A virtual event presentation by Dr. Elias Sacks

The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ

About The Event: 

For centuries, it has been common for Jews to tell the following story about ancient Jewish and Christian history: while Jesus was a Jew who never intended to break from Judaism, one of his followers, the apostle Paul, was born Jewish but had a conversion experience, abandoned Judaism, and created a new religion known as Christianity. However, in recent decades, a wide range of Jewish thinkers, Christian theologians, and academic historians have challenged this narrative, insisting that Paul was a profoundly Jewish figure who never meant to leave Judaism—and one who offered a vision of Jewish life that is strikingly relevant to contemporary conversations about religion, ethics, and politics. In this session, we will explore these issues, wrestling with questions such as: What did Paul think about Judaism? How did Paul fit into the ancient Jewish world? And what—if anything—do his writings offer twenty-first-century Jews?

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z1uI0ZRwbYJXQ8uZsVMHSYOeP0G36jDc/view

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.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz interviews Rabbi Dov Linzer & his Co-Author Abigail Pogrebin about their new book together "It Takes Two to Torah" published by Fig Tree Books. Their book discusses 52 weekly readings of the Torah in this adaptation of their Parsha in Progress podcast.

Rabbi Linzer studied for many years at Yeshivat Har Etzion, was a member of Yeshiva University’s Gruss Kollel Elyon, and received his ordination from the Israeli Rabbinate. He is a recipient of the Javits Graduate fellowship and a doctoral candidate in Religion at Columbia University. Rabbi Linzer headed the Boca Raton Kollel for the first two-and-a-half years of its existence, giving classes to the rabbis of the Kollel, and lecturing throughout the South Florida communities. He has published Halakha and machshava articles in Torah journals and lectures widely at synagogues and conferences on topics relating to Halakha, Orthodoxy, and modernity. Rabbi Linzer spearheaded the development of the YCT Rabbinical School curriculum into an innovative four-year semikha program. In addition to overseeing the Yeshiva’s Torah curriculum, he teaches advanced Halakha in a broad range of areas across all four sections of the Shulchan Aruch. Rabbi Linzer teaches advanced classes in Talmud and a year-long class in Contemporary Challenges of Modern Orthodoxy.
*Jewish Learning Center of New York *

Abigail Pogrebin is the author of My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays; One Wondering Jew, which was a finalist for the 2018 National Jewish Book Award. She is also the author of Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk about Being Jewish, for which Abigail interviewed 62 famous American Jews — from Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Steven Spielberg — about their religious identity. Her book, One and the Same delved into every aspect of growing up as a twin — of which Abby is one. (The identical kind.) Her bestselling Kindle Single, Showstopper, chronicled her teenage adventures on Broadway in a rare Sondheim flop. She was an Emmy-nominated producer for Mike Wallace at 60 Minutes, and before that produced for Bill Moyers on PBS. She has moderated conversations at The Streicker Center, The JCC in Manhattan, the UJA Federation, and the Shalom Hartman Institute. Tablet Magazine’s podcast, “Parsha in Progress” features a regular Torah discussion with Abigail and Rabbi Dov Linzer (President of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah). Abby received the “Impact Award” from the JCC in Manhattan, and the “Community Leader Award” from The Jewish Week in 2017. She served as President of Central Synagogue from 2015-18 and was Director of Jewish Outreach for Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign.
*Abigail Pogrebin website*

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

The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ

About the Event: 

As a small people, Jews have always been at the whim of larger empires. We know of the kings who oppressed our people, so let’s spend time familiarizing ourselves with kings who restored our people’s fortunes.

*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14dBke91wnSdl5WfWkl6cRY7Z0Op4UtGZ/edit

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 Dr. Nathaniel Berman

The event was co-hosted by Hebrew Educational Alliance

About the Event:

What can kabbalistic teachings contribute to a world in which rival claims to sacred land continue to cause such suffering? It is true that some kabbalistic teachings make such conflicts worse – bestowing specific sites with absolute value, making compromise impossible. Other kabbalistic teachings, however, insist that we look for true sacredness in unexpected places – strange lands, remote villages, barren deserts – rather than in official holy sites. These teachings embody the deepest kabbalistic imperative: to seek out the holiest in the most profane, whether in the world or in our own souls. We can trace the roots of such teachings too often neglected strands of biblical texts and we can see them flourishing in the writings of key Hasidic sages.

