through private studies in Israel. 

He has authored two books, Justice for All: How the Jewish Bible Revolutionized Ethics, and From Repentance to Redemption: Jeremiah’s Thought in Transition, and over 100 articles in scholarly publications in the U.S. and Israel. He has lectured frequently at scholarly conferences in the United States and Israel, such as the World Congress of Jewish Studies, the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, and the annual meeting of the Association for Jewish Studies, and at numerous universities in the U.S. and Israel. 

He is a citizen of both the United States and Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces. He lives in Jerusalem, Israel, with his wonderful wife, Judy.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Ian Pear

About the Event:

Since Israel’s founding – continuing until today – the relationship between the state’s Jewish majority and its non-Jewish minority has been fraught with challenges. Liberal Democracies, of course, have something to say about such relationships, but Israel is unique in a variety of ways, not the least of which is it was established to be the world’s lone Jewish state. Protecting that reality, while simultaneously protecting the rights of minorities, has not always been easy. A surprising source for guidance and wisdom in this field – a source that can simultaneously promote both of these seemingly conflicting values — is Jewish law itself. This class will survey more than 2000 years of global Jewish thought on the matter, comparing and contrasting Diaspora and Israeli thought, and conclude with an inspiring view of modern-day Rabbinic advice on the topic.

About the Speaker:

Rabbi Chaim (Ian) Pear, a Rabbi, lawyer, and social activist living in Jerusalem, is the founder of Shir Hadash, a popular Jerusalem based Synagogue, Educational Institute, and Community Center, as well as an expert in Israeli and Jewish environmental law – he worked at Israel’s premier environmental law firm, Laster and Goldman – and a leader in the Spiritual Diplomacy efforts made on behalf of Israel. A one-time aspiring standup comedian, Rabbi Pear received his ordination from Yeshiva University and holds law degrees from Hebrew University (LLM, with a focus on Mishpat Ivri) and NYU School of Law (JD, with a concentration in international law), and a degree in International Law, Politics and Security from Georgetown University’s School for Foreign Service. The author of three books, he is married to Dr. Rachel Pear and is the father of five children.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Avidan Freedman

About the Event: 

Maimonides writes that one who looks at past tragedies as mere happenstance is acting “cruelly”. Rather, the events of the past must goad us to introspection. Using the writing of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik as a model, we will explore how to suggest directions of introspection that Israeli society needs to consider, and how to do that without claiming to understand God’s plans for the world.

About the Speaker: 

Rabbi Avidan Freedman completed a Master's Degree in Jewish Education at the Azrieli Graduate School, and received rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and the Israeli Rabbinate. He is an educator at the Shalom Hartman Institute’s high school and post-high school program and an activist who founded Yanshoof, an organization dedicated to establishing moral limits for Israeli weapons exports. Learn more at www.yanshoof.org

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz sat down with Rabbi Mike Feuer to discuss what victory looks like in today’s Israel-Gaza War.

Rav Mike Feuer is an educator, content creator, and spiritual counselor. He teaches and inspires people around the world through his Jewish Story History podcast and the Jewish Heroism Project. Whether working through teaching, content, or narrative therapy Rav Mike’s mission is always the same – to tell a story of the past that upholds a present identity fit to build the future of which we dream.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer

Event Co-Hosted by Hebrew Education Alliance

About The Event:

How did a prominent Moroccan rabbi depict a woman of valor in a sermon dedicated to his mother? What mystical revelation occurred at a vital moment within the walls of the Ba’al Shem Tov’s study hall? Who are the bride and groom in the divine wedding on the eve of Shavuot and are we invited? Hoping through intimate moments with the Bible in Eastern Europe and Morocco, we will try to understand what is the purpose of studying the Bible, how should we be learning, and most importantly – what does it mean for each one of us, and can we be intimate with the Bible?

About The Speaker:

Jonnie Schnytzer is probably the only Ph.D. in Jewish Philosophy, focusing on medieval kabbalah, who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli Naval Commandos in a swimming race? His dissertation focused on the scientific kabbalah of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie’s forthcoming book is about Ashkenazi’s Kabbalah as well as a critical edition of the kabbalist’s majestic commentary on Sefer Yesira. Jonnie’s also the author of Mossad's thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie also orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah’, an important piece of Moroccan Jewish history from the Holocaust. Jonnie has also taken on several leadership roles in the Jewish world, including advisor to the CEO of Birthright and executive manager with StandWithUs. He lectures on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism and Israel, especially about the untold stories and unspoken heroes of Jewish history. Jonnie is happily married, with four gorgeous little kids, lives in Israel, and thinks that Australian Rules Football is the greatest sport ever invented.

A virtual event presentation by Professor Ari Kelman

Event Co-Hosted by Hebrew Education Alliance

About the Event:

The place of American Jews in higher education is a complicated story.  It is at once a story that is central to American Jewish class mobility, yet it is also undercut by evidence of antisemitism at some of the United States’ most revered institutions.  The story of antisemitic exclusion at many of the Ivy League schools in the early decades of the 20th century has been well-documented.  What is less known is the story of other schools which also engaged in exclusionary practices in the decades following World War II.  In this presentation, Professor Kelman will examine one such instance of systematic exclusion in admissions.  It is a story of administration, admissions, and antisemitism.

About the Speaker:

Professor Kelman’s research focuses on the forms and practices of religious knowledge transmission. He holds a specific research interest in American Jewry and writes broadly about the American Jewish experience.  Recently, his focus has landed on questions of how American Jews come to understand themselves as a distinct community, and how social science methods reveal and conceal dimensions of American Jewish life including, most significantly, the racial and ethnic identities of American Jews.

He is the author of Shout to the Lord: Making Worship Music in Evangelical America (NYU 2018) and Station Identification: A Cultural History of Yiddish Radio (California, 2009). He is also the co-editor (with Jon Levisohn) of Beyond Jewish Identity (2019: Academic Studies Press), the editor of Is Diss a System?: A Milt Gross Comic Reader (NYU, 2010), co-author of Sacred Strategies: Transforming Synagogues from Functional to Visionary (Alban Institute, 2011). Together with research partners at Stanford and elsewhere, he maintains an active research agenda and publishes regularly in venues both scholarly and popular.  He serves as the chairperson of the Network for Research in Jewish Education.  He is also an editor of Jewish Social Studies and serves on the executive board of the Association for Jewish Studies.

ABOUT THE EVENT:

This lecture on “Zionism and Its Critics” will examine the proponents and opponents of the Zionist idea from the 1880s until the present, illuminating the diversity of this ideology over its short history and how it has changed over time from dream of early thinkers like Theodore Herzl to a state and society that will be celebrating its 75th anniversary next year.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn is currently the Visiting Assistant Professor in Israel Studies at the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies at Northwestern University. Her expertise focuses on Diaspora-Israel relations, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and Israeli ultra-nationalist movement. Her first book, City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement (Harvard, 2017), hailed as a landmark contribution to the field, was the winner of the 2018 Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature Choice Award, a finalist for the 2017 National Jewish Book Award, and a nominee for the 2021 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. She is currently working on a new book manuscript tentatively entitled “New Day in Babylon and Jerusalem: Zionism, Jewish Power, and Identity Politics Since 1967” on American Zionism since the Six Day War. She teaches courses and mentors both undergraduate and graduate students in Israel Studies and related fields. Prior to her appointment at Northwestern, Dr. Hirschhorn was the University Research Lecturer and Sidney Brichto Fellow in Israel Studies at the University of Oxford (2013-2018) and a postdoctoral fellow in Israel Studies at Brandeis University (2012-2013). She is a graduate of Yale University (B.A.) and the University of Chicago (M.A., Ph.D) and the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships. Apart from her academic work, Dr. Hirschhorn is also a prominent voice bringing scholarship into the public square as a frequent public speaker, writer, media commentator, and foreign policy consultant on Israel/Jewish Affairs. Follow her work at sarahirschhorn1@twitter.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer 

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion. 

About The Event: We all know that way back when the Torah was given to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. But was it only given to the Israelites? Was it an event that already happened, or is it an event constantly in the making? Learning from texts spanning across geographies and historical periods, we come to rediscover Mt. Sinai. 

