Valley Beit Midrash (VBM) is a collaborative organization that brings new, exciting, and relevant Jewish programming to the Greater Phoenix Jewish community in a diverse, welcoming, engaging, and pluralistic setting. To learn more, go to http://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Asher Lopatin EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BMH-BJ Congregation ABOUT THE EVENT: Through the millennia, Judaism and Jewish thinkers have strived to make an ancient religion meaningful and applicable in various environments and social norms where Jews have lived. Modern Orthodoxy has specifically espoused finding ways to combine the traditions and laws of Judaism, passed down from rabbis and communities 2000 years ago, with the ethics, morals and standards of the modern, contemporary world? Does this work? Is this really possible? Rabbi Lopatin will explore contemporary issues that challenge Jewish traditions and laws. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Asher Lopatin is the Executive Director of the JCRC/AJC of Detroit and the founding rabbi of Kehillat Etz Chayim of Detroit. He is also the founding director of the Detroit Center for Civil Discourse. A Rhodes Scholar and a Truman Fellow with an M. Phil in Medieval Arabic Thought from Oxford University, Rabbi Lopatin has also done doctoral work at St. Antony's College, Oxford, in Islamic Fundamentalist attitudes towards Jews and Israel. He has written chapters for over 20 books and numerous articles. Prior to moving with his wife, Rachel, and their four children to Detroit, he served as president of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and, before that, served as the rabbi of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation in Chicago. Rabbi Lopatin received ordination from Rav Ahron Soloveichik and Yeshivas Brisk in Chicago, and from Yeshiva University. Rabbi Lopatin is a permanent member of The Council on Foreign Relations and on the board of New Detroit. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
njoy the second session of Valley Beit Midrash's "Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks, dates subject to change). Topic - Honoring One's Parents (Kibud Av Va'Eim)) ABOUT THE CLASS: In this new class series, Rabbi Shmuly will teach 40 classes, each with its own unique theme. The common thread to the series is living with deeper kindness. How can the Torah inspire us to live with deeper love and compassion? How can Jewish pearls of wisdom inform how we care for one another? ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Paul Root Wolpe ABOUT THE EVENT: Two paradigms of human-created ‘monsters' have reverberated through modern history as models for considering everything from genetic safety, to scientific hubris, to man's relationship to the material world and G-d. In this talk we compare these two legends and discuss why they portray Humankind so differently and teach such different lessons. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Paul Root Wolpe, Ph.D. is the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair in Jewish Bioethics, Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Sociology, and the Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Bioethics – Neuroscience, and sits on the editorial boards of over a dozen professional journals. Dr. Wolpe served for 17 years as Senior Bioethicist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He is Immediate Past-President of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors, a past President of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, a Fellow of the Hastings Center, the country's oldest bioethics institute, and a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the country's oldest medical society. Dr. Wolpe publishes widely in sociology, medicine, and ethics, and has contributed to a variety of encyclopedias on ethical and bioethical issues. Trained as a social scientist – a rare background for an ethicist — Dr. Wolpe's work focuses on the social, religious, ethical, and ideological impact of medicine and technology on the human condition. A founder of the field of neuroethics, which examines the ethical implications of neuroscience, he also organized BEINGS, “Biotechnology and the Ethical Imagination: A Global Summit,” which brought together thought leaders to reach consensus on ethical principles and standards for human cellular genetics and biotechnology. He has also been a leader in the national bioethical conversation on COVID-19 and vaccine distribution. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Enjoy the first session of Valley Beit Midrash's "Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks, dates subject to change). Topic - Visiting the Sick (Bikkur Cholim) ABOUT THE CLASS: In this new class series, Rabbi Shmuly will teach 40 classes, each with its own unique theme. The common thread to the series is living with deeper kindness. How can the Torah inspire us to live with deeper love and compassion? How can Jewish pearls of wisdom inform how we care for one another? ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A LIVE interview with Prof. Chaim Sukenik, President of Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev) -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Learning live with Reb Daniel Peled-Schwartz at VBM's beit midrash! -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
