Elmad Online Learning

We live in a time of stark gaps between unprecedented affluence and extreme poverty. How might Jewish tradition and historical experience inform our role in the conversation about global poverty and wealth?

Global Torah is a five-part podcast series exploring the intersections of Jewish history, values and tradition with the practice and pursuit of global citizenship, social justice and international development.

Hosted by Shani Rosenbaum.

Guest bios:

Dyonna Ginsburg

Prior to OLAM, Dyonna served as Director of Education and Service Learning at The Jewish Agency; Executive Director of Bema'aglei Tzedek, an Israeli social change NGO; and co-founder of Siach, a global network of Jewish social justice and environmental professionals. She has a BA in International Relations from Columbia University and an MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew University. A frequent lecturer, she was named "one of Israel's 50 most inspiring women" by Nashim magazine in 2015.

Rabbi Daniel Landes

Born in Chicago, Danny studied in Chicago with Rabbi M.B. Sacks, the Menachem Tzion; in Israel with Reb Aryeh Levin, the Tzadik of Jerusalem, with the great mystic R. Zvi Yehudah Kook, and with the Chief Rabbi R. Avrum Shapiro. In New York he studied with the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik; and in Los Angeles with the Av Beit Din R. Shmuel Katz (on whose rabbinical court he served).

Danny was a founding Faculty member of The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles (Director of Education) and of Yeshiva of Los Angeles (The Van Lennop Chair of Social Ethics), as well as Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at Loyola Law School. He was Rabbi of the Upstairs Minyan which he merged with the renewed Congregation Bnai David Judea – a center for spirituality, intellectual ferment and social action. He has taught for the Wexner Foundation for over 20 years.

Danny came to Pardes in 1995 as Director and has been active in creation of advanced Talmud classes, Bekiut Talmud, the Fellows, PEP, the Kollel, the Executive Seminar Programs, the annual Blaustein and Brettler Scholar Series, Pardes USA and strengthening of the Pardes Beit Midrash. He is an exponent of Jewish Unity and also was the first Rabbi to be invited by Indonesia to speak publicly (at the Forum of Religions). He and his wife Sheryl Robbin, a social worker and author, write on Biblical and ethical issues.

 

How do we approach Jewish text when addressing modern global social issues? Do we believe Torah, Jewish text and tradition, have something unique and valuable to contribute to conversations about global justice and development? Where do our texts “align” with modern trends in ethics in the international development sector? Where do our texts diverge from modern trends in ethics? Or, when they don’t “speak our language” or share the vocabulary that speaks most precisely to the way we see the challenges we’re facing?

Global Torah is a five-part podcast series exploring the intersections of Jewish history, values and tradition with the practice and pursuit of global citizenship, social justice and international development.

Hosted by Shani Rosenbaum.

Guest bios:

Danielle Abraham

Danielle Abraham is exploring what it means to be a Jewish social entrepreneur in the field of international development and impact investing. With one hat, Danielle is the Co-Chair of the ID2 Conference and Network, promoting entrepreneurship for development and connecting Israeli expertise and the Jewish world to developing country needs. Wearing her second hat, she is a Director at Impact Investing Israel - working to support the development of the impact investment sector in Israel. Prior to this, Danielle was a senior policy advisor in MASHAV, Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Danielle made aliyah from London, where she worked for the Strategy and International Directorate of the UK Home Office. Danielle holds an B.A. and Master’s from the University of Oxford and lives in Tel Aviv with her husband. She loves to play music, cook/eat, travel and meet new people.

Meesh Hammer-Kassoy

Meesh teaches Talmud and the Social Justice Track at Pardes. Originally from Washington, D.C., Meesh has a B.A. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, and a M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. Her dissertation explored the courageous manner in which the rabbis of the Talmud created a new criminal punishment system. In 2015, Meesh completed her studies at Beit Midrash Har’el and received ordination from Rabbi Herzl Hefter and Rabbi Daniel Sperber. Meesh is also a graduate of NATIV, Pardes, Midreshet Lindenbaum, MaTaN, Drisha, and ATID. She has received many fellowships including Lady Davis, National Foundation for Jewish Culture, Memorial Foundation and ATID. She has also taught at NYU, Drisha and Midreshet Lindenbaum.

Yedidya Julian Sinclair

Yedidya Julian Sinclair is Vice President of Energiya Global, an international solar energy development company. Before moving to Israel he worked as an economist in the UK government. In his spare time he is a writer,translator, urban tour guide and teaches Jewish texts and sources. He holds semicha, degrees from Oxford and Harvard and lives in Jerusalem with his wife and five children.

Further reading:

Yedidya: Shmita and high-tech

Yedidya: relationship with food

Meesh on the Jewish perspective on the global refugee crisis

Meesh on shmita/yovel: Economic Vision of Justice

Danielle on