Jewish Ideas to Change the World

A virtual event presentation by Michael Weil The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion  About the event:  Throughout history, Jews have been a people on the move, from the nomadic Abraham and Sarah to Moses wandering in the desert, to the massive relocations of the modern era often spurred by antisemitic violence and poverty. As roughly 90% of all Jews now reside in either Israel or Nort...

A virtual, five-part series presented by Professor Eitan P. Fishbane About the event:  In what would become the legendary kabbalistic hilltop town of Tzfat in the 1500s—the birthplace of such timeless texts as Lekha Dodi and Yedid Nefesh ; a location whose larger-than-life figures included such luminaries as Rabbi Yosef Karo, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (the ARI), and many others— t...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Sarit Horwitz The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel About the event:  How did the rabbis view women as sexual beings? How does it reflect on their own masculinity? Join us to study a few different Talmudic passages, and explore what it has to say about the rabbis who wrote these stories. About the Speaker:  Rabbi Sarit Horwitz is the rabbi of Beth Sholo...

A virtual event presentation by Anthony Russell About the Event: In the 20th century, Yiddish art song acted as a kind of performative repository of Ashkenazi Jewish music-making of all kinds, containing elements of khazones and liturgical music, Eastern European folk song, Yiddish theatre music, and Chassidic music, as well as popular and art music of the time. In this session, we’ll take a brief...

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Mary Zamore The event was co-sponsored by Temple Chai About the Event: Explore the history of women in the Rabbinate from 1938 to 2023 and learn how this history has impacted Judaism as the face of Jewish leadership continues to change. Much has been accomplished, but there are still many challenges to full equity for women in the rabbinate. About th...

A virtual event presentation by Dr. David Sanders The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion About the Event:  The early Kabbalah focused on the Hebrew letters and language and how this code underlies creation. The beauty of the letters is expressed through their meaning, shape, name, and numerical value. The Hebrew letters are containers for the energies of time, including the months of...

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi David Saperstein & Dr. Tevi Troy The event was co-hosted by Temple Chai About the Event:  As the 2024 elections loom, America and the Jewish community have rarely felt as divided over politics and policies as it does today. Are Jewish interests better served by conservative or liberal approaches to America’s domestic and global challenges? Are th...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz interviews Rabbi David Saperstein.  Rabbi David Saperstein (former Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom in the Obama Administration) will debate these issues and model how even political protagonists with differing political, religious, and...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz interviews Dr. Tevi Troy.  Dr. Tevi Troy (best-selling presidential historian - Fight House: Rivalries in the White House, from Truman to Trump, former senior Bush White House aide, Deputy Secretary of HHS, and former White House Liaison to the Jewish Community). ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel  About the Event:  Much has changed in the last 20 years after 9/11 regarding interfaith, especially the new landscape of accepting religious diversity and the acceptance of the dignity of difference. We will discuss finding wisdom in other religions for self-understanding. This talk will include stor...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Gershom Sizomu The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ About the Event:  Rabbi Sizomu will speak about the origins of Abayudaya, the challenges occasioned by the dictatorial reign of President Iddi Amin Dada, antisemitism, and living as a minority in a country that is predominantly Christian and Muslim.  About the Speaker:  Rabbi Gershom Sizomu is a Be’chol Lasho...

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Yitz Landes The event was co-hosted by Beth El Congregation About the Event:  What is the connection between rain, the Temple, and caring for the other? In this class, we will look at the ways in which these themes connect in ancient Hebrew liturgical poems ( piyyutim ) written for the holiday of Sukkot. After first gaining a familiarity with the different genre...

A virtual event presentation by Melanie Gruenwald The event was co-sponsored by Temple Israel About the Event: Dr. Brené Brown’s teachings on vulnerability, courage, worthiness and shame, will serve as the text, and Kabbalah will serve as the commentary. We will engage together in this guide to living a whole-hearted life, weaving Dr. Brown’s research and anecdotes, with the timeless teachings of...

A virtual event presented by Martha Anne Toll The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion About the Event: How does a novelist approach a historical subject as overwhelming as the Holocaust? What decisions go into jettisoning history, or the reverse, hewing closely to it, when writing a historical novel? Join our conversation with a debut novelist, Martha Anne Toll, to discuss how these co...

A virtual event presentation by Eliyahu Freedman About the Event:  In this session, we will discover the plurality of Jewish groups that lived in Babylonia during the 8th to 10th centuries. Meet important personalities such as Anan Ben David, Mīshawayh al-ʿUkbarī, Saadya Gaon, and Jacob al-Qirqisani. Independent scholar Eliyahu Freeman, gets to the heart of the main issues that concerned Medieval...

A virtual event presentation by David Lieberman The event was co-hosted by Temple Solel and BMH-BJ About the Event:  This class is about Jewish spirituality…making a palpable connection with God. Judaism teaches that we connect with God by performing the commandments, the mitzvot . Our tradition also teaches that we interpret the Torah and the mitzvot at multiple levels. The focus of this class is...

A virtual event presentation by Dr. James Baskind The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion About the Event: Although the Jewish history in Japan is relatively recent and there have never been significant numbers settled in the country, Jews loom large in the Japanese imagination, and popular books that peddle everything from fascination to fear are perennial best-sellers . An avid stude...

A virtual presentation by Dr. Amy-Jill Levine and Dr. Marc Brettler The event was co-sponsored by Beth El Phoenix About the Event: The Gospel of Matthew is often considered the most Jewish of the Gospels. We will explore its Jewishness by looking at how it builds upon various passages from the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and how it relates to later rabbinic texts. About the Speakers: Amy-Jill Levine is...

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Ian Pear About the Event: Since Israel’s founding – continuing until today – the relationship between the state’s Jewish majority and its non-Jewish minority has been fraught with challenges. Liberal Democracies, of course, have something to say about such relationships, but Israel is unique in a variety of ways, not the least of which is it was esta...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Barbara Symons The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel  About The Event: For many Jews, the prophets’ voices are only heard during worship if even there , and then only in Hebrew.  Even in English , their words are a challenge. After studying the job qualifications and tasks of a prophet and learning when and why Judaism says that prophecy ended, we will...

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel About The Class: Our journey to come close to God is often sought out alone. Even when praying in a congregational quorum, each individual ties the words of prayer to their own private thoughts. In this class, we will learn of unique teachings which advocated genuine friendship as a prerequisite for G...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Leila Gal Berner The event was Co-Sponsored by Rodef Shalom About The Event: Having pioneered a new gateway into Torah learning called "kriat hakodesh,” (reading the holy), Rabbi Dr. Leila Gal Berner will lead us through a deep, contemplative journey through the heart of the Parsha, Vayera, helping participants to discover the profound personal meaning of the...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Joshua Stanton The Event Was Co-Hosted by Hebrew Educational Alliance About The Event: Our narrative of communal decline overlooks the remarkable growth of the American Jewish community, both numerically and in vibrancy. This conversation will reflect upon the social startups redefining the American Jewish landscape, of which the Valley Beit Midrash is one. Ab...

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 in...

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Aaron Tugendhaft The event was co-sponsored by Temple Chai and BMH-BJ About the Event: As anyone who has seen Hamilton knows, George Washington loved to quote the prophet Micah’s vision of humankind each sitting under their own vine and fig tree. This seminar will explore this prophetic phrase within a colonial and American revolutionary context and consider how...