About The Speaker: Jonnie Schnytzer is probably the only PhD in Jewish Philosophy focusing on medieval kabbalah, who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli Naval Commandos in a swimming race? His dissertation focused on the scientific kabbalah of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie’s forthcoming book is about Ashkenazi’s Kabbalah as well as a critical edition of the kabbalist’s majestic commentary on Sefer Yesira. Jonnie’s also the author of Mossad thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie also orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah,’ an important piece of Moroccan Jewish history from the Holocaust. Jonnie has also taken on several leadership roles in the Jewish world, including advisor to the CEO of Birthright and executive manager with StandWithUs. He lectures on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism and Israel, especially about the untold stories and unspoken heroes of Jewish history. Jonnie is happily married with four gorgeous little kids, lives in Israel, and thinks that Australian Rules Football is the greatest sport ever invented.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer

About The Event:
The climate crisis and its challenges need no introduction. But what of medieval kabbalists whose mystical contemplations may be more relevant in the age of the Anthropocene than ever before? Learning how specific kabbalists perceived inanimate objects as hopeful beings will forever change the way we view even a plastic bottle.

About The Speaker:
Jonnie Schnytzer is probably the only PhD in Jewish Philosophy focusing on medieval kabbalah, who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli Naval Commandos in a swimming race? His dissertation focused on the scientific kabbalah of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie’s forthcoming book is about Ashkenazi’s Kabbalah as well as a critical edition of the Kabbalist’s majestic commentary on Sefer Yesira. Jonnie’s also the author of Mossad thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie also orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah,’ an important piece of Moroccan Jewish history from the Holocaust. Jonnie has also taken on several leadership roles in the Jewish world, including advisor to the CEO of Birthright and executive manager with StandWithUs. He lectures on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism and Israel, especially about the untold stories and unspoken heroes of Jewish history. Jonnie is happily married with four gorgeous little kids, lives in Israel, and thinks that Australian Rules Football is the greatest sport ever invented.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Micah Streiffer

The event was co-hosted by Temple Chai 

About the Event: 

The solemn fast of Tisha B’Av (the Ninth of Av) commemorates the destruction of the ancient Temple. In this session, we will explore its meaning for modern Jews. What are the lessons to be learned from this ancient Jewish tragedy? How does it relate to our Jewish lives today – especially if we don’t mourn the loss of Temple-based Judaism? What does Tisha B’Av mean in 2024?

About the Speaker: 

Micah Streiffer is a rabbi, teacher, writer, and lifelong student who is known for his engaging style in the classroom and his ability to make Jewish texts and ideas come to life. Micah is the founder of LAASOK  a virtual Beit Midrash (“House of Study”) that empowers liberal Jewish learners to deepen their connection with Judaism through study. He also serves Kol Ami, a Reform congregation in the Toronto area, and hosts the popular Seven Minute Torah podcast. Ordained a rabbi at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Cincinnati 2007), Micah has served as a congregational rabbi for 16 years. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Jewish thought at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman is president of the Shalom Hartman Institute and holds the Kaufman Family Chair in Jewish Philosophy. He is the author of the highly regarded 2016 book, Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself, and is the host of “For Heaven’s Sake,” one of the most popular Jewish podcasts in North America.

Donniel is the founder of some of the most extensive education, training, and enrichment programs for scholars, educators, rabbis, and religious and lay leaders in Israel and North America. He is a prominent essayist, blogger, and lecturer on issues of Israeli politics, policy, Judaism, and the Jewish community. He has a Ph.D. in Jewish philosophy from Hebrew University, an M.A. in political philosophy from New York University, an M.A. in religion from Temple University, and a Rabbinic ordination from the Shalom Hartman Institute.

He is the author of The Boundaries of Judaism, co-author of Spheres of Jewish Identity, and co-editor of Judaism and the Challenges of Modern Life. His new book entitled Who Are The Jews and Who We Can Become, will be published by JPS in the fall of 2023.

He is married to Adina and is the father of three children and five grandchildren.

*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/file/d/1QkrbKZygfbNUnmprCTCQU5tPkxELn7dp/edit?filetype=msword

A Virtual Event Presentation by Rabbi Ysoscher Katz

Event Co-Sponsored by Hebrew Education Alliance

About The Event:

Halakha has certain mechanisms which allow people to perform mitzvot vicariously. One of those mechanisms is Shomea K'oneh; hearing equals reciting. We will explore how this “legal fiction” can be utilized to create a Halakha that is inclusive of people with certain disabilities, particularly the person who is deaf or blind.

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Ysoscher Katz is the Chair of the Department of Talmud at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Rabbi Katz received ordination in 1986 from Rabbi Yechezkel Roth, Dayan of UTA Satmar, and studied at Yeshivat Beit Yosef, Navaradok for over ten years. A graduate of the HaSha’ar Program for Jewish Educators, Rabbi Katz has taught at the Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls and SAR High School.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Yisroel Juskowicz

The event was co-hosted By Beth El Phoenix

About the Event: 

In this class, we will focus on exploring each person’s unique potential, and learn some inspiring Torah ideas about potential.

About the Speaker: 

Rabbi Yisroel Juskowitz is a noted artist, musician, author, and speaker. He has performed for Jews across the country from all walks of life and ages and is best known for his warm engaging style, and inspirational messages. He has produced three CDs of his soulful music, has drawn commissioned artwork, and has three bestselling books on Jewish topics, which drew widespread critical praise. Yisroel received a Bachelor's in Talmudic Law from Ner Israel, and later a Semichat Chaver Degree from RIETS at Yeshiva University. Yisroel is also a licensed Physical Therapist and a Certified Life Coach and focuses on people overcome their obstacles and reach their potential. He received Semicha (Rabbinic Ordination) through Machon Semicha, a Chabad-based program. He has two beautiful children who are the pride and joy of his life. Yisroel lives with his wife and family in Baltimore, MD.

ABOUT THE EVENT:

In this session, Ittay Flescher will share his reflections about the different identities of Jewish, Muslim and Christian youth through his experience co-leading a youth movement for Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem. There will also be opportunities to ask questions about the benefits and challenges of interfaith dialogue between diverse populations.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Ittay Flescher is the Education Director at Kids4Peace Jerusalem, an interfaith movement for Israelis and Palestinians and Israel Correspondent for Plus61J Media. He also frequently teaches on gap year programs about the identity, narratives and cultures of the people who call Jerusalem home.
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A Virtual Event Presentation by Harris Bor

Event Co-Sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About The Event:

AI raises innumerable questions about our desires for the future and what it means to be human. Can Judaism speak to these questions? Technology shows us what is possible. Can Jewish theology show us what is wise? Harris Bor explores these questions and other themes from his new book “Staying Human – A Jewish Theology for the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” Featuring Spinoza, Heidegger, terrible sci-fi films, and classical Jewish texts.

About The Speaker:

Harris Bor is a Research Fellow and Lecturer at the London School of Jewish Studies and a barrister (trial advocate) specializing in international arbitration and commercial litigation. He has written in both the Jewish and legal fields. He holds a Ph.D. in theology from Cambridge University, is a Rabbinic Scholar with the Montefiore Endowment, and has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University and University College London.

Purchase The Book:

Harris's book (including e-book) can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online booksellers. Selected links below:

• https://www.amazon.com/Staying-Human-Theology-Artificial-Intelligence/dp/172527860X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
• https://www.amazon.com/Staying-Human-Theology-Artificial-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B09PFC4RQ2
• https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/staying-human-harris-bor/1140538110?ean=9781725278608

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Eugene Korn

Event co-sponsored by:
Temple Solel

ABOUT THE EVENT:
This event will be a public conversation with Rabbi Shumly about ethical issues challenging Jewish life today as a follow up to the book Rabbi Eugene Korn has just published. Book description below.

