Jewish Ideas to Change the World

Professor Paul Mendes-Flohr, Professor Emeritus of Modern Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is currently the Dorothy Grant Mclear Professor of Jewish Intellectual History at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, presents his lecture "Franz Rosenzweig: Herald of a Jewish Renaissance" for the Jewish Community Foundation (www.jcfphoenix.org/) ABOUT THIS SPEAKER: Fro...

Professor Noam Weisbrod, the director of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, presents his lecture "Water and Food Security in Israel and Beyond: Can We Do Better?" before a roundtable audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: The world, stimulated by population growth, climate instability, desertification...

Rabbi Dr. Howard M. Markose, a teacher of Bible and Biblical Hebrew Grammar at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem (www.pardes.org.il/) presents his Valley Beit Midrash lecture "JThe Leadership of Aaron and Moses – A Look at Differing Styles" before an audience at Congregation Or Tzion (www.congregationortzion.org) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: The Jewish tradition feels r...

Rabbi Dr. Howard M. Markose, a teacher of Bible and Biblical Hebrew Grammar at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem (https://www.pardes.org.il/) presents his Valley Beit Midrash lecture "Jacob and Esau’s Long-Awaited Meeting – Friendly or Antagonistic?" before an audience at Congregation Beth Israel(Congregation Beth Israel, Scottsdale Arizona https://cbiaz.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ....

Professor Robert Eisen, the Chair in the Department of Religious Studies at The George Washington University, presents his lecture "The Peace and Violence of Judaism: From the Bible to Modern Zionism before a roundtable audience at Temple Kol Ami (www.templekolami.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Religion is fraught with ambiguity when it comes to peace and violence. There are texts in...

Professor Robert Eisen, the Chair in the Department of Religious Studies at The George Washington University, presents his lecture "Justifying Israel’s Wars in Jewish Law: Challenges and Solutions" before a roundtable audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: While Israel’s wars have a been a challenge for all Jews who support Israel, they have presented uni...

Rabbi Dr. Herbert Cohen presents his lecture "Mussar and Film: Movies That Help Us Grow!" before a roundtable audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Movies are not simply entertainment. They also can serve as vehicles for self-discovery. Rabbi Cohen identifies films that have something important to say about the human condition and that contain nuggets of...

Samuel C. Heilman - The Story of Five Hasidic Dynasties in America Professor Samuel C. Heilman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Queen College, presents his lecture "The Story of Five Hasidic Dynasties in America" before a roundtable audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. DONATE: bit.ly/1NmpbsP ABOUT THIS LECTURE: The lecture explores the remarkable resurrection of Ha...

Professor Samuel C. Heilman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Queen College, before a VIP audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. DONATE: bit.ly/1NmpbsP For more info, please visit: www.facebook.com/valleybeitmidrash/ www.facebook.com/temple.chai twitter.com/VBMTorah www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz/ Music: "They Say" by WowaMusik, a public domain track from the...

Rabbi Avram Mlotek, co-founder of BASE Hillel (basehillel.org/) presents his Valley Beit Midrash lecture "We Are Here: Spiritual Resistance During The Holocaust" before an audience at Congregation Or Tzion (www.congregationortzion.org) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: In this session, we will learn and hear how Jews used prayer, poetry, song, music and more as vehicles for spiritual resistan...

Rabbi Avram Mlotek, co-founder of BASE Hillel (http://basehillel.org/) presents his Valley Beit Midrash lecture "Songs of Generations: Jewish History through Yiddish Song" before an audience at Beth Emeth Congregation of the West Valley (http://bethemethaz.org/) in Sun City West, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer called Rabbi Mlotek’s grandparents, “The Sherlock Holmes o...

Professor Adrienne Krone, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Jewish Life at Allegheny College (sites.allegheny.edu/philo/) presents her Valley Beit Midrash lecture "Sacred and Sustainable Space: Ancient Agriculture and Innovative Judaism" before a roundtable audience at Temple Solel (www.templesolel.org/) in Paradise Valley, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: This lecture will offer ins...

Professor Adrienne Krone, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Jewish Life at Allegheny College (https://sites.allegheny.edu/philo/) presents her Valley Beit Midrash leceture "Saving Seeds: A Revived Historical Jewish Agricultural Settlement in New Jersey Takes on Climate Change" before a roundtable audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTUR...

