Jewish Ideas to Change the World

A Virtual Event Presentation by Dr. Elana Stein HainEvent Co-Hosted by Temple SolelAbout The Event:Are nature and revelation in competition with one another if God is the author of both? In this session, we will examine how Jewish responses to this question are reflected throughout our High Holiday liturgy, with an emphasis on what this means for life today.About The Speaker:Dr. Elana Stein Hain is the Director of Faculty and a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she serves as lead faculty, directs the activities of the Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought, and consults on the content of lay and professional leadership programs.A widely well-regarded teacher and scholar, Elana is passionate about bringing rabbinic thought into conversation with contemporary life. To this end, she created Talmud from the Balcony, an occasional learning seminar exposing the big ideas, questions, and issues motivating rabbinic discussions; she leads the Created Equal Research Seminar which considers the relationships between gender consciousness and Jewish thought; and she co-hosts For Heaven's Sake, a bi-weekly podcast with Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi, exploring contemporary issues related to Israel and the Jewish world.Elana earned her doctorate in Religion from Columbia University where she wrote her dissertation on the topic of legal loopholes as a prism for understanding rabbinic views on law and ethics. She is an alumna of the Yeshiva University Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) as well as the Consortium in Jewish Studies and Legal Theory Graduate Fellowship at Cardozo School of Law. She also served for eight years as a clergy member on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at both Lincoln Square Synagogue and the Jewish Center, has taught at the Wagner School at NYU, and sits on the board of Sefaria: A Living Library of Jewish Texts. Elana lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her family. ★ Support this podcast ★

A Virtual Event Presentation by Dr. Tanya WhiteEvent Co-Sponsored by Temple Emanuel About The Event:How much can the individual transform without the role of an outside call? How do we navigate the fine line between rebuke and shaming? Appropriating a plethora of voices from the Biblical text to modern psychologists and philosophers, this lecture explores the role of the individual and society in our ethical decisions, grappling with the psychological consequences of living in shame vs. guilt cultures, and offers a radical reading of the ‘other’ as a mechanism towards self-transformation.About The Speaker:Tanya White is an international lecturer, writer, and educator with a focus on Tanach and Contemporary Jewish Thought. She is a Senior Lecturer at Matan Women’s Institute for Torah Studies and teaches at other institutions including Pardes and LSJS. Tanya holds a doctorate in Jewish Philosophy from Bar Ilan University and is the recipient of the Schupf Fellowship for outstanding students. A collection of her articles, blogs, and published material can be viewed on her blog page: www.contemplatingtorah.wordpress.com ★ Support this podcast ★

A Virtual Event Presentation by Rabbanit Sharona HalickmanAbout the Event:Shofar, Tashlich, Fasting, Prayer…Where do these laws and customs originate from and what is the deeper meaning behind the unique Mitzvot of Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur?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 the 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 that provides Torah study groups for students of all ages and backgrounds. ★ Support this podcast ★