CAN JUDAISM FACE OUR MODERN UNDERSTANDING of justice, equality and human  progress? Can mitzvot survive modernity’s critique of authority and culture of personal autonomy?  To Be a Holy People: Jewish Tradition and Ethical Value takes up both ancient and modern moral  questions. Building on biblical and rabbinic traditions, it analyzes how Jewish ethics relates to  Jewish law, justice, fairness, compassion and violence. It also discusses the ethical dimensions of  gender, freedom, universalism and particularism.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
EUGENE KORN holds a doctorate in moral philosophy from Columbia University  and Orthodox rabbinic ordination from Pirchei Shoshanim in Israel. His books include  Jewish  Theology and World Religions; Plowshares in Swords?; Covenant and Hope; and   e Jewish Connection to Israel. His writings have been translated into Hebrew, German,  Italian and Spanish. He and his wife, Lila Magnus Korn, live in Jerusalem.
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ABOUT THE EVENT:

The second chapter of Tractate Shabbat presents multiple explanations of why bad things happen. The majority opinion that we get what we deserve.  This passage offers 1) An “iffy” explanation intended for women and 2) An explanation intended for scholarly men, offering complex variables, including randomness. (Shabbat 31b-32a)

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Rabbi Rachel Adler, the David Ellenson Professor of Modern Jewish Thought Emerita at Hebrew Union College–Los Angeles, was one of the first to integrate feminist perspectives into interpreting Jewish texts and law. Her book Engendering Judaism (1998) is the first by a female theologian to win a National Jewish Book Award for Jewish Thought. She has published over sixty articles on Jewish Thought, law, and gender, and on suffering and lament in Jewish tradition as well as the whimsical Tales of the Holy Mysticat, a prizewinning resource for adult Jewish education.
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A virtual event presentation by Ethan Davidson

About The Event: 

Inspired by his own experiences and the tragic events of October 7, 2023, And They Arose Early To Do Sexual Violence: My Personal Mirror of Torah by Ethan Daniel Davidson challenges readers to consider how ancient narratives parallel humanity’s ongoing struggle with violence and the responses to such violence; be they measured and justified, or disproportionate and unjustifiable. We will explore the story of Dinah using excerpts from Davidson’s latest book and discuss parallels to the Israel/Gaza war.

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GpZ4gCZ5LIsbYUpNtTCuDOvxEONc-Bra/view

About The Speaker: 

Author, musician, and philanthropist Ethan Daniel Davidson has authored two books, recorded 15 albums, and toured throughout North America and Europe. In 2005, he left his touring life and returned to his Detroit roots, where he helped run the William Davidson Foundation established by his late father, Bill Davidson. The private family foundation strives to fulfill its founder’s legacy by advancing the economic, cultural, and civic vitality of Southeast Michigan, the State of Israel, and the Jewish community for future generations.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel

About The Class:

Our journey to come close to God is often sought out alone. Even when praying in a congregational quorum, each individual ties the words of prayer to their own private thoughts. In this class, we will learn of unique teachings which advocated genuine friendship as a prerequisite for God’s presence and ask about God’s role in a social get-together. For those wanting to discover new and perhaps unexpected ways that lead to the path of God, let’s go visit some of the most innovative and socially sensitive minds of early twentieth-century Poland.

About The Speaker:

Jonnie Schnytzer is probably the only Ph.D. in Jewish Philosophy, focusing on medieval kabbalah, who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli Naval Commandos in a swimming race? His dissertation focused on the scientific kabbalah of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie’s forthcoming book is about Ashkenazi’s Kabbalah as well as a critical edition of the Kabbalist’s majestic commentary on Sefer Yesira. Jonnie’s also the author of Mossad's thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie also orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah’, an important piece of Moroccan Jewish history from the Holocaust. Jonnie has also taken on several leadership roles in the Jewish world, including advisor to the CEO of Birthright and executive manager with StandWithUs. He lectures on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism and Israel, especially about the untold stories and unspoken heroes of Jewish history. Jonnie is happily married, with four gorgeous little kids, lives in Israel, and thinks that Australian Rules Football is the greatest sport ever invented.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. David Sanders

The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ

About the Event: 

“A dream not interpreted is like a letter not read.” This quote is not from Freud or Jung but from the Zohar, the classic medieval Kabbalah text connecting dreams and our spiritual growth. We spend an average of 9 years dreaming. What do our dreams reflect to us of our experience? How are dreams guides for our emotional and spiritual development? Come and see the significance of dreams. Journaling and sharing your dreams helps you apply the Kabbalah dream framework.

About the Speaker: 

Dr. David Sanders, Founder and Spiritual Director of Kabbalah Experience, combines over thirty years of experience as both a psychologist and Kabbalist helping guide people to deeper awareness and fulfillment in their lives. His transformation from religious studies to mysticism intrigued him to broaden the study of Kabbalah to practical spiritual growth. Transformative Kabbalah combines traditional mysticism, contemporary psychology, and quantum physics.

It is David’s joy to help others challenge their views of themselves and the world. Through study and practice, students regularly change their perceptions and choose to alter or modify their behavior – which in turn brings positive change to their relationships and community and find greater and more fulfilling expression of their life purpose. He is the author of 2 books on mysticism and language and is currently writing a book on MASKS, the subject of one of KE’s most popular courses.

David maintains an active therapy practice, specializing in working with couples and families. He sees psychological and spiritual growth as a continuum of learning and becoming more aware of the self and others. His creation of the Kabbalah Experience is a way to enter into people’s lives from a different premise – spiritual learning and guidance that does not have a starting point of “my problem.” Based on the methodology of study at KE on adult-centered learning, everyone is linked in the awareness to work together as the teacher becomes the student and the student becomes the teacher.

David considers it his fortune to live with and learn from his wife Rita every day. With two sets of twins and an eldest son, life is rich for the whole family.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz engages in an enlightening conversation with Rabbi David Kasher, exploring the divinity of the Torah.

Rabbi David Kasher serves as the Director of Hadar West Coast. He grew up bouncing back and forth between Berkeley and Brooklyn, hippies and Hassidim – and has been trying to synthesize these two worlds ever since. After graduating from Wesleyan University in 1998, he studied for several years in yeshivot in Israel before heading to rabbinical school at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. He was ordained there in 2007 and returned to Northern California, where he became the Senior Jewish Educator at Berkeley Hillel. He was part of the founding team at Kevah, a nonprofit specializing in Adult Jewish Education, where he worked from 2012 to 2018 and developed the Kevah Teaching Fellowship. He has served on the faculty of Berkeley Law, the Wexner Heritage Program, Reboot, and the BINA Secular Yeshiva and taught courses at Pardes, SVARA, The Hartman Institute, AJR, and HUC. Rabbi Kasher is a teacher of nearly all forms of classical Jewish literature, but his greatest passion is Torah commentary, and he spent five years producing the weekly ParshaNut blog and podcast exploring the riches of the genre. 

In 2018, he began work as an Associate Rabbi at IKAR, a non-denominational spiritual community in Los Angeles, where he teaches a weekly parashah class and has a new parashah podcast called Best Book Ever. He published an essay, ‘Eating Our Way from Justice to Holiness,’ in Kashrut and Jewish Food Ethics (Academic Studies Press, 2019), completed a translation of Avot d’Rabbi Natan for Sefaria, and is the author of ParshaNut: 54 Journeys into the World of Torah Commentary.

A Virtual Event Presentation by Dr. Elana Stein Hain

Event Co-Hosted by Temple Solel

About The Event:

Are nature and revelation in competition with one another if God is the author of both? In this session, we will examine how Jewish responses to this question are reflected throughout our High Holiday liturgy, with an emphasis on what this means for life today.

About The Speaker:

Dr. Elana Stein Hain is the Director of Faculty and a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she serves as lead faculty, directs the activities of the Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought, and consults on the content of lay and professional leadership programs.

A widely well-regarded teacher and scholar, Elana is passionate about bringing rabbinic thought into conversation with contemporary life. To this end, she created Talmud from the Balcony, an occasional learning seminar exposing the big ideas, questions, and issues motivating rabbinic discussions; she leads the Created Equal Research Seminar which considers the relationships between gender consciousness and Jewish thought; and she co-hosts For Heaven's Sake, a bi-weekly podcast with Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi, exploring contemporary issues related to Israel and the Jewish world.

Elana earned her doctorate in Religion from Columbia University where she wrote her dissertation on the topic of legal loopholes as a prism for understanding rabbinic views on law and ethics. She is an alumna of the Yeshiva University Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) as well as the Consortium in Jewish Studies and Legal Theory Graduate Fellowship at Cardozo School of Law. She also served for eight years as a clergy member on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at both Lincoln Square Synagogue and the Jewish Center, has taught at the Wagner School at NYU, and sits on the board of Sefaria: A Living Library of Jewish Texts. 