About the Speaker:

Nathaniel Berman is the Rahel Varnhagen Professor in Brown University’s Department of Religious Studies. He is the author of Passion and Ambivalence: Colonialism, Nationalism, and International Law (Brill 2011) and Divine and Demonic in the Poetic Mythology of the Zohar: the ‘Other Side’ of Kabbalah (Brill 2018).

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 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).

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 Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About the Event:

The words of the Jewish prayer may be described as a confluence of the most personal of moments and the story of an entire nation. Diving into its pages we will learn of moments of faith and fears, moments of indescribable ecstasy and sheer suffering – moments that created prayer. Leafing together through its pages, we will come to discover, not only historic moments which led to canonized prayer but also, what our inner prayer book might look like as well.

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.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz (President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) interviews Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman
. 
.
.
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. 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.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman

The event was co-hosted by Temple Solel

About the Event: 

Israel did not only establish the homeland of the Jewish people. It established the Jewish people as a people of power. This power, which enabled Israel’s survival, and was a primary source of attraction and identification with Israel, is increasingly becoming a source of criticism and at times alienation. For Zionism to play a central role in contemporary Jewish life we need to develop a new narrative of power. How do we understand power? Is it a value? What is its role in 21st-century Jewish life?

About the Speaker:

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. Donniel 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.

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 Dr. Russ Linden

The event was co-sponsored by Rodef Shalom

About the Event:

We Jews like to debate and argue – with each other, with our teachers, even with God. Indeed, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks ZT”L wrote that “God loves those who argue.”* Why? Because we mortals can’t see the entirety of an issue, so we need to hear another side. However, it’s one thing to debate and argue, and quite another to do so persuasively. How do we speak our truth so that those in power can consider it? In this session, we’ll learn from Abraham, Moses, and the five daughters of Zelophehad, who were able to help God see “another side” and change course.

*Rabbi Sacks’ essay is at: https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/shemot/god-loves-those-who-argue/

About the Speaker:

Russ is a management educator and author of six books. Since the mid-1980s he has taught public and nonprofit executives and managers about leadership, collaboration, the human side of change, resilience, crisis leadership, and related topics. His latest book is Loss and Discovery: What the Torah Can Teach Us about Leading Change. He has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Virginia and the Federal Executive Institute for over 35 years. In 2003 he was the Williams Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the State University of New York (Fredonia) School of Business. He has consulted with numerous government agencies and elected officials, as well as nonprofits in the U.S. and Israel.

Russ is a former president of his congregation, where he sometimes gives the d’var Torah during Shabbat services. He was the president of the local Jewish federation and served on the University of Virginia Hillel board. Russ has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. He has a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from the University of Virginia. His volunteer activities include leading an organization that works to make the community more open and welcoming for refugees and immigrants. He and his wife live in Charlottesville. They have two adult children and three grandchildren. 

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Russ Linden

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel 

About the Event: 

January 6.
Our polarized society.
Oct. 7.
The war in Gaza.
The impact of climate change.
Chaos at our Southern Border …

The problems are everywhere, and they seem overwhelming. We Jews are a people of hope. Indeed, Israel’s national anthem – Hatikva – means “the hope.” But many of us find it hard to feel hopeful in this environment. 

We’ll discuss several ways to maintain a “realistic optimism,” based on Torah examples and modern research findings. You’ll leave the session feeling more confident about your ability to be optimistic.

About The Speaker: 

Russ is a management educator and author of six books. Since the mid-1980s he has taught public and nonprofit executives and managers about leadership, collaboration, the human side of change, resilience, crisis leadership, and related topics.

His latest book is Loss and Discovery: What the Torah Can Teach Us about Leading Change. He has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Virginia and the Federal Executive Institute for over 35 years. In 2003 he was the Williams Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the State University of New York (Fredonia) School of Business. He has consulted with numerous government agencies, elected officials, and nonprofits in the U.S. and Israel.

Russ is a former president of his congregation, where he sometimes gives the d’var Torah during Shabbat services. He was the president of the local Jewish federation and served on the University of Virginia Hillel board.

Russ has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. He has a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from the University of Virginia. His volunteer activities include leading an organization that makes the community more open and welcoming for refugees and immigrants. He and his wife live in Charlottesville. They have two adult children and three grandchildren.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz (President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) interviews Rabbi Mike Feuer. 

