Jewish Ideas to Change the World

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Steven Gotlib About The Event:  What does Judaism REALLY believe about magic and divination? Join Steven Gotlib, an experienced magician/mentalist and former Tarot-reader, to delve into this fascinating and under-appreciated topic. *Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sKlv6niYx2BOjjCQvslDf5mI22PgST3V/view?usp=sharing About The Speaker:  Steven Gotli...

A hybrid event presentation by Alan Morinis The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ About The Event: The topic of this session will be the forthcoming book, The Shabbat Effect. The point of the book is to outline how observing Shabbat with the intention of developing certain inner traits germane to a Shabbat practice will prove useful all seven days of the week and is a step toward the ultimate human...

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Ed Feinstein The event was co-sponsored by: The Hammerman Family & Congregation Or Tzion About The Event: Each year we recite the story, with Pharaoh and Moses, frogs here, frogs there, and the splitting sea. It is our story, the foundation of our faith and vision of history. Buried in the story, beneath the songs and symbols of the holiday, is a...

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with Rabbi Ed Feinstein to talk about Passover.  Rabbi Feinstein serves the Valley Beth Shalom community as a teacher, pastor, and visionary leader. He also serves on the faculty of the Ziegler Rabbinical School of the American Jewish University, the Wexner Heritage Program, and the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and lectures widely across the United State...

An event presentation by Rabbi Ed Feinstein About The Event: “Tradition!” sang Tevye, “that’s how we keep our balance!” Tradition is our superpower. We know that the words we say, the rites we practice, and the ethics we embrace have come down through the generations. But there is another source of our power, one not often recognized – our remarkable ability to re-invent, re-imagine, re-interpret...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc Gitler About The Event: Join Rabbi Marc for a thought-provoking exploration of one of Judaism’s most foundational questions. We remember the Exodus from Egypt every single day and celebrate it yearly on Pesach, recounting the story of our people’s liberation from bondage. But this raises a profound theological challenge: why did our ancestors have to endu...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Benjamin David and Rabbi Lindsey Danziger About The Event: In this session, we will uncover lessons from The Sacred Struggle: Jewish Responses to Trauma. This book is a powerful anthology of personal stories, offering a deeply moving exploration of how Jewish wisdom can help us navigate life’s most difficult moments. About The Speakers: Benjamin David is the r...

A virtual event presentation by Professor Beth Berkowitz About The Event: Family separation due to war, migration, and incarceration is a major public concern, but what about the animal families routinely separated by human agriculture and development? What is the impact on them, on us, and on the planet? Moving beyond debates about the ethics of animal consumption to focus instead on animal intim...

An event presentation by Rabbi Ben Greenfield The event was co-sponsored by Jewish Nevada About The Event: Reading the Bible’s only two works named after women as belonging to one sustained conversation reveals two vastly different portrayals of heroism, narrative arc and female power. In this comparative study, we argue for — and spell out the implications of — reading Esther and Ruth in light of...

A virtual event with Rabbi Marc Gitler About The Event: In this class, we'll explore the deeper layers of the Purim story that often go unnoticed. Together, we’ll look beyond the costumes, noise, and celebration to uncover subtle themes woven into the Megillah—hidden miracles, quiet acts of courage, and the power of human choice when God seems absent. Through close reading and reflection, this cla...

A virtual event with Rabbi Marc Gitler About The Event: Judaism contains 613 mitzvot, each shaping Jewish life in its own way. But are some more central than others? In this lecture, we’ll explore how the Torah and later Jewish thinkers have grappled with the idea of prioritizing commandments. By examining key biblical passages and rabbinic teachings, we’ll ask what it might mean to identify a “mo...

A virtual event presentation by Melanie Gruenwald About The Event: In this session, we will take a psycho-spiritual, kabbalistic exploration of our multiple masks and identities, and explore the themes connected to the upcoming holiday of Purim. *Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DccDFTg4zbdz7e-SC_wusZRtcEy7NIoH/view?usp=sharing About The Speaker: Melanie Gruenwald, Executive Director...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Sarah Mulhern About The Event: When we say we want to work for justice, what do we actually mean? In this class, we will dive into the question of whether a truly just outcome is about equity, equality, or is revolutionary in nature, and try to understand what the strengths and weaknesses of each approach to changemaking are. Through discussion and the study o...