Elana lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her family.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Marc Gitler

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel 

About the Event: 

Each year at the Pesach Seder we state that in every generation our people have experienced hatred. But when did it all start? We will investigate the earliest story of Anti-Semitism in the Torah, and hopefully learn some vital lessons.

*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wJCigsGouE5IWknd4ax1_KQpWrEO-mUb/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=118303465191084699356&rtpof=true&sd=true

About the Speaker: 

Marc Gitler serves as the Senior Jewish Educator for Valley Beit Midrash and is the visiting Rabbi of Aish San Diego. A recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, he was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi

Event Co-Hosted by Temple Emanuel

About The Event:

This session will focus on two Talmudic stories about rabbinic power and gender. They share two elements that we’ll study closely: the role of the body and the emotion of anger. We’ll ask: How are each portrayed in each of the Talmudic narratives and how do we understand them and manage them in today’s Jewish world?

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, Ph.D. serves as the Inaugural Senior Rabbi at Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition to serving as a congregational rabbi, she has also served as Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Ethics at Hebrew Union College (HUC) and for over a decade as Vice President of the Shalom Hartman Institute. Ordained at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Sabath earned a Ph.D. at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

She is the co-author of two books: Striving Toward Virtue: A Contemporary Guide to Jewish Ethical Behavior, and  Preparing Your Heart for the High Holidays. She is also at work on a collection of essays on Jewish Philosophy as well as a volume, co-edited with Rabbi Prof. Rachel Adler, on gender and ethics in Jewish thought.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Ian Pear

About the Event:
This text-based class will focus on the nature of Israel’s army. It will look at the halachot of being a soldier in a Diaspora army, based on the Chafetz Chaim’s Machane Yisrael, and compare that to being an individual soldier in the Israeli army today.

About the Speaker:
Rabbi Chaim (Ian) Pear, a Rabbi, lawyer and social activist living in Jerusalem, is the founder of Shir Hadash, a popular Jerusalem based Synagogue, Educational Institute and Community Center, as well as an expert in Israeli and Jewish environmental law – he worked at Israel’s premier environmental law firm, Laster and Goldman – and a leader in the Spiritual Diplomacy efforts made on behalf of Israel. A one-time aspiring standup comedian, Rabbi Pear received his ordination from Yeshiva University, and holds law degrees from Hebrew University (LLM, with a focus on Mishpat Ivri) and NYU School of Law (JD, with a concentration in international law), and a degree in International Law, Politics and Security from Georgetown University’s School for Foreign Service. The author of three books, he is married to Dr. Rachel Pear and is the father of five children.

A Virtual Event Presentation by Samuel Lebens

Event Co-Sponsored by Hebrew Education Alliance

ABOUT THE EVENT:

Is there any way for the Jew to make sense of our belief in an all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing God, in the face of all the pain and suffering that we see around us? How might philosophical acrobatics conducted in the ivory tower, regarding the problem of evil, have any impact on the lived experience of faith in the face of suffering?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Samuel Lebens is an Orthodox Rabbi and an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Haifa. He has published books and articles on a wide array of topics, from the work of Bertrand Russell to the philosophy of Judaism. He specializes in metaphysics, epistemology, the philosophy of literature, and the philosophy of religion. He lives with his wife and three children in Netanya, Israel.

A virtual event presentation by Anthony Russell

About the Event:
In the 20th century, Yiddish art song acted as a kind of performative repository of Ashkenazi Jewish music-making of all kinds, containing elements of khazones and liturgical music, Eastern European folk song, Yiddish theatre music, and Chassidic music, as well as popular and art music of the time. In this session, we’ll take a brief survey of the genre and explore the meaning it had to its performers and its audiences.

About the Speaker:
Anthony Russell is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in Yiddish culture. Anthony’s work with Klezmer trio Veretski Pass resulted in Convergence, an exploration of a century of African-American and Ashkenazi Jewish music. His recent release on the Borscht Beat label with accordionist and keyboardist Dmitri Gaskin, Kosmopolitn, features their original settings of Yiddish modernist poetry for voice and string ensemble. Anthony has also been an essayist in several publications, including The Forward, Tablet Magazine, JTA, PROTOCOLS, Full Stop Magazine, Ayin Press, and Jewish Currents. He lives in Atlanta with his husband of eight years, Rabbi Michael Rothbaum.

All of the music is played from: https://rsa.fau.edu/judaic

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Michael Marmur

Event Co-Sponsored by Rodef Shalom

About The Event:

In this class we will consider a debate in the Talmud concerning the limits of responsibility for the deeds of our fellow human beings, and how one of the greatest Jews of the twentieth century read and related to this debate. At stake is the question: when is it intrusive and disrespectful to get involved in your neighbor’s business, and when is it morally imperative?

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Michael Marmur is an Associate Professor of Jewish Theology at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. He has published works on Abraham Joshua Heschel and American Jewish Thought and is the Chair of the Board of Rabbis for Human Rights.

A virtual, six-part series presented by Rabbi Dr. Darren Kleinberg

About the Event:

In this mini-course, we welcome back Valley Beit Midrash founder, Rabbi Darren Kleinberg, for a new encounter with the Torah. Commonly understood as a book of laws and stories, Rabbi Kleinberg will unlock new ways of reading through the words of Judaism’s foundational sacred text to unlock practices that can be incorporated into our daily lives to increase insight and well-being.

About the Speaker:

Rabbi Darren Kleinberg, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow with the Concentration in Education and Jewish Studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. In partnership with a group of visionary community leaders, Rabbi Kleinberg became the Founding Executive Director of Valley Beit Midrash in 2007.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion & BMH-BJ     

About The Event:

One of the most nuanced recent explorations of teshuvah is a television show that has been described as “the smartest, dumbest show on TV.” The Good Place follows four human beings whom we meet in a “neighborhood” of the afterlife supervised by two eternal beings. (This description will try not to spoil the show for those who haven’t watched it, but the session will definitely have spoilers!) One of the humans is a professor of ethical philosophy, and another quickly reveals to him that she has been sent there by mistake. Together, they get to work keeping her from being expelled to the “bad place”, by studying ethics and applying the concepts to working on her character. In the course of four seasons, the show explicitly teaches concepts in ethical philosophy and portrays their application to moral self-improvement. There is almost no specific religious reference in the show, beyond the gestures to “heaven” and “hell.” But what has intrigued Jewish educators are moves that seem like midrashim on teshuvah in a Maimonidean sense and on the book of Esther, and echoes of many core Jewish ethical concepts. The Tov! podcast began with the idea of just juxtaposing each episode’s theme against Jewish teaching — hardly a sophisticated educational methodology. But the further we went, the more alive certain texts become for me, particularly those about teshuvah. And the more I have been surprised at realizations about the moral significance of things like time, friendship, and theology. In the session, we’ll watch and hear some tastes from the TV show and the podcast along with my own story, and hopefully, you’ll be intrigued to watch the show on your own, or re-watch it with a new lens!

About the Speaker:

Jon Spira–Savett has served for nearly fifteen years as rabbi of Temple Beth Abraham in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is co-host of Tov! A Podcast About “The Good Place” and Jewish Ideas Jon has taught social ethics, bioethics, and environmental ethics in Jewish day schools, supplementary programs, teen philanthropy projects, and wider community adult education projects, and he serves on the ethics committee of Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua. Jon’s general writings and recordings about Torah and current events are on his blog at rabbijon.net. He is the immediate past president of the Nashua Area Interfaith Council, co-convener of the Greater Nashua Housing Justice Group, and co-founder of “How To Be President”, an initiative to transform how we learn about candidates by asking better questions. Jon was ordained and received his M.A. in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and is an active alum of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship. He did his undergraduate studies at Harvard College. Jon grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is a proud alum of the Talmud Torah of St. Paul, to which he owes his interest in ethical philosophy, text study, and Hebrew language. To find more information about Jon and his podcast you can go to his website at tovgoodplace.com

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Ariel Evan Mayse

The event was co-hosted by Temple Solel

About The Event: 

Explore the full range of Jewish literature connected to environmental consciousness and action, from Tanakh, Talmud, and halakhah to mysticism, poetry, and philosophy. We aim to grapple with some of the pressing ecological, social, and theological issues facing us today. Please join us in diving deeply into Jewish sources while putting them in conversation with contemporary questions and the possibilities of communal response.