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 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 Dr. Joshua Garroway

The event was Co-Hosted by Temple Emanuel Denver

About the Event:
Ancient Jewish and Christian admirers of Plato struggled to reconcile the philosopher’s concept of creation with Genesis 1. This class explores how the Jewish philosopher, Philo, the Christian Gospel of John, and the midrash, Genesis Rabbah, understand creation in nearly identical ways. Guaranteed: You’ll never read Genesis 1:1 the same way again!

About the Speaker:
Rabbi Joshua Garroway is the Sol and Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judaeo-Christian Studies at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. Raised in Rochester, New York, Rabbi Garroway earned a BA in Religion from Duke University in 1998, rabbinical ordination from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 2003, and a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from the Religious Studies department of Yale University in 2008. While his academic books and articles focus on the origins of Christianity, and specifically the life and writings of Paul, his teaching and popular writing deal with Jewish texts and history more broadly. Professor Garroway lectures widely in synagogues, churches, and other public venues. He is also engaged in several interfaith ventures, including the Los Angeles area InterSem program and the Jewish-LDS Academic Dialogue. Rabbi Garroway currently lives in Pasadena, California, with his wife, Professor Kristine Henriksen Garroway, and their three t(w)eenage boys. For fun, he enjoys chess, tennis, opera, period pieces, and taking his kids to Dodgers games.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Will Friedman

The event was Co-Hosted by Temple Solel

About the Event:

The Jewish phrase “because of repairing the world” has become a widespread slogan for a commitment to a broad array of social justice causes. But many scholars and activists have cautioned that a phrase that can advocate anything can end up meaning nothing. A careful reappraisal of the rabbinic usage of the term, however, reveals something more: that “repairing the world” was code for public policy that considered the full range of potential consequences for the vulnerable people it meant to protect.

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lZ5M5ygRpvMdZfbtgIKlp6NAwqa7bBRR/view

About the Speaker:

William Friedman is a doctoral candidate in Ancient Judaism at Harvard University, writing a dissertation on reasons for laws in the ancient near east. He also has rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes (Yashrut) and was a Kogod Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He has studied and taught at a wide variety of Jewish institutions, including Pardes, YCT, JTS, and Hebrew College. He lives in Chicago with his spouse, Rabbi Sarah Mulhern, and two children, where he is the rabbinic spouse (rebbetzin) of Base LNCLN, welcoming college students and young adults for learning, service, and Jewish experiences.

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/

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Adina Lewittes

Event Co-Sponsored by Temple Emanuel

About the Event:

Cultural and environmental trends of the 21st century are raising important challenges to long-accepted notions of Kevod Hamet (“respect for the deceased”) in the way we handle bodies after death. Are our assumptions around the requirements for burial grounded in our sacred texts? Is burial really a mitzvah? Is cremation absolutely prohibited? Can alternatives to traditional practices live within a halakhic (Jewish legal) framework?

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fRFOJ32L_f7aW1PpEU_dear17_ylEB-X/view?ts=6425874c

About the Speaker:

Rabbi Adina Lewittes founded Sha’ar, a northern NJ/NYC-based, values-driven Jewish community oriented around the call to societal, environmental, and spiritual sustainability. For nearly twenty years, Sha’ar provided multiple gateways into Jewish life exemplified by a commitment to inclusiveness, diversity, innovation, scholarship, excellence, and collaboration.

Adina recently served as the Scholar in Residence at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in NYC, a synagogue renowned for its commitment to social justice and spiritual activism. Adina is also a member of the senior rabbinic faculty of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and she sits on the Board of Trustees of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School and on the Board of Keshet. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member of the Rabbinical School at JTS where she teaches contemporary Jewish Law.

Previously, Adina served as the Assistant Dean of the Rabbinical School at JTS, and founded a synagogue in Englewood, New Jersey, modeling shared leadership and collective communal responsibility. Adina regularly enjoys speaking engagements in the US and Canada and publishing essays on topics including Jewish identity, modern Jewish law, leadership, Jewish innovation, sexual/gender diversity, multifaith/multiheritage marriage and engagement, and contemporary Jewish spirituality. She is married to Andi Lewittes and has four children, two stepchildren, and one incredible dog.

