Torah Lishmah
Transforming Reality – The Potential of Leadership Guided by Love
Clarendon RoomEbn Leader In a world torn by violence and division, what form of leadership can guide us to healing? Come learn with Rabbi Ebn Leader as he explores an approach to leadership that could be useful for our times. Rabbi Leader turns to a surprising place for his insight, wrestling with the charismatic, miracle-working rabbi/teacher […]
Spirituality and Social Justice: Striving for Integration
Dalton RoomOr Rose Drawing on teachings from the traditions of Kabbalah, Mussar, and Hasidism, as well as the writings of such modern religious activists as Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and Abraham Joshua Heschel, we will explore the ongoing challenge of Tikkun Ha-Middot and Tikkun Olam. How do we understand the relationship between the practices of Torah […]
Touchstone Texts on Leadership
Fairfax RoomRick Jacobs From Rabbi Eleazar in the Talmud to contemporary teachers of leadership including Abraham Joshua Heschel, Marge Piercy, Rabbi Jack Stern, Rabbi Elka Abrahamson and others, we will bore down on what it means to exercise Jewish leadership in our holy work.
How Did Moshe Manage to be Rabbenu to 600,000 Unappreciative Congregants?
Gardner RoomHarold Kushner This text study will look at Moshe as rabbinic exemplar. Drawing from Rabbi Kushner’s book on Moses, entitled, “Overcoming Life’s Disappointments,” we will consider how faith is the best antidote to frustration.
Moses & Hasidism: Reflections on Leadership
Dalton RoomOr Rose Like so many interpreters before and after them, the early Hasidic masters engage the figure of Moses in different ways as they seek to articulate their own visions of Jewish communal leadership. When does Moses—as presented in both biblical and post-biblical sources—serve as a positive or negative model for these mystical exegetes and […]
Learning to See an Invisible God
Gardner RoomHarold Kushner Drawing from Parashat Vayera, we will consider how rabbis can help people recognize when God becomes manifest in their lives.
You’re Not Really That Bad, Or Are You: Sin, Wrongdoing and Missing the Mark in High Holy Day Liturgy
Hampton RoomPeter Berg, Eddie Goldberg, Janet Marder, Shelly Marder, Leon Morris, Elaine Zecher Chet, averah, pesha, and avon are all Hebrew words that connote the behaviors we address when we gather on the High Holy Days. Eventually these words have to be translated. What are the ramifications of the various translations? Together we will study some […]
The Three Themes of the Shofar Service and Their Reverberations Throughout the Days of Awe
Hampton RoomPeter Berg, Eddie Goldberg, Janet Marder, Shelly Marder, Leon Morris, Elaine Zecher Since Rosh HaShanah is called Yom Truah, how does the structure of the shofar service and the use of the shofar help aid in our Rosh HaShanah experience? Together, we will study the text in depth what is being included in the new […]
Finding Our Way to the God of Torah
Berkeley RoomRachel Timoner Lightning on the mountain. Plagues as punishment. War and bloodshed. The God of Torah can be difficult to relate to, even alienating, for our congregants, and for us. How might we connect our own spiritual practices and beliefs with this God? Join with Rabbi Rachel Timoner of Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles […]
Revisioning Jewishness: Cosmopolitan Creativity and Jewish Peoplehood
Jefferson RoomDr. Sylvia Barack Fishman This talk is based on Professor Fishman's new research on younger American leaders, social entrepreneurs, and creators of cultural materials, and their relationship to Jews and Jewishness.
Sea Sick on the Love Boat: Liquid Modernity, Fluid Identity and Nautical Metaphors
Gardner RoomMichael Marmur In this session we will consider themes of liquidity, fluidity and water in Jewish and Western traditions. In particular, a tradition from Sifrei Deuteronomy concerning peoplehood will be studied. Zygmunt Bauman's concept of Liquid Modernity will also be considered. Our question is: how should we respond to a fluid reality? Go with the […]
The Child in the Halakhah (Freehof Institute for Progressive Halakhah)
Hampton RoomWalter Jacobs, Ruth Langer, Brian Stoller The program will discuss “The Child in the Halakhah,” an area rather neglected by the Traditions. Although the transition to being an adult was discussed in detail in rabbinic literature, this dealt almost exclusively with physical changes. The intellectual development of children was noted, but only in random comments […]
Music and the Interiority Complex
Dalton RoomJosh Jacobson Pre-registration is required. Session is capped at 40 participants. We will struggle with some of these questions: Can music create holiness? How? What musical experiences connect us to our community? What musical experiences connect us to our inner selves, to God? Is there a role for "classical music" in the synagogue? Do we […]
Ahad Ha’Am and the Reform Movement: On the Prospects for Modern Judaism (Taught in Hebrew)
Gardner RoomMichael Marmur In this session, to be taught in Hebrew, we will consider some aspects of Ahad Ha'am's complex relationship with Reform Judaism, focusing in particular on a fascinating and little-known exchange between the father of cultural Zionism, Ahad Ha'am (Asher Ginsberg, 1856-1927) and David Neumark (1866-1924), a professor of philosophy at the Hebrew Union […]
Beyond Laughter Through Tears: The Spiritual Power of Jewish Humor
Fairfax RoomMoshe Waldoks Study with Moshe Waldoks, one of Boston’s acclaimed rabbinic leaders and the co-editor of the Big Book of Jewish Humor. The session will examine the uses of Jewish humor to open both the heart and the mind to advance Spiritual growth.
Judaism Confronting Science
Clarendon RoomDr. Phil Cohen. Dr. Jonathan Crane, Geoffery Mitelman For centuries Judaism understood science to be a partner. Jewish thinkers did not see a contradiction between science and Torah. It is Norbert Samuelson’s contention in his book Jewish Faith and Modern Science that, for various historical and philosophical reasons, that synthesis has been left behind. He […]