About The Speaker: 

Ariel Evan Mayse is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University, rabbi-in-residence at Atiq: Jewish Maker Institute, and the senior scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and Society where he is the founder of Nahara: Beit Midrash for Environmental Renewal. He holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies from Harvard University and rabbinic ordination from Beit Midrash Har’el in Israel. His publications include Speaking Infinities: God and Language in the Teachings of Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezritsh (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020), the two-volume A New Hasidism: Roots and A New Hasidism: Branches, with Arthur Green (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society and University of Nebraska Press, 2019), and Laws of the Spirit: Ritual, Mysticism, and the Commandments in Early Hasidism (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2024). He is currently working on a book about Jewish mysticism and environmental ethics, and another exploring how Jewish spirituality can help us rethink the purpose, aims, and practice of higher education.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Jonah Pesner

The event was co-hosted by Temple Chai and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix 

About The Event: 

Kol Kolot – Every Voice, Every Vote – Why the American Jewish Community and our society more broadly needs to work for an Inclusive Democracy, in which all voices are heard and every vote is counted – and what you can do to make it happen.

About The Speaker: 

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner serves as the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the Senior Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism.  Named one of the most influential rabbis in America by Newsweek magazine, he is dedicated to building bridges to collectively confront anti-Semitism, racism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate and bigotry.

Rabbi Pesner organizes Jewish communities to reach across lines of race, class, and faith in campaigns for social justice. He has led efforts to expand healthcare access, restore voting rights, and for LGBTQ equality, among others.  Rabbi Pesner is widely published, including “Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: Our Jewish Obligation to Justice.” He teaches all over the world including at Harvard University where he has served as a visiting scholar. He sits on various boards including the NAACP, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council for the Department of Homeland Security, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Solidarity Council on Racial Equity, among others.

A virtual, six-part series presented by Rabbi Dr. Darren Kleinberg

About the Event:

In this mini-course, we welcome back Valley Beit Midrash founder, Rabbi Darren Kleinberg, for a new encounter with the Torah. Commonly understood as a book of laws and stories, Rabbi Kleinberg will unlock new ways of reading through the words of Judaism’s foundational sacred text to unlock practices that can be incorporated into our daily lives to increase insight and well-being.

About the Speaker:

Rabbi Darren Kleinberg, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow with the Concentration in Education and Jewish Studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. In partnership with a group of visionary community leaders, Rabbi Kleinberg became the Founding Executive Director of Valley Beit Midrash in 2007.

ABOUT THE EVENT:

The Book of Proverbs, attributed to King Solomon, is a profound collection of Jewish wisdom, song, and inspiration. Yet to contemporary readers, the text can appear vague, ambiguous, and contradictory. In this refreshing and relevant commentary, Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz challenges us to find modern meaning in this ancient text. Using his signature blend of social justice practice and Jewish thought from throughout history, Rabbi Yanklowitz shows how the words of Proverbs are strikingly pertinent to issues we face today. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Rabbi Yanklowitz explores such topics as income inequality, feminism, animal rights, environmentalism, and many more. The author’s commentary is paired with the full text of Proverbs–in both Hebrew and an updated, gender-accurate translation–so readers can glean their own insights.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Rabbi Dr.  Shmuly Yanklowitz is the President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash.
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•  Website:   www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ 
•  Donate:   https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate 
•  Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash

About The Event:

On January 6, 2021, Americans were shocked as thousands of self-proclaimed patriots stormed the Capitol, many carrying Confederate flags and wearing anti-Semitic sweatshirts. What the nation witnessed that cold winter afternoon was the continuation of a battle that goes back to 1945 when Americans began fighting a second Civil War over two distinct visions of the future—and have continued fighting ever since with one key difference.

The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Anti-Semitism and White Supremacy After 1945 tells the chilling story of the decades-long battle between four postwar hate group leaders and the three New York-based anti-fascist groups that fought to stop them. On one side stood Emory Burke, Jesse B. Stoner, James Madole, and George Lincoln Rockwell who saw themselves as dedicated patriots protecting the white Christian world they knew before the War against all who would now degrade and destroy it. As millions of veterans returned home in 1945-1946, these charismatic White Supremacist leaders built violent networks of terror and planned deadly attacks on Jews and Blacks throughout the nation.

Opposing these four leaders and their deadly organizations were three New York-based groups that waged a secret undercover war to defeat organized White Supremacists: the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the American Jewish Committee (AJC), and the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League (ANL).

About The Speaker:

Steven J. Ross is a Distinguished Professor of History, Dean’s Professor of History, and Director of the University of Southern California’s Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life.  His most recent book, Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America was named a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History for 2018 and has been on the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List for 23 weeks.

His previous book Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics, received the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Film Scholars Award and a Pulitzer Prize nomination. Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America, won the Theater Library Association Book Award for 1999, as well as a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. Ross’s current book, The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to White Supremacy After 1945, will be published by Bloomsbury Press.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz (President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) interviews Aaron Lipkin of Ofra.

Watch this interview on YouTube: 

https://youtu.be/p3lsnMtND3k

A Virtual Event presentation by Rabbanit Leah Sarna

Event Co-Sponsored by BMH-BJ

About The Event:

Join Rabbanit Leah Sarna for a transformative exploration of the thirteen attributes of divine mercy which make up the backbone of our Selihot and Yom Kippur prayer services

About The Speaker:

Rabbanit Leah Sarna is the Associate Director of Education and Director of High School Programs at Drisha. She previously served as Director of Religious Engagement at Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago, a leading urban Orthodox congregation. She was ordained at Yeshivat Maharat in 2018, holds a BA from Yale University in Philosophy & Psychology, and also trained at the SKA Beit Midrash for Women at Migdal Oz, Drisha, and the Center for Modern Torah Leadership. She was a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a winner of the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize.

Rabbanit Sarna’s published works have appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Lehrhaus, and The Jewish Review of Books. She has lectured in Orthodox synagogues and Jewish communal settings around the world and loves spreading her warm, energetic love for Torah and Mitzvot with Jews in all stages of life.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Shlomo Levin

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About the event: 

Numerous times the Torah commands us to help those in need. Is this also a statement of human rights? In this session we’ll ask whether giving tzedakah is a fulfillment of human rights values, or whether human rights are limited to abstract freedoms and charity is something we give out of kindness alone.

About the Speaker: 

Shlomo Levin received ordination from Yeshivat Hamivtar in Israel and the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. For 15 years he served as a Rabbi at various pulpits in the United States. In 2022 he received a master’s degree in International Law and Human Rights. Now he works for a non-profit organization he started called the Human Rights Haggadah, which aims to become a central hub for education and respectful discussion of human rights issues as they pertain in particular to Israel and the Jewish community.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz has a conversation with Rabbis Elie Feder and Aaron Zimmer, hosts of the "Physics to God" podcast.

Elie Feder earned a PhD in mathematics from the CUNY Graduate Center and received Rabbinic ordination from his rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Chait. Since 2004, Elie has been a mathematics professor at Kingsborough Community College and a maggid shiur at Yeshiva Bnei Torah. He has published many papers and delivered numerous talks on graph theory, his mathematical research field. As a teacher, Elie has a passion for simplifying complex topics for his students. Recently, he authored a book, “Gematria Refigured,” which presents a rational, nonmystical approach to gematria to uncover the significance of quantity and fine-tuning in the Torah, life, and the universe. Elie hosts the Gematria Refigured+ and the Physics to God podcasts. He resides in Far Rockaway, New York, with his wife and their four children.

After earning a physics degree and receiving rabbinical ordination from his rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Chait, Aaron Zimmer considered furthering his education through graduate school. However, his intellectual curiosity extended far beyond the realm of physics, encompassing a diverse array of fields, including philosophy, mathematics, and psychology. Capitalizing on his blend of analytical and philosophical skills, Aaron utilized his resources to venture into commodity futures trading. This endeavor involved oil, natural gas, cotton, sugar, and coffee.

His strategic approach was deeply rooted in the conceptual frameworks of physics and the intricate Brisker Method for Talmudic analysis. After an eleven-year career marked by success in commodity trading, Aaron decided to retire. In his retirement, Aaron channels his intellectual energy into studying various branches of knowledge, including the Talmud, philosophy, and physics. He co-hosts the Physics to God podcast and resides in Lawrence, New York, along with his wife and their five children.