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 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.

In-Person event presentation by Ilan Kogan

About the Event:
We will be looking at several verses from the Book of Esther and seeing what questions could be gleaned from those verses. Several verses in the Book of Esther utilize double language, missing or additional letters, and sometimes what seems to be contradictory information. After discussing possible questions that could be found in those verses, we will look at the commentary on each of those verses that answered at least one question from each verse. We will be able to see that the Rabbis were not dismissive of these "abnormalities" in the text, but in fact, recognized their importance and attempted to explain them.

About the Speaker:

Ilan Kogan is a first-year student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Ilan is from Queens, NY. He has a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy from CUNY Queens College. In addition to spending his time studying at YCT, he also runs a Tik Tok account detailing his life as a Rabbinical Student, as well as containing humorous content about Judaism and questions and answers about Yiddishkeit. Ilan currently lives on the Upper West Side in New York City.

Link to Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/467850.10?lang=he

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.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz sits with Rav Gavriel Reiss to talk about Rav Yehuda Ashkenazi.

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

Presented in partnership with: Scottsdale Arts and Congregation Beth Israel 

About The Event: 

Is there any connection between recent antisemitic attacks and recent controversies about public Holocaust education? Actually, yes, and it’s built into a strange historic bargain struck between Jews and non-Jewish societies, including here in the United States. Here are the parameters of that bargain, and the reasons why we all should opt-out.

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.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz (President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) interviews Dara Horn.
------------------
Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:
• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org
• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash
• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
• Follow Rabbi Shmuly: https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz

A virtual event presentation by Jordan B. Gorfinkel

Event Co-Sponsored by Rodef Shalom

About The Event:

An interview and discussion with Jordan B. Gorfinkel—Gorf—about Esther the Graphic Novel and the history of the original female superhero!

About The Speaker:

Jordan B. Gorfinkel—Gorf—is a veteran Batman Editor working in graphic novels, film, and TV (www.gorfy.com). He created the #1 bestselling Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel and is launching the non-profit Jewish Graphic Novel Initiative. His studio Avalanche Comics Entertainment produces corporate storytelling. He draws @JewishCartoon weekly. As a musician, he pioneered professional Jewish A Cappella (www.KolZimra.com). And he travels the world to speak and give workshops, spreading the message: Make Judaism Your Superpower!

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

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 Deena Aranoff

About The Event:

In this class, we will participate in a close study of Torah texts that reveal maternal aspects of the divine.

About The Speaker:

Deena Aranoff is the Faculty Director of the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish studies at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. She teaches rabbinic literature, medieval patterns of Jewish thought, and the broader question of continuity and change in Jewish history. Her recent publications engage with the subject of childcare, maternity, and the making of Jewish culture.

An in-person event by Rav Yehuda HaKohen

About The Event:
Learning to see the subtle stirrings of social & political change beneath the surface. A Tu B'shvat Seder.

About The Speaker:
Rav Yehuda HaKohen is an Israeli organizer & educator. As a leader in the Vision movement, he works to empower students to become thought leaders & active participants in the current chapter of Jewish history. As a Jew living in the West Bank / northern Judea, HaKohen also organizes grassroots dialogue sessions for Palestinians & Israelis seeking to transcend competing one-sided narratives in favor of a more holistic analysis of the conflict.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi David Kasher

Event Co-Sponsored by BMH BJ

About The Event: 

The Israelites made it across the Red Sea just in time. As they touched shore on the other side, the miraculously parted waters came crashing back down and Pharaoh his army, chariots and all, drowned in the water. But wait, says the midrash. Pharoah somehow made it out alive! And you’ll never guess where he ended up…

About The Speaker:

Rabbi David Kasher serves as an Associate Rabbi at IKAR, a non-denominational spiritual community in Los Angeles. He received his BA in Political Science at Wesleyan University, holds a J.S.D. from Berkeley Law, and received his Rabbinic Ordination at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Rabbi Kasher grew up bouncing back and forth between the Bay Area and Brooklyn, hippies, and Hassidim – and has been trying to synthesize these two worlds ever since. He was part of the founding team at Kevah, a nonprofit specializing in Adult Jewish Education. He has served on the faculty of Berkeley Law, the Wexner Heritage Program, Reboot, and The BINA Secular Yeshiva, and also taught 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 just published a book on the subject, ParshaNut: 54 Journeys Into the World of Torah Commentary.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi David Kasher

Event Co-Sponsored by Beth El Phoenix

About The Event:

Rabbinic Judaism emerged like a phoenix out of the ashes of the destruction of the Great Temple in Jerusalem. The rabbis proposed that the new center of Jewish life could be located not in a building, but in a book. But in order to make such a bold move, they had to develop a dynamic new way of reading that book. And to do that, they would need a whole new theology.

