Jewish Ideas to Change the World

Dr. Rachel Tzvia Back (https://www.wpm2011.org/node/64) presents her lecture "The Woman’s Voice in Modern Hebrew Poetry from Lea Goldberg to Efrat Mishori" before a roundtable lecture at The New Shul (http:/www.thenewshul.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS SPEAKER: A noted translator of Hebrew, Back has translated the work of Lea Goldberg in Lea Goldberg: Selected Poetry and Drama (2005), which w...

Rabbi Dr. Sid Schwarz, Senior Fellow at Hazon (hazon.org/) o presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Judaism, Justice, and Holiness" before an audience at Temple Solel (www.templesolel.org/) in Paradise Valley, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Rabbi Sid’s groundbreaking book, Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World 2006, offers a seminal thesis about the pu...

Rabbi Dr. Sid Schwarz, Senior Fellow at Hazon (hazon.org/) o presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Our Universe of Obligation: How Wide?" before a roundtable audience at Temple Solel (www.templesolel.org/) in Paradise Valley, AZ. DONATE: bit.ly/1NmpbsP LEARNING MATERIALS: http://bit.ly/2sm8lWr For more info, please visit: www.facebook.com/valleybeitmidrash/ www.face...

Rabbi Dr. Sid Schwarz, Senior Fellow at Hazon (https://hazon.org/) o presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the American Jewish Future" before an audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: The American Jewish community is riddled with doubts about the viability of the institutions that w...

Rabbi Dr. Pinchas Giller, Chair of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University (http://www.aju.edu/) presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Some Basic Principles on Kabbalistic Spirituality" at Congregation Or Tzion (www.congregationortzion.org) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: What distinguishes the world-view of the kabbalist from other kinds of Jews? Is kab...

Professor Aaron Gross, Founder & CEO of Farm Forward (farmforward.com/) and a professor at the University of San Diego presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "What is a Jewish Response to Factory Farming?" before an audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: How can Jewish community and Jewish teachings help us better respond...

Professor Aaron Gross, Founder & CEO of Farm Forward (https://farmforward.com/) and a professor at the University of San Diego presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Jewish Animal Ethics from Torah to Today" for the Jewish Community Foundation (www.jcfphoenix.org/) ABOUT THIS LECTURE: This lively survey of Jewish animal ethics will consider passages from the Tana...

**Please note: Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, Professor Claussen has requested that Valley Beit Midrash only release excerpts from this lecture.** Rabbi Dr. Geoffrey Claussen, the Lori and Eric Sklut Scholar in Jewish Studies and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Elon University, presents his lecture "Musar at a Time of War" before an audience at Temple Kol Ami(www.templekola...

Rabbi Dr. Geoffrey Claussen, the Lori and Eric Sklut Scholar in Jewish Studies and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Elon University, presents his lecture "Compassion and Cruelty: The Promise and Limits of the Musar Movement" before an audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: How can Jewish practice bring greater compassion into our lives? This se...

Judy Firestone Singer, Director of Development for Matnat Chaim (https://kilya.org.il/en/), presents her Valley Beit Midrash lecture "Tales on Saving Lives in Israel Through Inspiring Kidney Donations!" before an audience at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center(www.vosjcc.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. Many thanks to the Jewish Book Council (www.jewishbookcouncil.org/) for co-sponsoring this ev...

Rabbi Haim Ovadia, rabbi of Magen David Sephardic Congregation (http://www.magendavidsephardic.org/)in suburban Washington DC presents his lecture "Why Are There No Reform or Conservative Sephardic Movements" before an audience at Temple Solel (www.templesolel.org/) in Paradise Valley, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: The different cultures and religious approaches of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews are produ...

Rabbi Dr. David Sandmel of the Anti-Defamation League (https://www.adl.org/) presents his lecture "Interreligious Engagement & Building Community in 2018" before a roundtable audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: A look and conversation at fostering interreligious understanding and collaborative work to support vulnerable and marginalized communities...

Rabbi Yaffa Epstein, Director of Education, North America for the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies(www.pardes.org.il/faculty/yaffa-epstein/)presents her Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Because the Rabbi Said So: Exploring Power and Authority in the Rabbinate" at Congregation Or Tzion (www.congregationortzion.org) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Today we live in an...