Podcast: https://www.physicstogod.com/3-proofs-of-god-from-science; https://www.physicstogod.com/podcast-episodes
Facebook: Physics to God
X/Twitter: PhysicsToGod
Instagram: physics_to_god

A virtual event presentation by Avi Posen

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel and Temple Israel

About the Event: 

Why is it that even post-Holocaust, Jews experience a large percentage of the world’s hate crimes, despite being less than 0.2% of the world’s population? That’s because the Holocaust wasn’t an antisemitic exception — it was the culmination of years of religious, scientific, cultural, and political anti-Jewish sentiment. This foundation still exists today. Many still subscribe to anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, resulting in disproportionately high statistics of anti-Jewish sentiment and large numbers of hate crimes. Take a deep dive into antisemitism today and how we can respond accordingly.

About The Speaker: 

Avi Posen is the Senior Director of Israel Education – EMEA at Unpacked for Educators, a division of OpenDor Media. His focus is on content creation and training Jewish educators around the world on how to use Unpacked for Educators materials. Avi has worked as a Judaic Studies teacher, Hillel Director, and Jewish camp director. He holds a Master's in Jewish Education from Yeshiva University in New York and lives with his family in Haifa, Israel.

Video Links: https://youtu.be/c3dKIDtAYXk?si=ExCVRQFHHSi5pIDT and https://youtu.be/FAJfddwKraQ?si=MpaenKVOX8WQXw35
Unpacked YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@UNPACKED/featured

A virtual event presentation by Professor Zvi Zohar

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About the Event: 

In ancient times, some rabbis held that since one is commanded to study Torah day and night (Joshua 1:8), other intellectual realms could be acquired only ‘when it is neither day nor night.’ An exception could be made only for learning a practical profession, enabling one to earn a living. (See, e.g., JT Pe’ah 1:1).

Following in the spirit of those ancient scholars, many East European Rabbis in recent centuries were against secular studies for boys and men and viewed such studies as antithetical to the true Torah. So, too, some rabbis permitted secular studies as a practical concession enabling one to gain a livelihood.

Rabbi Yosef Hayyim was one of the greatest rabbis in the entire world in the half-century leading up to WWI. He was an all-round scholar – Halakhist, Kabbalistic, interpreter of Aggada and Midrash, composer of religious poetry, and famous for his lively and compelling sermons. Nevertheless, many people have not heard of him, as he was a Sephardic/Oriental rabbi who spent his entire life in Baghdad. In addition, many people imagine Sephardic Jews (and rabbis) to be simple, naïve traditionalists – as opposed to the cleverness and sophistication of European/Ashkenazic Jews.

However, it was specifically the ‘Sephardic/Oriental’ Rabbi Yosef Hayyim who strongly advocated that Jewish schools offer a curriculum offering both Torah and ‘general’ studies in tandem, not because general studies are needed to earn a living but because of their inherent intellectual and spiritual religious value.

In this session, we will study (in translation) the original texts of  Rabbi Yosef Hayyim on this topic and discuss the significance of his views.

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c0bJtwOQ0FWHA-G_cf8wND9XqiOY2Lyt/view?usp=sharing

About the Speaker: 

Zvi Zohar is a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. He is the Chauncey Stillman Professor of Sephardic Law and Ethics at Bar-Ilan University, where he teaches in the Faculties of Law and Jewish Studies and is editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Law, Religion and State. At Shalom Hartman Institute, he heads the Alan and Loraine Fischer Family Center for Halakha.

Professor Zohar’s main area of research is the history and development of halakha from the earliest times to the present. He has a special interest in the halakhic writings of Sephardic and Mizrahi rabbis in modern times. Professor Zohar has published more than 100 books and scholarly articles in Hebrew, English, French, and German.

His most recent book in English, Rabbinic Creativity in the Modern Middle East, was published in 2013 by the Hartman Institute’s Kogod Library of Judaic Studies in conjunction with Bloomington Academic Press.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz interviews Rabbi Yehuda Albin on the importance of Jewish learning. 

As the founder of The Ember Foundation and TORAHUB, Yehuda has “built” a synagogue and school without walls. Since moving to Chicago in 1994, he has personally touched hundreds of people with his engaging educational style. Raised in Scarsdale, NY, in a Reform home, and educated at Bowdoin College, he earned his rabbinic ordination during a decade of Torah study in Jerusalem.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Yitz Landes

The event was co-hosted by Beth El Congregation

About the Event: 

What is the connection between rain, the Temple, and caring for the other? In this class, we will look at the ways in which these themes connect in ancient Hebrew liturgical poems (piyyutim) written for the holiday of Sukkot. After first gaining a familiarity with the different genres of piyyutim and their liturgical and historical settings, we will read closely from some of the piyyutim for Sukkot—several of which are still recited today—to gain deeper insights into how the holiday of Sukkot has been understood and celebrated throughout history. 

About the Speaker: 

Yitz Landes is an Assistant Professor of Rabbinic Literature and Cultures at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. His research focuses on Rabbinic Judaism, the history of the Jewish Book, and Jewish Liturgy. He received his Ph.D. in Religions of Mediterranean Antiquity from Princeton University after receiving a BA in Talmud and Halakha and Comparative Religion and an MA in Talmud and Halakha and Late Antique Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His publications include Studies in the Development of Birkat ha-Avodah (2018) as well as several peer-reviewed articles.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer

About The Event:

Some of the best-kept secrets in kabbalistic literature deal with understanding what it means to be human and the interconnectedness between mankind, flora, fauna, and even the pebbles by a lake. Secrets of a previous aquatic world and a future one in which the natural hierarchy changes offer a unique perspective of ourselves and the world we live in.

About The Speaker:

Jonnie Schnytzer is a Ph.D. candidate focusing on medieval kabbalah. His dissertation is focused on the kabbalistic system of thought of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie is also preparing a critical edition of Ashkenazi’s commentary on Sefer Yesira. Probably the only Ph.D. student in Jewish Philosophy who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli naval commandos in a swimming race, Jonnie’s also the author of Mossad thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie has recently orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah’, an important piece of Moroccan Jewish history from the Holocaust. Jonnie has also taken on several leadership roles in the Jewish world, including advisor to the CEO of Birthright and executive manager with StandWithUs. He lectures on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism and Israel, especially about the untold stories and unspoken heroes of Jewish history. Jonnie is happily married, with four gorgeous little kids, lives in Israel, and thinks that Australian Rules Football is the greatest sport ever invented.

A virtual event presentation by Rav Sarah Mulhern

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Chai & Temple Emanuel        

About the Event: 

Is there a value to being publicly identifiable as Jewish? Is there a value to looking more like our non-Jewish neighbors? In this session, we will explore how Jewish texts have engaged with these questions over time, and interrogate our instincts and experiences. We will focus on classical Jewish texts about distinctive Jewish dress to launch a broad conversation about the ethics of passing and outing oneself and when and how we wish to display our Jewishness or other identities to the broader world when we do not, and why.

About the Speaker: 

Rav Sarah Mulhern is a Rabbi, educator, and community builder. She serves as the Rabbi of Silverstein Base Lincoln Park, opening her home and her heart to young adults in Chicago. She passionately believes that Torah matters and that Judaism can enrich human life and better society. 

Rav Sarah is also a nationally-regarded Torah educator, frequently teaching in a wide variety of Jewish adult education settings, particularly on topics of ethics, gender, and Jewish practice. As a rabbi, some of her areas of focus include grief support, feminist and queer niddah education, and crafting joyful halachic egalitarian life cycle rituals. She is deeply committed to inspiring traditional prayer and is a passionate shaliach tzibur. 

Rav Sarah was ordained by the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, where she also earned a Master's in Jewish Education, and received private rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes. She is an alumna of Brandeis University, Yeshivat Hadar, Pardes Institute, Drisha Institute, Beit Midrash Har El, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, and the David Hartman Center Fellowship. She can be reached at sarahemulhern@gmail.com or @Rav_Sarah.

