A virtual event presentation by Dr. Boris Draznin The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion About the Event:  Dr. Draznin will discuss How History and Genetics Define Jewish Diversity and Identity, the book he published (Cambridge Scholar Publishing) in 2023. The book and his presentation will reveal current answers to old questions as to how Jewish people might be genetically related. Modern genetic research tackles ingrained convictions about ethnicity and religion, journeying...

A virtual event presentation by Noam Zion About the Event:  In this class, we will address the question: How will you celebrate your seder in a time in which so much is lo b’seder (not in order), in a time of war, collateral damage to civilians, endangered hostages, and various kinds of worldwide antisemitism? The problems will not be resolved by Seder night, but we must celebrate as Jews have celebrated Pesach in the worst of times. But we must also acknowledge the profound experiences of...

A virtual event presentation by Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel  About The Event:  American Jewish Women have made enormous strides over the past century, opening up new avenues for women to engage meaningfully with Judaism and Jewish life. In so doing, they have enriched not only their own lives but also American Jewry and the Jewish tradition as a whole. Together, we will explore this transformation and its impact on us all. About the...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz interviews Rabbi Yehuda Albin on the importance of Jewish learning.  As the founder of The Ember Foundation and TORAHUB, Yehuda has “built” a synagogue and school without walls. Since moving to Chicago in 1994, he has personally touched hundreds of people with his engaging educational style. Raised in Scarsdale, NY, in a Reform home, and educated at Bowdoin College, he earned his rabbinic ordination during a decade of Torah study in Jerusalem. ★ Support this...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc Gitler About the Event:  From Jesus to Shabtai Zevi to the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe, over the past 2000 years, numerous people, or at least their followers, have fashioned themselves the long sought-after Messiah. But how does one prove that he or she is the true Messiah? While the messianic figures of the past pointed to various events, wonders, and symbols to demonstrate their authenticity, there is one idea that every claimant shares: direct lineage...

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Nadav Shifman Berman About the Event:  In this class, which would take place just before Purim 5784, we shall focus on one important term in the Scroll of Esther, namely “Dat“, and ask: Is Judaism a “Religion”? What are the main modern currents, mainly in Protestantism, which arguably pushed toward defining Judaism as a religion? And what exactly is at stake, for understanding Jewish theology, thought, and practice? About the Speaker:  Dr. Nadav Shifman...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz has a conversation with Tara Strong. A renowned actress known for her talented voice work in animation & now for her powerful voice for justice for Israeli hostages. Tara Strong began her acting career at the age of 13 in Toronto, Canada. She landed several TV, film, and musical theater roles as well as, her first lead in an animated series as the title role of "Hello Kitty." After a short run at Toronto's Second City theater company, she moved to Los Angeles...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett About the Event:  The Talmud proposes that on Purim we enter a state of mind in which we no longer know the difference between the goodness of Mordechai and the evil of Haman. At a key moment in the Megillah, when the fate of the Jews seems to lie in the balance, Mordechai proclaims to Esther not-so-emphatically “Who knows? Perhaps it’s for a time like that that you have arrived at royal power.” What might the Purim story, its...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Mirsky The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel  About the Event:  Liberalism is in crisis everywhere, and everywhere the crises bear similarities and real differences. We will look at what has been going on in Israel, to understand it on its terms, as a Jewish and Democratic state, and about liberalism’s vicissitudes around the world. About the Speaker:  Yehudah Mirsky is a Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with Dara Horn to talk about the rising anti-semitism on American campuses. Dara Horn is the award-winning author of six books, including the novels In the Image (Norton 2002), The World to Come (Norton 2006), All Other Nights (Norton 2009), A Guide for the Perplexed (Norton 2013), and Eternal Life (Norton 2018), and the essay collection People Love Dead Jews (Norton 2021). One of Granta magazine’s Best Young American Novelists, she is the recipient of...