A virtual event presentation by Former MK Tehila Friedman, Rabbi Dr. Daniel Gordis and Rabbi Avidan Freedman EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BMH-BJ Congregation ABOUT THE EVENT: The establishment of a Jewish state reintroduced the Jewish people to moral dilemmas of sovereignty and power with which they did not have to grapple for 2000 years. Even 70 years in, some of these challenges have not enjoyed sufficient attention or focus. Former MK Tehila Friedman, Rabbi Daniel Gordis, and Rabbi Avidan Freedman will share political, ideological, historical, and religious perspectives on one of the least well known, and on of the most morally pressing of these challenges, the question of Israeli arms exports. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS: Former MK Tehila Friedman is a former Knesset member, a social entrepreneur, a director in the non-profit world, a writer, speaker, jurist, Jurusalemite, and mother of 5. Rabbi Dr. Daniel Gordis is the Vice President of the Shalem College, a senior Koret fellow, and head of the college's humanities program. Rabbi Avidan Freedman is an educator at the Shalom Hartman Institute's high school and post-high school program, and a co-founder of Yanshoof, an organization dedicated to establishing moral limits for Israeli weapons exports. Learn more at www.yanshoof.org -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Sharona Halickman ABOUT THE EVENT: On Purim we observe four main mitzvot as well as various customs. Where did these laws and customs originate from and are they still relevant today? ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Sharona holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Stern College and an MS in Jewish Education from Azrieli Graduate School, Yeshiva University. Sharona was the first Orthodox woman to serve as a member of clergy as the first Congregational Intern and first Madricha Ruchanit at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, NY. After making aliya in 2004, Sharona founded Torat Reva Yerushalayim, a non profit organization based in Jerusalem which provides Torah study groups for students of all ages and backgrounds. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
A hybrid event (in person & accessible virtually) with Ambassador Martin Indyk EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Beth El Congregation ABOUT THE EVENT: Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz will be interviewing Ambassador Martin Indyk about his new book (Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger And The Art Of Middle East Diplomacy), followed by questions from the audience and a book signing. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Martin S. Indyk is distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he was the John C. Whitehead Distinguished Fellow in International Diplomacy in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. From February 2015 to March 2018, he served as executive vice president of Brookings. Indyk served as the U.S. special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from July 2013 to June 2014. Prior to his time as special envoy, he was vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program and a senior fellow and the founding director of the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Ron Wolfson ABOUT THE EVENT: When you get to heaven, what questions do you think you'll be asked about how you lived your life on earth? In the Talmud and through the centuries, rabbis have imagined what these questions might be. In this challenging, poignant and humorous presentation, we'll study text, share stories, and explore the concept of cheshbon ha-nefesh, a spiritual accounting of the soul. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: DR. RON WOLFSON is the Fingerhut Professor of Education at American Jewish University in Los Angeles, where he has been on the faculty for forty-six years and president of the Kripke Institute. He is the author of seventeen books on Jewish life, including Shabbat, Passover, Hanukkah, God's To-Do List, The Seven Questions You're Asked in Heaven, The Spirituality of Welcoming, Relational Judaism, The Relational Judaism Handbook, a memoir, The Best Boy in the United States of America, and his latest book with Dr. Bruce Powell, Raising A+ Human Beings: Crafting a Jewish School Culture of Academic Excellence and AP Kindness. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A conversation with Spertus Institute's leaders Dean Bell & Keren Fraiman at Valley Beit Midrash with President & Dean Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc D. Angel ABOUT THE EVENT: Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) is the classic Jewish thinker who strove to reconcile Judaism and philosophy/science. Baruch Spinoza (1632-1667) is the classic Jewish heretic who revolutionized modern rationalistic philosophy and did much to undermine traditional religious beliefs. By drawing on the teachings of both of these intellectual giants, we can seek a traditional Judaism that is vibrant, intellectually challenging, and meaningful. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Marc D. Angel is Founder and Director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals (jewishideas.org), fostering an intellectually vibrant, compassionate and inclusive Orthodox Judaism. He is Rabbi Emeritus of the historic Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York City (founded 1654), where he began serving in 1969. Born and raised in the Sephardic community of Seattle, Washington, he went to New York for his higher education at Yeshiva University where he earned his B.A., M.S., Ph.D. and Rabbinic Ordination. He also earned an M.A. in English Literature from the City College of New York. Author and editor of 38 books, he has written and lectured extensively on various aspects of Jewish law, history and culture. Among his books are Foundations of Sephardic Spirituality: The Inner Life of Jews of the Ottoman Empire (Jewish Lights, 2006); and Maimonides, Spinoza and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism, (Jewish Lights, 2009), both of which won Finalist Awards from the National Jewish Book Council. His book, Choosing to Be Jewish: The Orthodox Road to Conversion (Ktav, 2005) has reached many thousands of readers. His most recent books are a commentary on Pirkei Avot published by Koren (2015); The Wisdom of Solomon and Us (Jewish Lights, 2016); and A New World: An American Sephardic Memoir (Albion-Andalus, 2019). He serves as Editor of Conversations, the journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. Rabbi Angel is Past President of the Rabbinical Council of America (1990-1992). He has served as officer and board member of numerous agencies including the UJA-Federation of New York, the American Sephardi Federation, the Rabbinic Cabinet of Jewish National Fund, and the HealthCare Chaplaincy. He has won awards from many institutions including Yeshiva University, the Orthodox Union, and the New York Board of Rabbis. He is co-founder of the International Rabbinic Fellowship, an association of Modern Orthodox rabbis. Rabbi Angel is married to Gilda Angel. Their children and grandchildren live in New York, Baltimore and Teaneck. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A virtual event presentation by Jonnie Schnytzer ABOUT THE EVENT: Serbian kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai may or may not have heard of New York Sheriff Mordechai Emmanuel Noah and vice versa. Contemporaries, both had a Zionist dream more than half a century before Theodore Herzel. Let's view the texts which may have influenced the Austrian father of modern Zionism. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Jonnie Schnytzer is a Phd candidate focusing on medieval kabbalah. His dissertation is focused on the kabbalistic system of thought of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie is also preparing a critical edition of Ashkenazi's commentary on Sefer Yesira. Probably the only PhD student in Jewish Philosophy who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli naval commandos in a swimming race, Jonnie's also the author of Mossad thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie has recently 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. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Enjoy the fortieth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - No State, One State or Two States: Herzel vs. Wise, Art Green vs. Peter Beinart In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
Enjoy the thirty ninth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - Hierarchy vs. Populism: Moshe vs. Korach In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jon Greenberg -- ABOUT THE EVENT: The Jewish preference for wine over beer and other beverages for sacramental purposes has extremely ancient roots. The taste for beer may have played an important role in the invention of agriculture and development of the first permanent villages. However, it also had a strong link with polytheism. With cold or outright hostile relationships between farmers and nomadic herders from Cain and Abel to the range wars of nineteenth-century America, wine-drinking Israelites and beer-quaffing Egyptians, Canaanites, and Mesopotamians were inclined to view one another's preferred drinks with skepticism or disdain. The ten plagues of the Exodus and the prohibition of leaven at Passover can be understood in this light. Wine-related halachot and midrashim such as the laws of kil'ei kerem and the link between Noah's grapevine and the tree of knowledge provide additional depth of insight into the connotations that these drinks carry and how practical choices of natural products developed into social and theological schisms. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Jon Greenberg received his Bachelor's degree with honors in biology from Brown University and his Master's and Doctorate in agronomy from Cornell University. He has also studied with Rabbi Chaim Brovender at Israel's Yeshivat HaMivtar and conducted research on corn, alfalfa, and soybeans at Cornell, the US Department of Agriculture, and the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for Cancer Research. Since 1989, he has been a science teacher and educational consultant. Dr. Greenberg was Senior Editor of science textbooks at Prentice Hall Publishing Co. Previously on the faculty of Yeshivas Ohr Yosef, the School of Education at Indiana University, and the University of Phoenix, he has taught at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School since 2008. He is a frequent speaker at synagogues, schools, and botanical gardens. Dr. Greenberg publishes his essays on Biblical and Talmudic botany on his Web site, TorahFlora.org. He can be contacted at 201-261-0385 or jon@torahflora.org. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Noam Weissman ABOUT THE EVENT: This session will explore the age old question about the ontological nature of the Jewish people. Are the Jewish people separate and apart from the rest of the world? Is Balaam's prophecy a promise, a description or a prescription? In looking at modern Jewish history, how do we explore this question and what does it mean for us today? ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dr. Noam Weissman is the Senior Vice President and Head of Content at OpenDor Media, where he spearheads the organization's educational vision and leads content creation across all divisions. Noam heads a team of producers and writers for the Unpacked YouTube channel, which focuses on reaching 18-34 year old Jews and has over 85,000 subscribers and millions of views. He is also the host of the popular podcast “Unpacking Israeli History,” is the executive producer of the podcast “This Week Unpacked,” and leads a team of educators for the Unpacked For Educators platform which currently has over 1,500 organizations using this content. Noam earned a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Southern California, with a focus on curriculum design. His dissertation is entitled “Approaching Israel Education” and a masters degree from Yeshiva University in Jewish education. Prior to joining OpenDor Media, he served as the Principal of Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles. Noam is also the Founder of LaHaV, a spiraled curriculum and pedagogically advanced approach to Jewish education that enables teachers to collaborate across different disciplines. Additionally, Noam has been rejected from many fellowships and jobs he has applied for. Most importantly, he is married to the great Raizie Erreich, and they are proud parents of Eyal, Liana and Nissa. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Enjoy the thirty eighth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - Is Humor A Value? Jokes vs. Seriousness In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A virtual event presentation by Professor Christine Hayes ABOUT THE EVENT: What is the best way to engage with those who appear to us to be ignorant or wicked? What can biblical and rabbinic debates over the duty, utility, and virtue of answering a fool teach us about the possibilities and limitations of the disappearing art of civil discourse. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Christine Hayes, Weis Professor of Religious Studies in Classical Judaica at Yale University specializes in talmudic-midrashic studies. Her books include: Between the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds (1997 Salo Baron prize); Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities (a 2003 National Jewish Book Award finalist); and What's Divine about Divine Law? Early Perspectives (2015 National Jewish Book Award in Scholarship; 2016 award from the American Publishers Association; 2016 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award). Edited volumes include: The Cambridge Companion to Judaism and Law (2017); Classic Essays in Rabbinic Culture and History (2018). She has authored two introductory volumes (The Emergence of Judaism and Introduction to the Bible) as well as numerous journal articles. Hayes is a Senior Research Fellow with the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, and recently served as the President of the Association for Jewish Studies. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
Enjoy the thirty sixth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - Is Life about Struggle or Peace? In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger ABOUT THE EVENT: One of the founders of Roots/Shorashim/Judur, the Israeli Palestinian grassroots initiative for understanding, nonviolence and transformation, Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger has spent the last 8 years meeting Palestinians and building bridges of trust and mutual recognition between Palestinians and Israelis, by and large religious Israeli living in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria. In this presentation he will discuss some of his insights concerning the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the hurdles to be overcome in moving towards a lasting solution. Some of the concepts he will be discussing include: identity, trauma, normalization, the hubris of exclusivity, and the difference between coexistence and reconciliation. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger lives in Alon Shvut Israel and is one of the founders of Roots/Shorashim/Judur, The Palestinian Israeli Grassroots Initiative for Understanding, Nonviolence and Transformation. Currently he serves as its Director of International Relations. He also is the founder of the American Friends of Roots, a multi-faith organization dedicated to supporting the work of Roots/Shorashim/Judur. Rav Hanan frequently speaks in the USA together with one of his Palestinian partner about the amazing work of Roots/Shorashim/Judur. Prior to the founding of Roots, Rav Hanan spent his whole career teaching Jewish studies in various seminaries, colleges and frameworks in the Jerusalem area, among them the Pardes Institute, Beit Midrash Elul, Nishmat and Yeshivat Bat Ayin. He also spent two years as part of the Judaic Fellows Program in Boca Raton Florida and over ten years in Dallas Texas, first as Rosh Kollel of the Community Kollel and later as founder and Executive Director and Community Rabbinic Scholar for the Jewish Studies Initiative of North Texas. He and his Israeli–born wife Ayala have four grown children and ten grandchildren. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Avi Strausberg ABOUT THE EVENT: Just chapters after the flood that nearly destroyed the world, we see that humankind has quickly rebounded and all of the peoples have joined together to build a tower that nearly scrapes the sky. But, how did we get from there to here? What was it like to step out of the ark and begin again? In this session, we'll revisit the familiar story of the flood and read it again through the eyes of a modern new midrash that imagines what it was like for the dove and the raven to leave the ark and begin again. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Avi Strausberg is the Director of National Learning Initiatives at Hadar, and is based in Washington, DC. She received her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College in Boston and is a Wexner Graduate Fellow. Energized by engaging creatively with Jewish text, she maintains a Daf Yomi haiku blog in which she writes daily Talmudic haikus as well as a poetry blog Faith in the Fire inspired by the drashot of the Eish Kodesh. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash, interviews ADL's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt
Enjoy the thirty sixth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - Is Life about Struggle or Peace? In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Adina Lewittes ABOUT THE EVENT: How does Jewish law, a system based on such binaries as muttar (permitted) and assur (prohibited) and hayav (obligated) and patur (exempt), inform our contemporary understanding of gender which is increasingly shaped by fluidity and in some cases hybridity? In this particular case, would a trans woman who has not had gender confirmation surgery be required to undergo a ritual circumcision as part of her conversion process? Does the mitzvah of brit milah apply only to those whose gender is male or to all those whose anatomy is male? What are the consequences – halakhic, theological and cultural – of the different perspectives on this question? 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 of the Board of Trustees of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School. In the Spring of 2022 she will serve on the faculty of the Rabbinical School at JTS teaching modern Jewish Law. Previously, Adina served as the Assistant Dean of the Rabbinical School at JTS, and founded a synagogue in Englewood, New Jersey, modelling 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. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Chaim Seidler Feller ABOUT THE EVENT: A virtual tour of the Seidler-Feller collection of objects of Jewish material culture from Alsace and Iran, from India and Italy and from the US and Israel. Items include an 18th Century embroidered Italian tallit, a Yemenite wedding headdress, ketubot from across the globe and contemporary Israeli silver. The tour will include a reflection on how we came to collect Judaica and the stories that background our acquisitions. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Chaim Seidler-Feller recently celebrated his fortieth year of working with students and faculty as the Executive Director of the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA. He is currently Director Emeritus.. He was ordained in 1971 at Yeshiva University where he completed a Masters in Rabbinic Literature. Chaim 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 currently a faculty member of the Shalom Hartman Institute,North America and of the Wexner Heritage Foundation. He was the founding director of the Hartman Fellowship for Campus Professionals and a founding member of Americans for Peace Now. In 2014 he initiated a fact finding mission for non-Jewish student leaders to Israel and the Palestine Authority which is now offered on ninety campuses. In 2020 a Festschrift entitled Swimmimg Against the Current: Reimagining Jewish Tradition in the 21st Century was published in Chaim's honor. He is married to Dr. Doreen Seidler-Feller,a clinical psychologist,and is the father of Shulie,a photojournalist and Shaul, an ordained rabbi who is currently serving as a Judaica consultant at Sotheby's while pursuing a doctorate in Jewish History at the Hebrew University. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Enjoy the thirty fifth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - On The Unity of God In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Barry Block ABOUT THE EVENT: An interview between Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz and Rabbi Barry Block on his new book “The Social Justice Torah Commentary”. Book description and where to purchase featured below. What does the Torah have to say about social justice? As the contributors to The Social Justice Torah Commentary demonstrate, a great deal. A diverse array of authors delve deeply into each week's parashah, drawing lessons to inspire tikkun olam. Chapters address key contemporary issues such as racism, climate change, mass incarceration, immigration, disability, women's rights, voting rights, and many more. The result is an indispensable resource for weekly Torah study and for anyone committed to repairing the world. Purchase the book here – https://www.ccarpress.org/shopping_product_detail.asp?pid=50552 ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Barry H. Block serves Congregation B'nai Israel in Little Rock, Arkansas. A Houston native and graduate of Amherst College, Rabbi Block was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 1991, and he received his DD, honoris causa, in 2016. A member of the CCAR Board of Trustees, currently serving as vice president of organizational relationships, Block is the editor of The Mussar Torah Commentary (CCAR Press, 2020), a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He also contributed to several earlier CCAR anthologies, including Inscribed: Encounters with the Ten Commandments, The Sacred Exchange, The Sacred Encounter, Navigating the Journey, and A Life of Meaning: Embracing Reform Judaism's Sacred Path, and he is a regular contributor to the CCAR Journal. Rabbi Block currently serves as faculty dean at URJ Henry S. Jacobs Camp, similar to a role he previously held for twenty-one years at URJ Greene Family Camp. He is a past board chair of Planned Parenthood of South Texas. He is the proud father of Robert and Daniel. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Enjoy the thirty fourth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - The Value of the Individual vs. the Collective In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Enjoy the thirty third session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - Care for the Vulnerable vs. Education: What does every community need? In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Enjoy the thirty second session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - Zealousness vs. Tolerance In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Enjoy the thirty first session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - Halacha vs. State: What's the Vehicle for Progress In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Yoni Rosensweig ABOUT THE EVENT: When we don't feel well, we usually go and see the doctor. But do we have to? Can I let my health slip? Is there an obligation to stay healthy? Come and learn the basic sources behind this question and the meaning behind this technical discussion. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rav Yoni Rosensweig is the Rabbi of the Netzach Menashe community in Beit Shemesh, a teacher in Midreshet Linenbaum, and author of several books. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
A virtual presentation by Rabbi Marc Gopin ABOUT THE EVENT: Around the globe, people who work in the helping professions are often heroic bridge-builders and creators of peaceful societies. They have in common, Marc Gopin argues, a set of cultivated moral character traits and psychosocial skills. They tend to be kinder, more reasonable, more self-controlled, and more goal-oriented towards peace. They are united by a particular set of moral values and the emotional skills to put those values into practice, allowing them to excel in what he calls “Compassionate Reasoning.” In this book, Gopin draws upon the history of ethics along with his own thirty-year career in the field of peacebuilding to develop an understanding of this type of reasoning. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Marc Gopin is the Director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC), and the James H. Laue Professor at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, at George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia, USA. Gopin has pioneered multi-million dollar projects at CRDC on peacebuilding in the Israeli/Palestinian, Syrian and Afghanistan conflicts, and consulted with many governmental agencies in the United State and Europe. Gopin has engaged in back-channel diplomacy with religious, political and military figures on both sides of conflicts. He has appeared on numerous media outlets, including CNN, CNN International, The Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio, Voice of America, and the national public radios of Sweden and Northern Ireland. He has been published in numerous publications, including the International Herald Tribune, the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, and his work has been featured in news stories of the Times of London, the Times of India, Associated Press, and Newhouse News Service. Gopin has received the Andrew Thomas Peacebuilder Award from the New York State Dispute Resolution Association, as well as the Rumi Peace and Dialogue Award. Dr. Gopin received a Ph.D. with honors from Brandeis University in 1993. You can purchase the book here – https://global.oup.com/academic/produ... -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
Enjoy the thirtieth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - Hobbes vs. Anarchist: A King vs. No King In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi... Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/
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