Jewish Ideas to Change the World

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz (President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) interviews Aaron Lipkin of Ofra. Watch this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/p3lsnMtND3k ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Gila FineEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:BMH-BJABOUT THE EVENT:Why are women divided into saintly and seductive? How does a married couple go for years without intimacy? And why must the wife dress up as a prostitute to show her husband who she really is? The domestic drama of R. Hiyya and his wife, read through Demosthenes and Nahmanides, Sigmund Freud and Oscar Wilde, Immanuel Kant and Martin Buber, Ruth Calderon and Mad Men.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Gila Fine is editor in chief of Maggid Books (Koren Publishers Jerusalem). She is also a teacher of Aggada, exploring the tales of the Talmud through philosophy, literary criticism, psychoanalysis, and pop-culture. Gila is faculty member at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, the London School of Jewish studies, Amudim Seminary, and the Nachshon Project, and has taught thousands at communities and conferences across the Jewish world. Haaretz has called her “a young woman on her way to becoming one of the more outstanding Jewish thinkers of the next generation.”--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Shira Hecht-KollerEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:Temple SolelABOUT THE EVENT:Themes that are central to the rise and impact of the powerful platforms available to us 24 hours a day – power of the image, democratization of experience, deliberate curation – are at once both cutting edge and age-old, and are central to the experience of being human. They are also, in many ways, deeply rooted in our sacred texts. In this lecture and discussion we will explore the intersection between photography, imagery and the values embedded in classical Jewish texts.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Shira Hecht-Koller, is an educator, attorney, and entrepreneur. She is currently Director of Education for 929 English, a cutting-edge educational start-up and global platform for the study of Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. She brings with her over fifteen years of experience teaching Jewish Studies, designing interdisciplinary curricula and curating Jewish experiences in both formal and informal learning environments. She has taught at North Shore Hebrew Academy, SARHS, and at Drisha Institute, where she directed the Dr. Beth Samuels Talmud Fellowship Program, and she has practiced corporate IP law at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Passionate about both the written word and the photographic image, her writing has appeared in Tablet, The Forward, The Lehrhaus, Times of Israel and ejewishphilanthropy as well as in scholarly publications and journals, and her photography illustrates The Jewish Journey Haggadah. Her children’s book written together with artist Hanoch Piven will be published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2022. She was a Paradigm Fellow at the Paideia Institute of Jewish Studies in Stockholm, a Fellow in the Jewish Pedagogies Circle at M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education and is an educator for Moishe House’s Jewish Learning Collaborative. She sits on the advisory boards of Shazur/Interwoven and Grow Torah. She holds a JD from Cardozo School of Law, and is a graduate of the Bruriah Scholars advanced Talmud program at Midreshet Lindenbaum. She is also an avid tennis fan and – moved by the spirit of adventure – loves hiking and exploring the world with her husband Aaron and children Dalya, Shachar, Amitai and Aiden.--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Menachem Creditor EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:Hebrew Educational AllianceABOUT THE EVENT:How did Zionism represent theological revolution? Does Israel’s reality represent a new Judaism? We’ll study excerpts of Aviezer Ravitzky’s classic “Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism” and engage in a conversation about contemporary Zionism and Jewish identityABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Menachem Creditor serves as the Pearl and Ira Meyer Scholar in Residence at UJA-Federation New York and was the founder of Rabbis Against Gun Violence. An acclaimed author, scholar, and speaker with over 1 million views of his online videos and essays, he was named by Newsweek as one of the fifty most influential rabbis in America. His 27 books and 6 albums of original music include “A Year of Torah,” the global anthem “Olam Chesed Yibaneh” and the COVID-era 2-volume anthology “When We Turned Within.” He has been involved in the leadership of American Jewish World Service, AIPAC, the Rabbinical Assembly, and the One America Movement, an organization dedicated to bringing together Americans of different faiths and opinions. He and his wife Neshama Carlebach live in New York, where they are raising their five children.