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Dara Horn The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion About the Event:  In her latest book, acclaimed author Dara Horn explores a pointed question: Why do far too many people seem to love dead Jews, but ignore the living ones? In 2022, the Holocaust continues to make headlines, fill our films and fiction, and generate extraordinary interest far beyond our community. Yet ignorance and indifference towards Jew hatred today seem to be higher than...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz has a conversation with former professional basketball player Dan Grunfeld about the book he published in 2022, By the Grace of the Game about his multi-generational family journey from Auschwitz to the NBA. Dan Grunfeld is a former professional basketball player, an accomplished writer, and a proud graduate of Stanford University. An Academic All-American and All-Conference basketball selection at Stanford, Dan played professionally for eight seasons in top...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Martin Lockshin The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ About the Event:  The Bible is full of commandments that say “do x” or “don’t do y,” almost always without specifying who is being addressed.  When the Bible says not to mistreat widows and orphans, was it addressing judges? Or the wealthy? Or all of us? About the Speaker:  Martin Lockshin is a University Professor Emeritus at York University and lives in Jerusalem. He received his Ph.D. in Near...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Jeremiah Unterman About the Event:  The polytheism of the ancient Near East conceived of the gods as natural beings who needed sacrifices and libations to physically sustain them. The ethical monotheism of the Torah created a revolution against paganism which would ultimately change forever the concept of religion. One of the key ways in which the Jewish prophets shaped this revolution was their unique understanding of the relationship between ethics...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yankolwiz interviews Rabbi Sharon Brous, founding and Senior Rabbi of IKAR  Sharon Brous is the founding and senior rabbi of IKAR, a trail-blazing Jewish community based in Los Angeles. Built in 2004, IKAR has grown into a diverse, dynamic, multi-generational community, one of the fastest-growing and most influential in the country. Brous has been named #1 Most Influential Rabbi in the U.S. by Newsweek/The Daily Beast. She blessed both President Obama and President Biden at...

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Sharon Brous The event was co-hosted by Temple Solel About the Event:  The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World, makes the case that in an era of loneliness, social alienation, and ideological extremism, our deepest spiritual work is finding our way to one other—in celebration, sorrow, and solidarity. Relationships of care and curiosity, Brous argues, are essential to both personal healing and social change. This is...

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Mark Nanos The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion  About the Event:  Most interpretations of Paul understand the apostle to argue that Jews who did not share their faith in Jesus Christ had lost their original covenant standing. Yet, at the same time, they maintain that there will come a time when Jews will believe (based on the same terms as Gentile sinners), and then “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). In this class we will trace some of...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz interviews Rabbi Daniel Askenazi, Chief Rabbi of Barcelona, Spain. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rav Sarah Mulhern The event was co-sponsored by Temple Chai & Temple Emanuel         About the Event:  Is there a value to being publicly identifiable as Jewish? Is there a value to looking more like our non-Jewish neighbors? In this session, we will explore how Jewish texts have engaged with these questions over time, and interrogate our instincts and experiences. We will focus on classical Jewish texts about distinctive Jewish dress to launch a broad...

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi David Kasher The event was co-sponsored by Temple Chai About the Event:  We often divide the Torah into two categories: narrative and law. But the laws of the Torah themselves are often written in poetic language, inviting us to use the tools of literary criticism to analyze them. That poetic quality is prominently on display in one of the Torah’s most (in)famous legal formulations: An Eye for an Eye. A careful literary reading of this law in...

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz engages in an enlightening conversation with Rabbi David Kasher, exploring the divinity of the Torah. Rabbi David Kasher serves as the Director of Hadar West Coast. He grew up bouncing back and forth between Berkeley and Brooklyn, hippies and Hassidim – and has been trying to synthesize these two worlds ever since. After graduating from Wesleyan University in 1998, he studied for several years in yeshivot in Israel before heading to rabbinical school at Yeshivat...

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Adele Reinhartz The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ About the Event:  This talk will explore some of the issues about the portrayal of Jews and Judaism in the Fourth Gospel. In analyzing this very important topic, it is always necessary to have a dual focus, with one eye on what the Gospel itself says, and the other on what scholars have said. This talk will have three main parts: 1. Jesus as a Jew in the Gospel of John 2. Jesus and the “Jews” in the...

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Dr. Bernice Lerner About the Event:  In mid-April 1945, a small group of liberators entered Bergen-Belsen, where they found tens of thousands of unburied dead and 60,000 “displaced persons,” of whom 25,000 were in dire need of medical attention. What principles guided their leaders’ excruciating choices? What ethical questions consumed the men as they endeavored to feed the starved, control the spread of disease, and equip the largest hospital in...

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Aubrey Glazer About the Event:  Merest Breath is a provocative and contemporary translation with two new commentaries on Qohelet (Ecclesiastes). These eclectic commentaries on one of the strangest books of the Hebrew Bible open up an ancient wisdom text that dares to address theological skepticism of the present. Understanding Qohelet as resisting biblical theological platitudes about sin, prayer, and forgiveness, these commentaries are a magisterial...