A hybrid event presentation (in-person and virtual) with Shira Milgrom and David M. Elcott The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Israel About The Event: In this traveler’s guide to spiritual practice, Milgrom and Elcott bring the reader to many paths that seekers of the sacred walk. What is the universal sevenfold path? Recognizing a spark of the divine; honoring the covenant with all li...

A hybrid event presentation (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Dalia Marx The event was co-sponsored by Beth El Phoenix About The Event: Rabbi Dalia Marx, one of the most respected voices in contemporary Jewish thought and liturgy, will talk about how October 7 and the war since have brought profound and rapid changes to the world of Jewish prayer: the language, the focus, even the urgency. Rabbi Ma...

A hybrid event presentation by Rabbi Ben Greenfield About The Event: Did God lust after the Matriarchs? Did Jacob think he was Divine? Did Mordechai breastfeed Esther? The Midrash (the rabbinic expansion on Biblical stories) is too often read as a set of fables or children's stories. But in truth, the Midrash contains some of the most radical, imaginative, and philosophically astute readings of th...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Sharona Halickman About The Event: You may think that reduce, reuse, and recycle are modern concepts for saving the environment, but when we delve into the Talmud's insights into the Seven Species of Israel, we will find that these ideas are intrinsic in these Biblical fruits. *Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PJE9haKXAMUditgC1dczIVprxD-61s...

A hybrid event presentation with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz and Moishe Steigmann, The Mindful Rabbi. About The Event: As we approach Shabbat Shirah, the “Shabbat of Song,” and reflect on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we turn our attention to the sacred power of voice. From the Israelites singing at the sea to modern movements for freedom and justice, song has carried the Jewish spirit thr...

A virtual event presentation with Dr. Shulamit Reinharz About The Event: In her book, Hiding in Holland: A Resistance Memoir, Dr. Reinharz offers a unique narrative by collaborating with her father, Max Rothschild, to share personal stories of survival and resistance during the Holocaust. Her insights offer an enriched understanding of history's impact on contemporary Jewish identity. About The Sp...

A virtual event presented by Rabbi Marc Gitler About The Event: Anti-semitism has seemingly been around forever. In this lecture, we will explore its earliest expressions through stories in the Book of Genesis, focusing on the figure of the Ivri—the “Hebrew” who stands apart. By examining these foundational narratives, we’ll uncover how difference, otherness, and moral challenge can provoke hostil...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff About The Event: Drawing from Chapter 3 of the book, Ethics at the Center: Jewish Theory and Practice for Living a Moral Life , this session will explore how Western, Christian, and Jewish traditions understand the nature of the human being, and how these differing perspectives shape a wide range of moral issues. *Source Sheet:   https://drive...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi David Seidenberg About The Event: The law against wasting or destroying things, Bal Tashchit, is a torch held up by Jewish environmentalists to prove that Judaism cares about the Earth, but the law, as it is codified in halakhah (Jewish law), is that you can destroy anything if you can make a profit doing it. We will delve into the roots and interpretations of...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. David Golinkin About The Event: Responsa are written answers by rabbis to halakhic questions. Since 1985, I have written approximately 900 responsa, over 200 of which have been published. In this lecture, I would like to explain my methodology by describing six characteristics of my Responsa, and giving examples, primarily from my most recent volume: Respo...

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jon Greenberg. About The Event: This program will explore the symbolic and halachic significance of the olive tree. The questions we’ll examine include: Neglected agricultural and political reasons that the olive oil Chanukah displaced an earlier symbol of Chanukah, Why the 15th of Av became a day for matchmaking, How the social and technological history of oliv...

A hybrid event with Rabbi Ben Greenfield. About The Event: Classic Rabbinic sources offer very different answers to a key Hanukkah question: what exactly are we celebrating on this holiday? From Medieval Zionism to Rabbinic Pacifism, we'll explore 5 vital “retellings” of the Hanukkah story with very different takes on these 8 days. Source Sheets: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 About The Speake...