--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Rabbi Avital HochsteinEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:Hebrew Educational AllianceABOUT THE EVENT:In this class we will look at the diverse biblical narratives of Shmita, how they play out – practically and ideologically, in later Talmudic and Halachic sources and ponder what this all had to do with our current day awareness of the challenge and threat to sustainabilityABOUT THE SPEAKER:Dr. Rabbi Avital Hochstein is president of Hadar in Israel. Hochstein has done research and taught at many institutions, among them the Shalom Hartman institute where she was a research fellow and the Pardes Institute where she was the Rosh Kollel. She is one of the founders of Shira Hadasha in Jerusalem. Along with Prof. Chana Safrai she wrote the book “Women out, women in: the place of women in midrash” (Yediot Aharonot, 2018). Her PhD focuses on the 8th chapter of tractate Sanhedin and utilizes a literary read of halachic material combining tools from gender studies. She received ordination from R.Daniel Landes and from the Beit Midrash Le’Rabbanut Yisraelit.--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Rosa Krajmalnik-BrownEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Temple Chai ABOUT THE EVENT:This class will discuss Dr. Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown journey in science and engineering as a Torah observant Jewish woman.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Dr. Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown is the director of the Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes and a Professor at the School of Sustainable Engineering and The Built Environment, at Arizona State University. She came to the US with a Fulbright Scholarship to get a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Georgia Tech. She was awarded an NSF CAREER award, was selected Fulton Engineering Exemplar Faculty, in 2020 she was awarded Arizona Researcher of the year by AZBio and has been recognized as highly cited researcher in her field by Web of Science in 2020 and 2021. She has funding for her research from many federal agencies including NIH, DoE, DoD, and NSF. She is a pioneer in research on gut microbiome and autism. She is author of 5 patents and more than 120 peer-reviewed publications. She specializes on molecular microbial ecology for bioremediation, the use of microbial systems for bioenergy production, and the human intestinal microbial ecology and its relationship to obesity, bariatric surgery, metabolism, and autism.--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dina NajmanEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:Beth El Phoenix ABOUT THE EVENT:This class will discuss Devorah as a leader that is not gender specific, as she is often compared to Moshe and David. Devorah is a prophet, a warrior, a general, a poet, a judge, a mother – the people follow her based on her skill.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Dina Najman is the Marta d’Atra and Senior Rabbi of The Kehilah in Riverdale. From 2006-2013, Rabbi Najman was the Marta d’Atrah at Kehilat Orach Eliezer in Manhattan (the first Orthodox synagogue to appoint a woman as senior Rabbi of a shul). She is head of the Gemara department at SAR Academy in Riverdale, NY. R’ Najman has extensive experience teaching and speaking in the Jewish community on topics ranging from bioethics to environmental law. Rabbi Najman has served on the board of the Halakhic Organ Donor Society (HODS) for more than a decade and presently serves on the YCT and JOFA Advisory Boards as well. Rabbi Najman studied as a Drisha fellow and then went on to study at Nishmat, where she learned in their Machon Gavoha/Niddah learning program. She received her Rabbinic Ordination from Rabbi Professor Daniel Sperber. R’ Najman earned her certification in Bioethics and Medical Humanities from NYU/Einstein Bioethics and Medical Humanities Certificate Program. She compiled Jewish legal source material for HODS and has developed and taught halakhic curricula for the Drisha Institute as well as Ma’ayanot and SAR Yeshivot. Rabbi Najman is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Morris PanitzEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Temple Emanuel DenverABOUT THE EVENT:This class will center on a powerful teaching in Eicha Rabbah (Proem 24) that explores themes related to God’s suffering, arguing with God, divine-human reconciliation. What does it mean for our pain and God’s pain to serve as a meeting point in the human-divine relationship?ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Morris Panitz is an Assistant Rabbi at IKAR, a spiritual community in Los Angeles. Previously, he served as the Director of the Ziering BCI Program and Director of Immersive Experiences at American Jewish University. He cherishes the opportunity to partner with people who are seeking meaningful connection to Jewish wisdom and community. Morris received rabbinical ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and was a recipient of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship. Prior to rabbinical school, he combined his love for Jewish, experiential education and environmental sustainability as the Program Director of the Pearlstone Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Morris completed a Certificate in Jewish, Experiential Education from Yeshiva University and received his B.A. from the University of Maryland in philosophy and Jewish Studies. Morris loves hiking and gardening with his wife, Elana, and two children, Ziva and Matan.--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Yedidya SinclairEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Temple ChaiABOUT THE EVENT:“Shabbat Ha’aretz” by Rav Kook is the most influential book in 800 years about Shmita, one of Judaism’s most radical and transformative ideas. Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair, whose new book on Shabbat Ha’aretz has just come out from Maggid Press, joins us to discuss why Rav Kook’s thinking was so critical, and how it points the way to the creative renewal of shmita’s socio-economic and ecological dimensions that we are starting to see today.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Yedidya (Julian) Sinclair is an economist, writer and rabbi. He began his career as an economist advising the UK government, was Vice President and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, an Israeli solar power developer, and today works as an independent consultant on development projects in Africa. Yedidya was Senior Rabbinic Advisor for Hazon, the largest faith-based environmental organization in the U.S., and Campus Rabbi at Cambridge University, where he also taught Jewish Studies in the Divinity School. He holds degrees from Oxford and Harvard Universities and lives with his family in Jerusalem. His book, “The Sabbath of the Land,” will be published by Maggid Books in February.PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:https://korenpub.com/products/the-sabbath-of-the-land--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Eugene KornEvent co-sponsored by:Temple SolelABOUT THE EVENT:This event will be a public conversation with Rabbi Shumly about ethical issues challenging Jewish life today as a follow up to the book Rabbi Eugene Korn has just published. Book description below.CAN JUDAISM FACE OUR MODERN UNDERSTANDING of justice, equality and human progress? Can mitzvot survive modernity’s critique of authority and culture of personal autonomy? To Be a Holy People: Jewish Tradition and Ethical Value takes up both ancient and modern moral questions. Building on biblical and rabbinic traditions, it analyzes how Jewish ethics relates to Jewish law, justice, fairness, compassion and violence. It also discusses the ethical dimensions of gender, freedom, universalism and particularism.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:EUGENE KORN holds a doctorate in moral philosophy from Columbia University and Orthodox rabbinic ordination from Pirchei Shoshanim in Israel. His books include Jewish Theology and World Religions; Plowshares in Swords?; Covenant and Hope; and e Jewish Connection to Israel. His writings have been translated into Hebrew, German, Italian and Spanish. He and his wife, Lila Magnus Korn, live in Jerusalem.----------------Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Shmuly’s weekly divrei Torah) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) Become a member of Valley Beit Midrash for just $18 per month:https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