Rabbi Aharon Ariel Lavi, co-founder of the Eco-Hassidic community “Garin Shuva”, on the Gaza border; the Nettiot Intentional Communities Network; MAKOM: the national umbrella organization of intentional communities in Israel; and Hakhel: the Jewish Intentional Communities Incubator in the Diaspora, presents his lecture "About Economy and Sustenance: Judaism, Society, and Economics" before a roundt...

Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb, President of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California (ajrca.edu/) presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Kabbala and Consciousness" before an audience at Temple Kol Ami (www.templekolami.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: This lecture will be on the dynamics of practical Kabbala as a growth system creating consciousness in the re...

Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb, President of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California (https://ajrca.edu/) presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Making Enemies Into Friends" before an audience at Temple Solel (www.templesolel.org/) in Paradise Valley, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: This lecture will be an articulation of the Torah’s mandates toward encountering our enemies and...

Professor Shai Secunda, Jacob Neusner Associate Professor of Judaism at Bard College (religion.bard.edu/), presents his lecture "Jews on the Big Screen: Understanding New Israeli Film and Television" before an audience at the Jewish Worship Group in Surprise, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Israeli film and television has come a long long way since its humble and scrappy beginnings. It has become smart an...

Professor Shai Secunda, Jacob Neusner Associate Professor of Judaism at Bard College (http://religion.bard.edu/), presents his lecture "Iran is Closer Than You Think: The ‘Iranian’ Talmud" before a roundtable audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: As its very name indicates, the Talmud Bavli was produced in Babylonia in the centuries following the compila...

Rabbi Dov Linzer, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (https://www.yctorah.org/) presents his lecture "Unequal Justice? Jew/Non-Jew Distinctions in Civil and Criminal Halakha) before a roundtable audience at Temple Kol Ami (www.templekolami.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: One of our basic democratic principles is that everyone deserves equal treatment under the law. In religious l...

Rabbi Laura Geller, Rabbi Emerita of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, presented her lecture "Wise Aging: Getting Good at Getting Older" at Valley Beit Midrash's opening event in Oct. 2018. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Occasionally, we meet an older person we admire and think: “I want to be like her when I grow up. I want to be wise, joyful, grateful, compassionate, patient, funny, curious, optimistic!” As...

Rabbi Laura Geller, Rabbi Emerita of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, presented her lecture "Why Friendships Change As We Age" at Valley Beit Midrash's opening event in April 2018. This Valley Beit Midrash lecture took place before an audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. DONATE: bit.ly/1NmpbsP LEARNING MATERIALS: https://bit.ly/2E9sWCY For more info, please visit: www.face...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz and Mr. Laurence B. Hirsch, Esq. present their talk "American, Israeli, and Jewish Legal Perspectives on Divorce" before a roundtable audience at the offices of Jaburg Wilk (www.jaburgwilk.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. DONATE: bit.ly/1NmpbsP Many thanks to the Arizona Jewish Lawyers Association and Jewish Legal Aid for sponsoring this event. Thank you to Jaburg Wilk for hosting...

Rabbi Uri Topolosky, the Rabbi of Kehilat Pardes (http://www.kehilatpardes.org/) presents his Valley Beit Midrash lecture "Stumbling Stones: The Oldest Form of Jewish Spirituality" before an audience at Congregation Or Tzion (www.congregationortzion.org) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: One of the oldest forms of Jewish spirituality, may also be the most accessible for the modern Jew. This c...

Marianne Novak, a student at Yeshivat Maharat, presents her Valley Beit Midrash lecture "From Punishment to Compassion" before a roundtable audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: The time leading up to Tisha B’av and its aftermath, leading ultimately to Rosh HaShana, demands an almost instantaneous move from extreme sadness, grief and anger to joy and hap...

Elad Nehorai, the Pop Chassid (popchassid.com/), presents his Valley Beit Midrash Lecture "The Change-Making Power Of Community." ABOUT THIS LECTURE: We have been inundated recently with stories about how “echo chambers” hurt political discourse and make it harder to affect positive change. But what if there was more to the story? In this session, Elad will explore the incredible power communities...