A Virtual Event Presentation by Samuel LebensEvent Co-Sponsored by Hebrew Education AllianceABOUT THE EVENT:Is there any way for the Jew to make sense of our belief in an all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing God, in the face of all the pain and suffering that we see around us? How might philosophical acrobatics conducted in the ivory tower, regarding the problem of evil, have any impact on the lived experience of faith in the face of suffering?ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Samuel Lebens is an Orthodox Rabbi and an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Haifa. He has published books and articles on a wide array of topics, from the work of Bertrand Russell to the philosophy of Judaism. He specializes in metaphysics, epistemology, the philosophy of literature, and the philosophy of religion. He lives with his wife and three children in Netanya, Israel. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Dr. James BaskindEvent Co-Sponsored By: Congregation Or TzionABOUT THE EVENT:The story of the Kaifeng Jews is a little-known episode of the Diaspora, but its existence caught the imagination of both European missionaries and prominent Jews, with far-reaching effects. An investigation of this isolated yet enduring enclave will highlight the dynamic tension between fidelity to, and adaptation within, tradition, while under the rule of a dominant and highly codified culture.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Dr. Baskind received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2006. His area of academic research is Japanese Buddhism and culture, with a focus on how Chinese models—represented by the Obaku School—were received in Edo-period Japan. Other areas of research and writing include Buddhist-Christian interaction in early modern Japan, as well as the Zen/Pure Land dialectic as it pertains to Japanese Buddhist discourse. His current project critically examines tea culture in East Asia, and how it became widely perceived as inextricably linked with Zen and its associated arts. Most recently he held the position of Associate Professor of Japanese Thought at Nagoya City University in Nagoya, Japan. While in Japan his research was supported by numerous grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Apart from his academic pursuits. he has also studied and practiced the tea ceremony (both sencha and matcha) as well as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which he currently teaches. In addition, he has nearly completed a book on the cultural history of jiu-jitsu, entitled, Jiu-jitsu: A History of Soft Power. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Jonnie SchnytzerEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Temple Emanuel ABOUT THE EVENT:What was it that the Biblical prophets sought out to achieve? And how did the term prophecy evolve from outcries for social justice to individualistic concepts of cleaving to God and mystical methods of saving the world? In an attempt to understand prophecy in our day and age, we begin our journey with the Biblical text, moving on to medieval philosophical and mystical teachings and concluding with 20th-century ideas.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Jonnie Schnytzer is a Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. 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. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Joel PorembaEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Congregation Or TzionABOUT THE EVENT:A memoir that explores the stories of survival, tragedy, and hope against the backdrop of the resilience of a nine-year-old Polish Jew between 1939 and 1945.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Joel Poremba is a business attorney with twenty-three years of litigation experience in both state and federal courts. He represents small and medium-sized companies in complex business disputes and handles insurance defense matters. Prior to this, Joel litigated against billion-dollar insurance companies over breached disability policies. He is a graduate of Western State University, College of Law, and the University of California, San Diego with a degree in political science.Joel is the son of Holocaust survivor, Nathan Poremba. Stunned after hearing his father give his testimony to the Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive in 1998, it subsequently took 21 years and an inspiring trip to Israel for Joel to finally watch his father’s video testimony. Determined, Joel subsequently sat down and further interviewed his father about the details of his Holocaust survival. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Professor Shai SecundaABOUT THE EVENT:The hit Israeli television series about an ultra-Orthodox Jerusalemite family, Shtisel, has become an unexpected international hit. In this discussion, we take a close look at Shtisel, which turns out to be brimming with Jewish insight and Jewish learning.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Shai Secunda is the Jacob Neusner Professor of Judaism at Bard College, and Contributing Editor at the Jewish Review of Books. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Edward BernsteinEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Temple EmanuelABOUT THE EVENT:Introverts and extroverts in Jewish leadership possess different gifts and leadership styles. Rabbi Bernstein explores key differences between the two and reflects, from an introvert’s perspective, how both will be key to revitalizing Jewish communal life as we rebuild from the COVID-19 lockdown.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Edward Bernstein serves as Chaplain for Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Boca Raton, Florida. He also hosts My Teacher Podcast: A Celebration of the People Who Shape Our Lives. Rabbi Bernstein edited Love Finer Than Wine: The Writings of Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker, a 2016 National Jewish Book Awards Finalist. Rabbi Bernstein was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He served congregations in New Rochelle, NY; Beachwood, OH; and Boynton Beach, FL. Rabbi Bernstein has also served on the faculty of Camp Ramah Darom, Moishe House and the JTS Florida Office.Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/407988 ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Yitz GreenbergEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BMH-BJABOUT THE EVENT:The unique core teaching of Jewish religion is that the human mission is to fill this world (planet) with life. Judaism predicts that In partnership with God, humanity can vanquish all the enemies of life in this world -poverty, hunger, oppression/discrimination/unjust inequality, war, sickness. Eventually, in the Messianic age, even death itself can be defeated.This session will focus on how we should live now until the final redemption is achieved. The answer is: to live on the side of life. Every life behavior, every human action should be shaped and reshaped to insure that we maximize life (or quality of life)in that behavior. No behavior or moment in life is ‘neutral’.We will review every behavior -eating, sleeping, exercise, speaking, befriending, sexuality and communication, having children and raising them, business and professional activity-to see how we can maximize life and minimize death or decay elements in them. This presentation will argue that even religious/ritual activities are intended to lead us to live on the side of life.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:In the words of Professor Steven T Katz, chair of the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies at Boston University, “No Jewish thinker has had a greater impact on the American Jewish community in the last two decades than Rabbi Yitz Greenberg.”Rabbi Dr. Irving Greenberg (known affectionately as “Rav Yitz”) is perhaps the leading Jewish scholar and theologian of our time. An author of many influential books on Jewish thought, ethics, and philosophy, Rav Yitz is the Past President of CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and Past President of Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation. Prior to these positions, he served as Rabbi of the Riverdale Jewish Center, was an Associate Professor of History at Yeshiva University, and the founder, chairman, and Professor in the Department of Jewish Studies of City College of the City University of New York. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard and received ordination from Yeshiva Beis Yosef.Rabbi Greenberg is a singular leader of contemporary American Judaism, having shown leadership on many vital Jewish communal initiatives spanning from the 1960s to the present. He served as Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and has written extensively on the complexity of post-Holocaust theology as well as Jewish pluralism with regard to the theology of Jewish-Christian relations and beyond. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Matt Reingold ABOUT THE EVENT:Over the course of the Coronavirus pandemic, Israeli cartoonists across the religious and political spectrums produced a treasure trove of visual materials about their own society. In this session, we will examine a select offering of cartoons about Jewish holidays and explore how cartoonists used their craft to offer commentary on both their own society and also on what it means to celebrate holidays during a pandemic.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Dr. Matt Reingold (York U, 2014) teaches Jewish History and Jewish Philosophy at TanenbaumCHAT. His primary research interests are Jewish and Israeli graphic narratives and Israel education. He is the author of Gender and Sexuality in Israeli Graphic Novels (Routledge, 2021) and Reenvisioning Israel through Political Cartoons: Visual Discourses During the 2018-2021 Electoral Crisis (Lexington, 2022). ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Professor Joshua ShanesEVENT CO-HOSTED BY: Temple SolelABOUT THE EVENT:This class will be a conversation/talk about the competing definitions of antisemitism, what led to their foundation, the differences between them, and what’s at stake.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Joshua Shanes is an Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, and Director of the Arnold Center for Israel Studies, at the College of Charleston. He has published widely on modern Jewish politics, culture, and religion – as well as antisemitism and contemporary politics – in academic and popular outlets including Washington Post, Slate, Haaretz, and Tablet. He is currently writing a history of Jewish Orthodoxy. ★ Support this podcast ★