Valley Beit Midrash creates new podcast channels. Make sure to subscribe to "Social Justice in the Parsha" (weekly d'var Torah by Rabbi Shmuly) and to "Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness" (Rabbi Shmuly's 40-part class series). This channel – previously titled "Valley Beit Midrash," and now titled "Jewish Ideas to Change the World" – will continue to contain the diverse Jewish perspectives for which Valley Beit Midrash is best known.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Watch Valley Beit Midrash’s programs on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQAttended events live by becoming a member for just $18 per month:https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-memberListen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz, President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash, interviews Rabbi Dr. Art Green. The two discuss the relationship between spirituality and ethics. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Shmuly’s weekly divrei Torah) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) Become a member of Valley Beit Midrash for just $18 per month:https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

Professor Jonathan Sarna speaks at Valley Beit Midrash. ABOUT THE EPISODE:Some of the White Nationalists who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 hoped to trigger a “Great Revolution” that in its most extreme form would result in the extermination of the Jews. An examination of images related to the attack sheds light on extreme right-wing antisemitism in our day. ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Jonathan D. Sarna is University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, where he directs the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. He also chairs the Academic Advisory and Editorial Board of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, and serves as Chief Historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.Author or editor of more than thirty books on American Jewish history and life, his American Judaism: A History (Yale 2004), recently published in a second edition, won six awards including the 2004 “Everett Jewish Book of the Year Award” from the Jewish Book Council. His most recent books are Coming to Terms with America (JPS, 2021); (with Benjamin Shapell) Lincoln and the Jews: A History (St. Martin’s, 2015), and When General Grant Expelled the Jews (Schocken/Nextbook, 2012). His annotated edition of Cora Wilburn’s previously unknown 1860 novel, Cosella Wayne (University of Alabama Press), has also recently appeared.Dr. Sarna is married to Professor Ruth Langer and they have two married children and two adorable grandchildren. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Watch Valley Beit Midrash's classes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash, interviews Rabbi Susan Silverman, reform rabbi and Executive Director of Second Nurture- - - - - - - - - -Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) Become a member of Valley Beit Midrash for just $18 per month:https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin speaks at Valley Beit Midrash. ABOUT THE EPISODE:One of the sad things that has happened to Jewish life in modern times is that people define “religious” solely in terms of ritual observance (one who keeps Shabbat or Kashrut is religious, one who doesn’t is not), as if ethics in Judaism were an extracurricular activity, nice, but not very important. In this talk, based on Rabbi Telushkin’s award-winning book, A Code of Jewish Ethics: Volume 1: You Shall be Holy, he examines, along with other issues as well, four Jewish values and how they apply in daily life. The first is forgiveness; Telushkin delineates when Jewish law considers forgiveness obligatory, when optional, and when forbidden, and shows how and when to apply these perspectives in our daily behavior. A second area examined in this speech are the Jewish laws concerning anger and how to express it fairly. At a time when many families and friendships have been torn asunder, Telushkin, in addition to examining teachings from the Torah on anger, he also offers the one rule by which you can guarantee that no matter how angry you get at another you will never say something that will destroy a relationship. The talk also considers Jewish perspectives on humility (the only virtue the Torah explicitly attributes to Moses), and examines why self-esteem may be as morally necessary as humility itself. This lecture will not only challenge and broaden one intellectually, it offers very specific advice and guidelines on how to transform and elevate one’s life. ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, named by Talk Magazine as one of the 50 best speakers in the United States, is the author of Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History. The most widely selling book on Judaism of the past three decades, Jewish Literacy has been hailed by leading figures in all the major movements of Judaism, and has been published in a third edition.Telushkin’s "The Book of Jewish Values: A Day by Day Guide to Ethical Living" was the subject of a PBS special entitled "Moral Imagination" that aired throughout the United States.COSPONSORED BY:Temple Solel - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Watch Valley Beit Midrash’s classes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller speaks at Valley Beit Midrash. ABOUT THE EPISODE:The onset of the coronavirus brought with it a slew of perverse efforts to identify the ‘sinful’ behaviors for which the plague was God’s punishment. Through an analysis of “Vehaya im Shamoa” (Deut.11:13-21) I offer an alternative understanding of punishment as a disciplinary act attributed to God but, actually, the direct consequence of human conduct. Proceeding to outline the Pharoanic behavioral antecedents of the Egyptian plagues I move on to focus on the causal chain of human missteps that have led to the current crisis. In doing so I hope to diminish the degree of randomness with which we frame the pandemic and argue that this human-induced ‘plague’ imposes on us a moral obligation to take corrective actions that could bring healing to our beleaguered planet.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.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Watch VBM classes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabba Dr Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Beth El Phoenix ABOUT THE EVENT: For centuries certain texts in the book of Isaiah have been used by (some) Christians to try to convert Jews. What are these texts and what is the Jewish perspective on them? We’ll look at the texts themselves, classic Jewish commentaries, and Christian commentaries, and develop some skills that might prove useful next time your doorbell rings … ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabba Dr Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz is a Research Fellow at London School of Jewish Studies, and at the Centre for Jewish Studies, Manchester University, where she is researching the history of Limmud. In 2021 she received Orthodox rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Maharat, and published her first book, Challenge and Conformity: The Religious Lives of Orthodox Jewish Women (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization). She’s also lectured at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, & King’s College London, founded the Pop-Up Beit Midrash in 2019, and is a co-founder of Azara, which offers cross-denominational Jewish text learning across the UK. -- 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! ★ Support this podcast ★