Rabbi Yaffa Epstein, Director of Education, North America for the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies(https://www.pardes.org.il/faculty/yaffa-epstein/)presents her Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Because the Rabbi Said So: Exploring Power and Authority in the Rabbinate" for the Jewish Community Foundation (https://www.jcfphoenix.org/) ABOUT THIS LECTURE: While utilizing pow...

Rabbi Mark Hillel Kunis, Spiritual Leader of Congregation Beth Tefillah (http://www.dancingwithg-d.com/) presents his lecture "Dancing With God: How to Connect With God Every Time You Pray" before an audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: How do we really connect with God so that our prayers move from the head to the heart? In its wisdom, Jewish tradition...

Rabbi Pinchas Allouche, Spiritual Leader of Congregation Beth Tefillah (bethtefillahaz.org/) presents the second part of his class series "Jewish Wisdom on Actualizing Your Unique Life Potential" before an audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: An exploration of the techniques and values that Judaism models about self-actualization. Who are we? Why are we...

Rabbi Professor Martin Lockshin presents his lecture "Does Judaism Teach that Anti-Semitism is Universal and Inevitable?" before an audience at Temple Kol Ami(www.templekolami.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: At least for the last 1,000 years Judaism has been teaching that, as we say in the Haggadah, “not just once did somebody try to destroy us, rather in every generation they try to...

Rabbi Pinchas Allouche, Spiritual Leader of Congregation Beth Tefillah (bethtefillahaz.org/) presents the first part of his class series "Jewish Wisdom on Actualizing Your Unique Life Potential" before an audience at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: An exploration of the techniques and values that Judaism models about self-actualization. Who are we? Why are we...

Rabbi Roly Matalon, Senior Rabbi at B'nai Jeshurun (https://www.bj.org/)presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "One Congregation's Approach to Intermarriage" at Congregation Or Tzion (www.congregationortzion.org) in Scottsdale, AZ. DONATE: bit.ly/1NmpbsP For more info, please visit: www.facebook.com/valleybeitmidrash/ www.facebook.com/Congregation-Or-…on-103351795773/...

Professor Shaul Magid, The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Chair in Jewish Studies Professor of Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at Indiana University (www.indiana.edu/~jsp/index.shtml), presents his lecture "Why Should Progressive Jews be Interested in Hasidism?" before a roundtable lecture at The New Shul (http:/www.thenewshul.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. This lecture was co-sponsored by the Center...

Professor Shaul Magid, The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Chair in Jewish Studies Professor of Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at Indiana University (http://www.indiana.edu/~jsp/index.shtml), presents his lecture "How is Anti-Semitism Used in the American Jewish Conversation" before a roundtable lecture at Temple Chai (www.templechai.com/) in Phoenix, AZ. This lecture was co-sponsored by the Ce...

Rabbi Benjamin Shalva(http://benjaminshalva.com/) presents his Valley Beit Midrash lecture "Ambition Addiction: How to Go Slow, Give Thanks, and Discover Joy Within" before an audience at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center(http://www.vosjcc.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. Many thanks to the Jewish Book Council (https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/) for co-sponsoring this event! DONATE: bit.ly/1N...

Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz, the founder of Hashgacha Pratit and a member of the Jerusalem City Council, presents his lecture "Can I Trust You? Kashrut, Social Dynamics, and Jewish Unity" before an audience at The New Shul (http:/www.thenewshul.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: A lecture describing Rav Aaron’s alternative Kosher supervision project Hashgacha Pratit that has been making waves...

Ms. Estelle Frankel presents her lecture "The Wisdom of Not Knowing" before an audience at Temple Solel (www.templesolel.org/) in Paradise Valley, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Jewish mystics teach that God, the Torah, and the human soul are each comprised of a known (nigleh) and a vastly greater unknown (nistar) and unknowable dimension. As we inquire into each of these domains, we begin to realize the...

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, President of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School (https://www.yctorah.org/), presents his Valley Beit Midrash (www.valleybeitmidrash.org) lecture "Top 10 Challenges Facing Jews Today" at Congregation Or Tzion (www.congregationortzion.org) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Despite the great diversity of the Jewish community, different denominations, or not affiliated...