ABOUT THE EVENT:This lecture on “Zionism and Its Critics” will examine the proponents and opponents of the Zionist idea from the 1880s until the present, illuminating the diversity of this ideology over its short history and how it has changed over time from dream of early thinkers like Theodore Herzl to a state and society that will be celebrating its 75th anniversary next year.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn is currently the Visiting Assistant Professor in Israel Studies at the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies at Northwestern University. Her expertise focuses on Diaspora-Israel relations, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and Israeli ultra-nationalist movement. Her first book, City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement (Harvard, 2017), hailed as a landmark contribution to the field, was the winner of the 2018 Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature Choice Award, a finalist for the 2017 National Jewish Book Award, and a nominee for the 2021 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. She is currently working on a new book manuscript tentatively entitled “New Day in Babylon and Jerusalem: Zionism, Jewish Power, and Identity Politics Since 1967” on American Zionism since the Six Day War. She teaches courses and mentors both undergraduate and graduate students in Israel Studies and related fields. Prior to her appointment at Northwestern, Dr. Hirschhorn was the University Research Lecturer and Sidney Brichto Fellow in Israel Studies at the University of Oxford (2013-2018) and a postdoctoral fellow in Israel Studies at Brandeis University (2012-2013). She is a graduate of Yale University (B.A.) and the University of Chicago (M.A., Ph.D) and the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships. Apart from her academic work, Dr. Hirschhorn is also a prominent voice bringing scholarship into the public square as a frequent public speaker, writer, media commentator, and foreign policy consultant on Israel/Jewish Affairs. Follow her work at sarahirschhorn1@twitter. ★ Support this podcast ★

ABOUT THE EVENT:In this session, Ittay Flescher will share his reflections about the different identities of Jewish, Muslim and Christian youth through his experience co-leading a youth movement for Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem. There will also be opportunities to ask questions about the benefits and challenges of interfaith dialogue between diverse populations.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Ittay Flescher is the Education Director at Kids4Peace Jerusalem, an interfaith movement for Israelis and Palestinians and Israel Correspondent for Plus61J Media. He also frequently teaches on gap year programs about the identity, narratives and cultures of the people who call Jerusalem home..Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

ABOUT THE EVENT:The second chapter of Tractate Shabbat presents multiple explanations of why bad things happen. The majority opinion that we get what we deserve. This passage offers 1) An “iffy” explanation intended for women and 2) An explanation intended for scholarly men, offering complex variables, including randomness. (Shabbat 31b-32a) ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Rachel Adler, the David Ellenson Professor of Modern Jewish Thought Emerita at Hebrew Union College–Los Angeles, was one of the first to integrate feminist perspectives into interpreting Jewish texts and law. Her book Engendering Judaism (1998) is the first by a female theologian to win a National Jewish Book Award for Jewish Thought. She has published over sixty articles on Jewish Thought, law, and gender, and on suffering and lament in Jewish tradition as well as the whimsical Tales of the Holy Mysticat, a prizewinning resource for adult Jewish education..Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:Beth El PhoenixABOUT THE EVENT:Cain and Abel is a foundational story about sibling rivalry and fraternal responsibility, but in the hands of rabbinic tradition, it’s also a powerful “script” for understanding the moral basis of law and justice. We’ll re-read this great Torah narrative using classic mishnaic and midrashic interpretations that seek to clarify the enduring values lying just beneath the surface of the Torah’s laws about dispensing justice.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Dan Ornstein is the rabbi of Congregation Ohav Shalom and a writer living with his family in Albany, New York. He also teaches Judaic Studies in the middle school of the Hebrew Academy of The Capital District. Rabbi Ornstein is the author of Cain v. Abel: A Jewish Courtroom Drama (The Jewish Publication Society 2020). He blogs at the Times Of Israel, and contributes essays to WAMC Northeast Public Radio, The Jerusalem Post, and The Jewish Forward. He is a contributor to the multi-volume Mesorah Matrix book series on Judaism and a number of other print and online journals. He and his wife, Marian Alexander, are the proud parents of Joseph, Shulamit and Vered. ★ Support this podcast ★