Dr. Alan Morinis and Dr. Beverly Spring speak at Valley Beit Midrash. ABOUT THE EPISODE:We all know we are going to die and yet we live as if it will never happen to us. The Jewish spiritual tradition of Mussar seeks to help us come awake so that we might live better, more ethical, more spiritual lives and has recognized that awareness of death can help bring us to that awakening. In this session, we will build a framework of teaching on this subject from the Mussar masters, and fill it in with experiences and stories from 3 decades of service on the front line in palliative care. By drawing on age-old wisdom about living and dying, as well as contemporary experience in caring for the dying, we will explore together with the goal of making sense of the teaching we encounter in the book of Ecclesiastes: “It is better to go to a house of mourning than a house of feasting” and why that is true. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:Dr. Alan Morinis, DPhil, is Founder of The Mussar Institute, and a leading figure in the contemporary revival of the Mussar movement, a 1,100-year-old Jewish personal and communal spiritual tradition that was nearly lost following the Holocaust. A filmmaker, Rhodes Scholar, and anthropologist whose doctoral research at Oxford University focused on Hindu religious pilgrimages, he reached a personal turning point in his life in 1997 that led to his exploration of Mussar. Following years of study he reinterpreted the ancient Mussar learnings and practices for modern audiences in his books Climbing Jacob’s Ladder and Everyday Holiness. To address the growing public interest in Mussar, he founded The Mussar Institute in 2004. He has since authored two more books, Every Day, Holy Day, and With Heart in Mind.Dr. Beverly Spring, MD MCFP (PC) is a physician in and former Medical Director of the Vancouver Home Hospice Palliative Care Service, providing support to palliative patients and their families in their homes. She is also a physician with the Vancouver General Hospital Palliative Care Program. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and has taught and lectured locally, nationally and internationally. She has received the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, the Vancouver Medical Association Osler Award, the Canadian Medical Association Honorary Membership Award and a Government of India Award for her contribution to the eradication of smallpox.SPONSORED BY:Mt. Sinai Cemetary - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Watch Valley Beit Midrash’s classes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin speaks at Valley Beit Midrash. ABOUT THE EPISODE:Extraordinary advances have been made in medicine, science, and technology over the past century because scientists, medical researchers, and scholars have devoted the full resources of their intellectual imagination to solving problems that had been thought to be insoluble. But comparable progress has not been made in moral areas, one reason being that people rarely devote the same intellectual and imaginative efforts to solve moral problems. Yet such solutions can be achieved by any of us, if we try hard enough and study the behaviors of people we regard as moral heroes. ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, named by Talk Magazine as one of the 50 best speakers in the United States, is the author of Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History. The most widely selling book on Judaism of the past three decades, Jewish Literacy has been hailed by leading figures in all the major movements of Judaism, and has been published in a third edition.Telushkin’s "The Book of Jewish Values: A Day by Day Guide to Ethical Living" was the subject of a PBS special entitled "Moral Imagination" that aired throughout the United States.Rabbi Telushkin was ordained at Yeshiva University in New York, and pursued graduate studies in Jewish history at Columbia University. He resides in New York City with his wife, Dvorah Menashe Telushkin, and lectures throughout the United States. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Watch Valley Beit Midrash’s classes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz (President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) explores social justice in the weekly parsha (Torah portion). This podcast series is now available as its own podcast channel titled "Social Justice in the Parsha." Make sure to subscribe! Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to all of Valley Beit Midrash’s podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Social Justice in the Parsha (divrei torah by Rabbi Shmuly) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) ★ Support this podcast ★