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Dr. David Kasher serves as an Associate Rabbi at IKAR, a non-denominational spiritual community in Los Angeles. He received his BA in Political Science at Wesleyan University, holds a J.S.D. from Berkeley Law, and received his Rabbinic Ordination at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Rabbi Kasher grew up bouncing back and forth between the Bay Area and Brooklyn, hippies, and Hassidim – and has been trying to synthesize these two worlds ever since. He was part of the founding team at Kevah, a nonprofit specializing in Adult Jewish Education. He has served on the faculty of Berkeley Law, the Wexner Heritage Program, Reboot, and The BINA Secular Yeshiva, and also taught 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 just published a book on the subject, ParshaNut: 54 Journeys Into the World of Torah Commentary.

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 Rabbi Aaron Cherniak

Event Co-Hosted by Temple Chai

About The Event:

In recent decades, there has been a revival of scientific and clinical research into psychedelic drugs and their therapeutic potential. In this talk, I will review some emerging findings and offer some important context, which will provoke larger questions about psychological – and spiritual – healing, both with the use of psychedelic substances and in everyday life.

This project was made possible through the support of a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc funder DOI 501100011730) through grant https://doi.org/10.54224/30292. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc.

 
About The Speaker:

Rabbi Aaron Cherniak is a research and clinical psychologist completing his Ph.D. at Stockholm University, as well as the Director of the JPSYCH Lab of Judaism and Mental Health.

He studies spirituality/religion and its link to lifespan development, relationships, and mental health. His research examines beliefs, behaviors, and experiences related to spirituality/religion in an attachment theory framework, which describes how internalized feelings of safety and security in formative relationships guide social and emotional functioning. His dissertation research explores these patterns in individuals’ subjective experiences with psychedelics and efforts to integrate those experiences into their personal identity and narrative.

As a clinician, Rabbi Cherniak has treated individuals and families with a wide range of needs, including in Bnei Brak’s Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center. He has lectured on spiritual/religious issues in mental health and clinical practice to both professional and communal audiences. Through JPSYCH, Rabbi Cherniak disseminates psychoeducational resources to the global Jewish community.

He is a married father of two, rabbi, avid canoeist, and unrepentant punster.

A virtual event presentation by Professor Bjorn Krondorfer

Event Co-Sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About The Event:

This talk will trace the lives of two women Holocaust survivors who both grew up in traditional Jewish families in Bedzin, Poland, and later became residents of Arizona: Jane Lipski (Tucson) and Doris Martin (Flagstaff). They managed to survive the Nazi onslaught as adolescent girls. While Jane was able to escape the ghetto and join the resistance movement in Slovakia, Doris was sent to Auschwitz and selected for labor at a women’s camp near the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. While Doris was liberated in 1945 by the advancing Soviet forces and ended up in a Displaced Person Camp in Germany, Jane was arrested by the Soviets as a suspected spy and remained in captivity in Soviet labor camps until 1947. I will introduce the complex history of the Holocaust through the lives of Doris and Jane, with particular attention to women’s resourcefulness in their struggle so to survive.

About The Speaker:

Björn Krondorfer is Regents’ Professor and the Director of the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University. As an Endowed Professor of Religious Studies, he also teaches in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies. He received his Ph.D. at Temple University, Philadelphia. His field of expertise is religion, gender, and culture, and (post-) Holocaust and reconciliation studies. His scholarship helped to define the field of Critical Men’s Studies in Religions.

As director of the Martin-Springer Institute, he has organized several international academic symposia. He has mentored the creation of several exhibits: Through the Eyes of Youth: Life and Death in the Bedzin Ghetto; Resilience: Women in Flagstaff’s Past and Present; and the permanent installation of a Berlin Wall exhibit at NAU. He has curated the art exhibitions Wounded Landscapes (2014) and Echoes of Loss: Artistic Responses to Trauma (2018). In 2019, he has been awarded a one-month residential fellowship at the Santa Fe Art Institute on the theme of “truth and reconciliation.”