ABOUT THE EVENT:The Book of Proverbs, attributed to King Solomon, is a profound collection of Jewish wisdom, song, and inspiration. Yet to contemporary readers, the text can appear vague, ambiguous, and contradictory. In this refreshing and relevant commentary, Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz challenges us to find modern meaning in this ancient text. Using his signature blend of social justice practice and Jewish thought from throughout history, Rabbi Yanklowitz shows how the words of Proverbs are strikingly pertinent to issues we face today. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Rabbi Yanklowitz explores such topics as income inequality, feminism, animal rights, environmentalism, and many more. The author’s commentary is paired with the full text of Proverbs–in both Hebrew and an updated, gender-accurate translation–so readers can glean their own insights.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash.--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

EVENT CO-HOSTED BY:Congregation Or TzionABOUT THE EVENT:Together we will explore both the mechanics of how the the prozbul enables lenders to receive payment even after a Sabbatical year, and how this innovation serves as a prime example of how the Sages understand their role as both protectors of the Halakhic system and innovators responsible for responding to social and economic change. We will also compare Prozbul to other examples of innovation and resisitance to innovation.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield teaches Talmud, Halakha and Jewish Thought at Pardes. In addition, Zvi is a faculty member of the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators and has been training and mentoring Jewish Educators for over ten years in Tefilah in educational settings, critical issues in modern Jewish thought, and Israel education.Zvi holds a B.A. in History from Columbia University and did graduate work at Harvard University in Medieval and Modern Jewish Thought. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel and has rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.--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 Dr. Daniel RothEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:Temple EmanuelABOUT THE EVENT:In the race to discover real solutions for the conflicts that plague contemporary society it is essential that we look to precedent. Many of today’s conflicts involve ethno-religious tensions, such as the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, modern wisdom alone is ill-equipped to resolve. In Third-Party Peacemakers in Judaism, Rabbi Dr. Daniel Roth asks us to consider ancient religious and traditional cultural solutions to such present-day issues. Roth presents thirty-six case studies featuring third-party peacemakers drawn from Jewish classical, medieval, and early-modern rabbinic literature and analyzes them textually, theoretically, and discusses implications for practice today.ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Rabbi Dr. Daniel Roth is the director of Mosaica, The Religious Peace Initiative which serves as a network of ‘insider religious mediators’ advancing both religious peace and mitigating crisis situations in Israel and the Middle East. Roth also works to connect religious leaders to the tens of community mediation and dialogue centers throughout Israel that Mosaica supports. In addition, Roth is a core faculty member at Bar-Ilan University’s Graduate Program for Conflict Management, Resolution and Negotiation, where he teaches graduate courses on religious peacebuilding as well as supervises graduate students. His book Third-party Peacemakers in Judaism: Text Theory and Practice, was published by Oxford University Press in Spring 2021. Roth was the founder and director of the Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution, the Mahloket Matters Projects and the 9Adar:Jewish Week of Constructive Conflict / Dibur Hadash Israeli Week of Mediation and Dialogue. Roth is a regular lecturer for MEJDI Tours/National Georaphic, and was a senior research fellow at George Mason University’s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution. Roth holds a Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University’s Graduate Program for Conflict Management, Resolution and Negotiation, a MA in Talmud from Hebrew University, a B.Ed in Jewish Philosophy from Herzog Teachers’ College, and studied for eight years in Yeshivat Har-Etzion during which time he received Orthodox rabbinic ordination.--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 Dr. Jeremy RosenEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:Congregation Or TzionABOUT THE EVENT:King David: Man of War and Politics, Man of God, Man of Contradictions. Based on a close reading of the Books of Samuel.No biblical character is described in such detail as King David with all the complexities of his character and the range of his responses to the challenges he faced of escaping Saul, ruling a country, a family and himself. One opinion in the Talmud is that he never sinned. Is that position sustainable?ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Jeremy Rosen is a British born rabbi, a graduate in philosophy from Cambridge University and Mir Yeshivah in Jerusalem. He has Semicha from the Roshei Yeshivot of Mir, Ponevez and Be’er Yaakov. He has spent his working life in the rabbinate, Jewish education, and Academia on four continents and has retired to New York where he is the Rabbi of the Persian community of Manhattan and lectures at the JCC.--Stay Connected:• Website: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ • Donate: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/donate • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

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 ★