SPEAKER speaks at Valley Beit Midrash. ABOUT THE EPISODE: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. CO-SPONSORED BY:BMH-BJ Congregation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Watch Valley Beit Midrash’s classes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz (President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) explores social justice in the weekly parsha (Torah portion). This podcast series is now available as its own podcast channel titled "Social Justice in the Parsha." Make sure to subscribe! Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to all of Valley Beit Midrash’s podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Social Justice in the Parsha (divrei torah by Rabbi Shmuly) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) ★ Support this podcast ★

Dr. Paul Root Wolpe speaks at Valley Beit Midrash. ABOUT THE EPISODE: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. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Watch Valley Beit Midrash’s classes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz (President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) explores social justice in the weekly parsha (Torah portion). This podcast series is now available as its own podcast channel titled "Social Justice in the Parsha." Make sure to subscribe! Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to all of Valley Beit Midrash’s podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Social Justice in the Parsha (divrei torah by Rabbi Shmuly) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Shmuly interviews Prof. Chaim Sukenik, President of Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev). Watch Valley Beit Midrash’s programs on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

Daniel Peled-Schwartz, rabbinical student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, speaks at Valley Beit Midrash.Watch Valley Beit Midrash’s programs on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ Listen to Valley Beit Midrash’s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz) Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ• Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz (President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) explores social justice in the weekly parsha (Torah portion). This podcast series is now available as its own podcast channel titled "Social Justice in the Parsha." Make sure to subscribe! Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to all of Valley Beit Midrash’s podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Social Justice in the Parsha (divrei torah by Rabbi Shmuly) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz (President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) explores social justice in the weekly parsha (Torah portion). This podcast series is now available as its own podcast channel titled "Social Justice in the Parsha." Make sure to subscribe! Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to all of Valley Beit Midrash’s podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Social Justice in the Parsha (divrei torah by Rabbi Shmuly) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) ★ Support this podcast ★

A conversation with Spertus Institute's leaders Dean Bell & Keren Fraiman at Valley Beit Midrash with President & Dean Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz (President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) explores social justice in the weekly parsha (Torah portion). This podcast series is now available as its own podcast channel titled "Social Justice in the Parsha." Make sure to subscribe! Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to all of Valley Beit Midrash’s podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Social Justice in the Parsha (divrei torah by Rabbi Shmuly) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz (President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) explores social justice in the weekly parsha (Torah portion). This podcast series is now available as its own podcast channel titled "Social Justice in the Parsha." Make sure to subscribe! Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to all of Valley Beit Midrash’s podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Social Justice in the Parsha (divrei torah by Rabbi Shmuly) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

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 [email protected]. -- 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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz (President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) explores social justice in the weekly parsha (Torah portion). This podcast series is now available as its own podcast channel titled "Social Justice in the Parsha." Make sure to subscribe! Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to all of Valley Beit Midrash’s podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Social Justice in the Parsha (divrei torah by Rabbi Shmuly) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowtiz (President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash) explores social justice in the weekly parsha (Torah portion). This podcast series is now available as its own podcast channel titled "Social Justice in the Parsha." Make sure to subscribe! Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLYSyEus7DcWMhyEZ_CQFQ • Become a Member: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member Follow Rabbi Shmuly: • https://www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz Listen to all of Valley Beit Midrash’s podcasts: • Jewish Ideas to Change the World (diverse Jewish perspectives) • Social Justice in the Parsha (divrei torah by Rabbi Shmuly) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) ★ Support this podcast ★

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! ★ Support this podcast ★

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/ ★ Support this podcast ★

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! ★ Support this podcast ★

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! ★ Support this podcast ★