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ROWtjcrXYoV_Gxzz-l184CLig_xVkAxv/view

A virtual event presentation by Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel 

About The Event: 

American Jewish Women have made enormous strides over the past century, opening up new avenues for women to engage meaningfully with Judaism and Jewish life. In so doing, they have enriched not only their own lives but also American Jewry and the Jewish tradition as a whole. Together, we will explore this transformation and its impact on us all.

About the Speaker: 

Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Irving Lehrman Research Professor of American Jewish History, a groundbreaking scholar of American Jewish history, and a visionary institutional leader, is the eighth chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary. She is the first woman to serve in this role in its 135-year history.

Chancellor Schwartz is devoted to building on JTS’s unique strengths as a Jewish institution of higher learning that trains future leaders through deep study—with both head and heart—of Jewish texts, ideas, and history. In JTS’s thriving community, students develop the creative ability to imbue others with the intellectual, cultural, and religious sustenance that our tradition offers, and they enrich every community of which they are a part. 

Previously, Dr. Schwartz played a central role in shaping and strengthening JTS’s academic programs while teaching and mentoring countless students. From 1993 to 2018, she served as dean of the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies, JTS’s undergraduate dual-degree program with Columbia University and Barnard College. In 2010, she was also named dean of the Gershon Kekst Graduate School. In 2018, she assumed the provostship, while continuing as dean of the Kekst School. 

Chancellor Schwartz was one of the first women on the JTS faculty and played an instrumental role in introducing Jewish gender studies into the curriculum. As a scholar, she brings to light previously overlooked contributions of women to Jewish life and culture over the centuries and continually expands our understanding of American Judaism. Among her publications is the award-winning book, The Rabbi’s Wife, a penetrating examination of the role of rabbis’ wives in the development of American Jewish life. 

Rav Gavriel Reiss was born and raised in Los Angeles but moved to Israel as a teenager. He served in elite IDF units before dedicating himself to Jewish education. In 2017, he embarked on a trailblazing initiative to break out of the security fence of Pnei Kedem in southern Judea to create a farm that would not only serve to help Jews learn to live more authentically on the land but also prevent the European Union from usurping land in Area C through its proxies in the Palestinian Authority (if not for this farm, the Jews of southern Judea would have been completely cut off from the Dead Sea). Rav Gavriel holds a triple degree in philosophy, political science & economics from the Hebrew University and a letter of Yoreh Yoreh from Rav Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg zt"l.

A virtual event presentation by Jonnie Schnytzer

EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Temple Emanuel

ABOUT THE EVENT:
What was it that the Biblical prophets sought out to achieve? And how did the term prophecy evolve from outcries for social justice to individualistic concepts of cleaving to God and mystical methods of saving the world? In an attempt to understand prophecy in our day and age, we begin our journey with the Biblical text, moving on to medieval philosophical and mystical teachings and concluding with 20th-century ideas.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Jonnie Schnytzer is a Ph.D. candidate focusing on medieval kabbalah. His dissertation is focused on the kabbalistic system of thought of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie is also preparing a critical edition of Ashkenazi’s commentary on Sefer Yesira. Probably the only Ph.D. student in Jewish Philosophy who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli naval commandos in a swimming race, Jonnie’s also the author of Mossad thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie has recently orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah’, an important piece of Moroccan Jewish history from the Holocaust. Jonnie has also taken on several leadership roles in the Jewish world, including advisor to the CEO of Birthright and executive manager with StandWithUs. He lectures on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism and Israel, especially about the untold stories and unspoken heroes of Jewish history. Jonnie is happily married, with four gorgeous little kids, lives in Israel, and thinks that Australian Rules Football is the greatest sport ever invented.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz has a conversation with former professional basketball player Dan Grunfeld about the book he published in 2022, By the Grace of the Game about his multi-generational family journey from Auschwitz to the NBA.

Dan Grunfeld is a former professional basketball player, an accomplished writer, and a proud graduate of Stanford University. An Academic All-American and All-Conference basketball selection at Stanford, Dan played professionally for eight seasons in top leagues around the world, including in Germany, Spain, and Israel. Dan’s writing has been published more than 40 times in media outlets such as Sports Illustrated, The Jerusalem Post, and NBC News. 

Dan earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2017 and lives with his wife and son in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he works in venture capital.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Leah Sarna

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A4EbgCH5S44QjGS2p0OD_UzefcieYvHZ/view

The event was co-sponsred by BMH-BJ

About the Event: 

On Hannukah, we light candles and commemorate a time “when the evil Greek kingdom rose against Your people Israel.” Those who love studying Greek philosophy and literature must ask ourselves some big questions on this holiday. Fortunately, the Jewish tradition has much to offer us as we try to make sense of it.

About the Speaker: 

Rabbanit Leah Sarna is Faculty and Director of Teen Programs at Drisha. She previously served as Director of Religious Engagement at Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago, a leading urban Orthodox congregation. She was ordained at Yeshivat Maharat in 2018, holds a BA from Yale University in Philosophy & Psychology, and trained at the SKA Beit Midrash for Women at Migdal Oz, Drisha, and the Center for Modern Torah Leadership. She was a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a winner of the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize. 

Rabbanit Sarna’s published works have appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Lehrhaus, and The Jewish Review of Books. She has lectured in Orthodox synagogues and Jewish communal settings worldwide and loves spreading her warm, energetic love for Torah and Mitzvot with Jews in all stages of life.

A virtual, five-part series presented by Professor Eitan P. Fishbane

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qzW3jl5I1ZWug2YIpQ_JAcouT1g51LRe/view

About the event: 

In what would become the legendary kabbalistic hilltop town of Tzfat in the 1500s—the birthplace of such timeless texts as Lekha Dodi and Yedid Nefesh; a location whose larger-than-life figures included such luminaries as Rabbi Yosef Karo, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (the ARI), and many others— there unfolded one of the most remarkable chapters in the entire history of Judaism, and Jewish mysticism in particular. Through various concerns, ideas, and writing genres, the mystics of this time and place focused on the nature of the human self and spiritual psychology: its essence and character, its fundamental state of relationship to Divinity. In the sessions of this course, we will explore a range of these issues and modes of creativity as they appeared in sixteenth-century Tzfat. We will explore such major topics as Soul, Body, and Reincarnation (Gilgul); The Ethics and Piety of Self-Transformation (Kabbalistic Musar); Mystical Autobiography; Emotion, Feeling, and Mind. Please join us as we dive deeply into this fascinating and inspiring landscape of ideas, feelings, and spirituality!

About the Speaker: 

Dr. Eitan Fishbane is a Professor of Jewish Thought at The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), where he has taught for 17 years. A 2015-2016 JTS Chancellor’s Fellow, Fishbane has served on the JTS Faculty Executive Committee; as a B.A. and M.A. Advisor in Jewish Thought; and on The Rabbinical School Council. He is a former Division Chair for Jewish Mysticism at the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS); current Chair of the Oxford Interfaith Forum on Mysticism; and Book Review Editor for Jewish Mysticism at The Marginalia Review of Books. He is the recipient of grants from The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), as well as the Charles A. Ryskamp Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Among Professor Fishbane’s published books are: The Art of Mystical Narrative: A Poetics of the Zohar (Oxford University Press, 2018); As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist (Stanford University Press, 2009); and, most recently, Embers of Pilgrimage (Panui Poetry Series, 2021). He works on several book projects, including Shabbat in Ḥasidic Thought: Sacred Time and Mystical Consciousness; Self & Identity in Sixteenth-Century Kabbalah; and The Zohar as Mystical Poetry. In addition to these academic projects, Fishbane is working on a spiritual-theological commentary on the Torah cycle and the Jewish holidays, tentatively entitled, Written on the Heart: Meditations & Readings; and he is completing his second volume of original poetry, entitled, Soul Fragments. Fishbane received his Ph.D. and B.A., summa cum laude, from Brandeis University. Visit him at www.eitanfishbane.com.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Joel Gereboff

About the Event: 

Although most Jews know that it is traditional to fast on Yom Kippur, the latest Pew Study of American Jews shows that only half of American Jews do fast. In many ways, Jews seek to find reasons to fast or to make fasting a meaningful experience. This presentation will examine guidance provided in contemporary Machzorim (prayer books) regarding the meaning of fasting.