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 panel discussion featured leaders from our local community. The panelists: Rabbi Pinchas Allouche, Rabbi Nitzan Stein Kokin, Richard Kasper, and Rabbi John Linder discussed the topic of “Can the Phoenix/Scottsdale Jewish Community be United: Looking at our Unity and Divisions.” 

Moderated by Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz.

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.

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz interviews Daniel Matt in his new book Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation.

Read and or purchase his book: https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Elijah-Prophet-Transformation-Jewish/dp/0300242700

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.

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.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller

About the Event:

This discussion constitutes a personal effort at articulating a meaningful notion of God that is spiritually fulfilling, intellectually uncompromising, and morally compelling. The search ranges across the Jewish tradition from the fundamentals of Biblical monotheism to Maimonides’ rationalism and onto Hasidic mysticism. The result is a contemporary notion of God that can nurture personal humility and the development of an ethical personality.

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 his Master's in Rabbinic Literature. He 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 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 during the making of 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. Devorah Steinmetz

Event Co-Sponsored by Rodef Shalom 

About the Event:

The Talmud tells a story about the first human being’s experience of the first winter, a story that echoes the story of Chanuka. We will consider the meanings that emerge from the interplay between these texts and that are embodied in our practice of lighting candles on Chanuka.

About the Speaker:

Devora Steinmetz serves on the faculty of the Hebrew College Rabbinical School and the Mandel Leadership Institute. She is the founder of 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 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.

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

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Leon Morris

Event Co-Hosted by Hebrew Education Alliance 

About The Event:

Many of us are drawn to Jewish texts and tradition, and at the same time bring commitments and perspectives that are part and parcel of who we are. How do we balance our own sense of truth with the inherited claims of Jewish tradition to which we are drawn? What is the place of “personal integrity” in religious life? What do we do when our own experience of the world seems so different from those who shaped Jewish law and tradition? Discover a surprising radical text from the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Yoma 69b) that reveals how the early Rabbis themselves struggled with these same questions. Pair that text with a contemporary Israeli pop song that mines these issues in a decidedly 21st-century way. How can our Jewish lives be both “ours” and “Jewish”?

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Leon Morris is the President of Pardes. Leon made aliyah with his wife Dasee Berkowitz and their three children in June 2014, after serving as the rabbi of Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor, NY. He was the founding director of the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-El (now the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center) in Manhattan. Before coming to Pardes, Leon served as a Vice President for Israel Programs at the Shalom Hartman Institute and was a faculty member at Hebrew Union College.

Ordained from Hebrew Union College in 1997 where he was a Wexner Graduate Fellow, he has worked extensively with the Jewish community of India, beginning in 1990 when he served as a Jewish Service Corps volunteer for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He was also a Mandel Jerusalem Fellow. Leon has taught at Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform institutions and is a regular contributor to the Jewish, US, and Israeli press. He is an editor of the new Reform High Holy Day machzor, Mishkan HaNefesh, and is a contributor to Jewish Theology in Our Time: A New Generation Explores the Foundations and Future of Jewish Belief (edited by Elliot Cosgrove, Jewish Lights, 2010).

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Andrea Weiss

Event Co-Sponsored by Temple Emanuel 

About The Event:

The “American Values, Religious Voices: 100 Days, 100 Letters” campaign sent a letter a day to the President, Vice President, and Members of Congress for the first 100 days of the Trump administration in 2017 and the Biden administration in 2021. The letters were written by a multifaith group of scholars who connected core American values to our different religious traditions. We will explore some of the letters and discuss how this project can serve as a model and resource for bringing people together around shared values.

About the Speaker:

Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, Ph.D. is Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Provost and Associate Professor of Bible at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is the founder of the American Values, Religious Voices campaign, co-editor of American Values, Religious Voices: 100 Days, 100 Letters (University of Cincinnati Press, 2019, with Volume 2 forthcoming in Fall 2022), and associate editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary (CCAR Press, 2008). Her other writings include Figurative Language in Biblical Prose Narrative: Metaphor in the Book of Samuel (Brill, 2006) and articles on metaphor, biblical poetry, and biblical conceptions of God.