In this lecture that was recorded live at Pardes Jerusalem as part of the Summer Evening Lecture Series, Yiscah Smith speaks about Restoring Unity to a Fragmented World: The Mysterious Healing Power of the Shema.

The Summer Evening Lecture Series was sponsored in memory of Brondell Pomrenze by Huti and Jay Pomrenze.

From the perspective of Jewish philosophy, the correct question is not so much “why do bad things happen to good people,” but how can a supposedly all loving and all-powerful God allow for the presence of evil and suffering in the world? In this podcast, recorded live on Tisha B'Av, Dr. Elliott Malamet explores how Jewish thinkers, ancient and modern, have approached this problem and he will analyze their “explanations”, with special emphasis on post-Holocaust theology.

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The Temple Mount is one of the most contested and volatile plots of land in the world, the focus of religious and national confrontation. In this lecture which was recorded live on Tisha B'Av 2017, Rabbi Gideon Weitzman focuses on the archaeological destruction perpetrated by the Islamic Waqf's renovations there and the subsequent initiative to sift through recovered earth from the site in search of ancient remains. We will discuss the political background that enabled this violation to take place and will use the artifacts as teaching aids in briefly tracing the holy esplanade's history.

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In this live recording on Tisha B'Av 2017, Yiscah Smith explores the inner dimension of “Loving one's fellow as oneself", The secret to engaging in this spiritual practice that is surprisingly doable, practical and a must.

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In this podcast, recorded live on Tisha B'Av 2017, Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield explores the tension between a mourning process which challenges us to accept our loss and grieve, and a teshuva process which demands that we we try to fix what is broken.  The Ninth of Av offers a unique opportunity to consider how  these different reactions can both compliment and build on one another.

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The “Men of the Great Assembly” – a fabled group of leaders who governed the people that returned to Zion, bequeathed to us precious little of their own writings. But early Rabbinic sources credit this group with setting down the foundations of the liturgy as we know it as well as with introducing major innovations in ritual and law – in short, with creating what would later be referred to as “Rabbinic Judaism”. We will consider two case studies that highlight their early activity and the inspiration behind it – (1) the institutionalization of prayer and (2) the redefining of Shabbat observance. This class was given by Rabbi Michael Hattin as part of the Executive Learning Seminar 2017.

In guiding the return from exile, Ezra and Nechemiah took on the task of rebuilding a people broken by failure, destruction and exile. In this class given by Rabbi Mike Feuer as part of ELS 2017, we will explore the power of the socio-political, religious and physical constructs which they used to give form to the Jewish people in their day. As we uncover the riches of the past, we will also ask ourselves whether the tools of Ezra and Nechemiah are relevant to today.

Exile for the Jewish people began as a national-historical process, but quickly transformed into a conceptual framework. The leadership of the return from Babylon embraced the questions posed by exile as a source for positive identity and a tool for deepening our relationship to the Divine. This class will examine biblical and rabbinic sources in order to touch the question of exile and gain insight into the wisdom which it offers. This session was given by Rabbi Mike Feuer as part of the Pardes Executive Learning Seminar, Summer 2017.

The core Zionist narrative of Israel presents an unbroken and unwavering connection between the people of Israel and its land. True as it is, individuals have felt, at times, doubts, pain and critique as they were articulating their particular attachment to it. In our session, we shall look at works by Yitzhak Shalev, Rachel, Nathan Alterman, Yehuda Amichai, Ephraim Kishon, Balfour Hakak, Lysie Doron and Amos Oz.

This session was given by Dr. Rachel Korazim as part of the Pardes Executive Learning Seminar, Summer 2017.

Theodor Herzl and Achad Ha’Am were two of the most influential leaders in the history of modern Zionism. Yet they had radically different understandings of which crisis (Anti-Semitism or Assimilation) the Jewish people faced about a century ago. We will compare and contrast their approaches, and see how the State of Israel reflects – and does not reflect – their views.

This session was given by Dean Dr. David Bernstein as part of the Pardes Executive Learning Seminar, Summer 2017.