About the Speaker: 

Joel Gereboff is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Arizona State University. His research and publications focus on early Rabbinic Judaism, American Judaism, Jewish ethics and Judaism, and emotions.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz of Valley Beit Midrash interviews Rabbi David Wolpe

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Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: 

•  Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) 

•  Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) 

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Suzanne Singer

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel 

About the Event: 

Did Eve tempt Adam to eat the fruit of the tree? Was Hagar a victim or a prophet?  Who were the women warriors? Through biblical stories and midrash (rabbinic interpretations), we will uncover how these women challenged the patriarchy.

About the Speaker: 

Rabbi Suzanne Singer served Temple Beth El in Riverside, CA, for 15 years before retiring in 2023. She now serves Congregation Havurim in Temecula monthly, in addition to teaching Introduction to Judaism for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and serving on the board of End of Life Choices California (EOLCCA), among other activities.

As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, she is keenly aware of the need to make our world a better place. She recently served as a member of the Reform movement’s Commission on Social Action, as President of PARR (Pacific Area Reform Rabbis), as a member of the City of Riverside’s Task Force on Police Reform, and as a commissioner for the City of Riverside’s Human Relations Commission. She has led advocacy efforts through local interfaith organizations and succeeded in helping pass alternatives to jail and aid-in-dying legislation. She was named a Riverside “Champion of Justice” in 2010 and a Riverside “Woman of Distinction” in 2015. In addition to an OpEd in The New York Times re. Rikers Island, her essays have been published in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, the CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, and in several CCAR Press collections. 

Before coming to Riverside, Rabbi Singer served at Temple Sinai in Oakland, CA. She also served both as Director of the Introduction to Judaism Program for the Pacific Southwest Council of the Union for Reform Judaism and as Coordinator of a leadership initiative at Hebrew Union College’s (HUC) Los Angeles campus.

Rabbi Singer grew up in New York City and attended the Lycée Francais de New York from elementary through high school. She holds three Master's Degrees: Before attending HUC, Rabbi Singer spent twenty years as a television producer and programming executive, primarily for National Public Television (PBS) and primarily in news and public affairs. As executive producer of a national documentary series, POV, she won two national Emmy awards. She also co-created and produced a national preschool series, The Puzzle Place, designed to help children respect and appreciate diversity. Rabbi Singer is married to actor/acting teacher Jordan Lund. She is also the aunt of seven nieces and nephews with whom she is very close.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Batya Hefter

About The Event: 

Avraham is the father of faith for all monotheistic religions. What was so unique about Avraham that God should choose him? To answer this question, we’ll consider the Torah’s narrative, then learn a classic midrash and finally delve into an innovative and surprising Hasidic insight. Learning about Avraham’s spiritual journey may open the door to learning about our own.

*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hMqF7wECfUuQGvtZfbI3WhGEnRFgN_s4/edit

About The Speaker: 

Rabbanit Batya Hefter is the founder of Lev Nachon – Center for Transformative Torah, transmitting the Hasidic masters teachings into a vital ethical and spiritual path for the modern seeking Jew. Batya is completing the manuscript of her first forthcoming book, Opening the Window: Hasidic Readings for Life – The Teachings of Rabbi Ya’akov Leiner of Ishbitz-Radzyn, and she just released her for song, entitled L’David Hashem Ori.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer

Event Co-Hosted by BMH-BJ

About the Event:

Is evil manmade or divine? Do evil things happen due to our own faulty actions or are there forces of evil constantly trying to disrupt the divine plan? This class does not attempt to answer these questions. Rather, we shall go on a textual journey through the bustling port city of Alexandria through to the lavender blossoming fields of medieval Provance, to see how Jewish intellectual giants grappled with these questions.

About the Speaker:

Jonnie Schnytzer is probably the only Ph.D. in Jewish Philosophy, focusing on medieval kabbalah, who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli Naval Commandos in a swimming race? His dissertation focused on the scientific kabbalah of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie’s forthcoming book is about Ashkenazi’s Kabbalah as well as a critical edition of the kabbalist’s majestic commentary on Sefer Yesira. Jonnie’s also the author of Mossad's thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie also orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah’, an important piece of Moroccan Jewish history from the Holocaust. Jonnie has also taken on several leadership roles in the Jewish world, including advisor to the CEO of Birthright and executive manager with StandWithUs. He lectures on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism and Israel, especially about the untold stories and unspoken heroes of Jewish history. Jonnie is happily married, with four gorgeous little kids, lives in Israel, and thinks that Australian Rules Football is the greatest sport ever invented.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard, Ph.D

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About The Event: 

Why is Jewish Law important and relevant for us today? Written and oral Torah has been an ongoing adaptive legal system for over 3500 years. Its central institutions have been Justice and Loving Kindness, the Sabbath, and the Temple system. This talk will explore the ideals that have guided and still guide Jewish law in its search to fulfill the Divine will.

About The Speaker: 

Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard, Ph.D teaches at the Law Faculty of Humboldt University in Berlin and is an adjunct at Fordham Law School in New York. He also taught and consulted with Jewish leadership groups across North America for many years. Rabbi Blanchard is the co-author of Embracing Life and Facing Death: A Jewish Guide to Palliative Care, as well as academic articles, parables, and stories.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz has a conversation with Tara Strong. A renowned actress known for her talented voice work in animation & now for her powerful voice for justice for Israeli hostages.

Tara Strong began her acting career at the age of 13 in Toronto, Canada. She landed several TV, film, and musical theater roles as well as, her first lead in an animated series as the title role of "Hello Kitty." After a short run at Toronto's Second City theater company, she moved to Los Angeles with an extensive resume that included her sit-com and well over 20 animated series. Upon arriving in Hollywood, she quickly made her mark in several TV and Film projects, such as "Party of Five," "National Lampoon's Senior Trip," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," and more. She has an iconic voice-over career, including roles such as Bubbles in "The Powerpuff Girls," Timmy Turner in "The Fairly OddParents," Dil Pickles in "Rugrats," Raven in "Teen Titans," "Batgirl," "Family Guy," "Drawn Together," "Ben 10," Melody in "The Little Mermaid 2," "Spirited Away," etc. She is Miss Collins on Nickelodeon's "Big Time Rush" and the current voice of "Harley Quinn." She is Emmy nominated, a Shorty Award winner, Twilight Sparkle in "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" and currently playing "Unikitty" in the new hit series. She appeared in the Hallmark Christmas movie, "A Very Merry Toy Store." She has 350,000 Twitter followers and has used her social media to raise several hundred thousand dollars for kids with cancer and animal rescue groups, as well as using her commanding voices for her anti-bullying platform. She lives in Los Angeles. From between 2000 and 2019, she was married to former actor and real estate agent Craig Strong. However, the couple went their separate ways in July 2019 and, eventually, they formally divorced in January 2022. They have two sons together.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Amazon Video X-Ray

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Bezalel Naor

The event was co-hosted by Beth El

About the Event:

Rav Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) was a highly complex individual: legalist and philosopher, mystic and poet. In his role as Chief Rabbi of Eretz Israel (1921-1935), he emerged as a leader of world Jewry. Since his passing, Rav Kook’s literary legacy has exercised generations of scholars and thinkers (such as Rabbis J.B Soloveitchik, Isaac Hutner, and Jonathan Sacks, to name a few). That legacy, which contains elements of nationalism and universalism, continues to baffle his admirers and detractors. In this class, we will glimpse Rav Kook’s spiritual renaissance and his vision of humanity’s evolving consciousness.

About the Speaker:

Bezalel Naor is the author of many works of Jewish thought in English and Hebrew – philosophy, Kabbalah, and Hasidism – with a major concentration on the writings of the great Seer of Israel, Rav Kook. He is also the translator of Orot, Rav Kook’s seminal work.

Naor’s published books include: Navigating Worlds: Collected Essays Vols. 1 & 2 (2021), The Legends of Rabbah bar Bar Hannah (2019), The Koren Rav Kook Siddur (2017), When God Becomes History: Historical Essays of Rav Kook (2016), Mahol la-Tzaddikim; The Controversy between Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto and Rabbi Eizik Epstein of Homel Concerning the Divine Design in Creation (2015), Kana’uteh de Pinhas (2013), an analysis of the critique of Leshem Shevo ve-Ahlamah, The Kabbalah of Relation (2012), and The Limit of Intellectual Freedom: Letters of Rav Kook (2011).