By Valley Beit Midrash
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The podcast currently has 1,395 episodes available.
A virtual event presentation by Rabba Sara Hurwitz
The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion
About the Event:
Is anger ever a useful tool to bring about change? Or is anger destructive and unbecoming for leaders? Does gender bias inherently affect the way we experience angry male or female leaders? Finally, can Yalta, one of the few named women in the Talmud, teach us anything about the place of anger and social change?
*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/122lvmLSbfgbvQZKeZe4yulxrEdR1ZrT6/edit
About the Speaker:
Rabba Sara Hurwitz, Co-Founder and President of Maharat, the first institution to ordain Orthodox women as clergy, also serves on the Rabbinic staff at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale.
Rabba Hurwitz completed Drisha’s three-year Scholars Circle Program, an advanced intensive program of study for Jewish women training to become scholars, educators, and community leaders. After another five years of study under the auspices of Rabbi Avi Weiss, she was ordained by Rabbi Weiss and Rabbi Daniel Sperber in 2009.
In 2013 Rabba Hurwitz was awarded the Hadassah Foundation Bernice S. Tannenbaum prize and the Myrtle Wreath Award from the Southern New Jersey Region of Hadassah in 2014. In 2016, she was the Trailblazer Award Recipient at the UJA Federation of New York. She was named one of the Forward50 most influential Jewish leaders and Newsweek’s 50 most influential rabbis. In 2017 Rabba Hurwitz was chosen to be a member of the inaugural class of the Wexner Foundation Field
Fellows. She received the Rabbi Israel and Libby Mowshowitz Award from the New York Board of Rabbis in 2023.
She and her husband, Josh Abraham, are parents to Yonah, Zacharya, Davidi, and Natan.
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Marc Gitler
The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ
About the Event:
As a small people, Jews have always been at the whim of larger empires. We know of the kings who oppressed our people, so let’s spend time familiarizing ourselves with kings who restored our people’s fortunes.
*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14dBke91wnSdl5WfWkl6cRY7Z0Op4UtGZ/edit
About the Speaker:
Marc Gitler serves as the Senior Jewish Educator for Valley Beit Midrash and is the visiting Rabbi of Aish San Diego. A recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, he was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children.
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Russ Linden
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel
About the Event:
January 6.
Our polarized society.
Oct. 7.
The war in Gaza.
The impact of climate change.
Chaos at our Southern Border …
The problems are everywhere, and they seem overwhelming. We Jews are a people of hope. Indeed, Israel’s national anthem – Hatikva – means “the hope.” But many of us find it hard to feel hopeful in this environment.
We’ll discuss several ways to maintain a “realistic optimism,” based on Torah examples and modern research findings. You’ll leave the session feeling more confident about your ability to be optimistic.
About The Speaker:
Russ is a management educator and author of six books. Since the mid-1980s he has taught public and nonprofit executives and managers about leadership, collaboration, the human side of change, resilience, crisis leadership, and related topics.
His latest book is Loss and Discovery: What the Torah Can Teach Us about Leading Change. He has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Virginia and the Federal Executive Institute for over 35 years. In 2003 he was the Williams Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the State University of New York (Fredonia) School of Business. He has consulted with numerous government agencies, elected officials, and nonprofits in the U.S. and Israel.
Russ is a former president of his congregation, where he sometimes gives the d’var Torah during Shabbat services. He was the president of the local Jewish federation and served on the University of Virginia Hillel board.
Russ has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. He has a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from the University of Virginia. His volunteer activities include leading an organization that makes the community more open and welcoming for refugees and immigrants. He and his wife live in Charlottesville. They have two adult children and three grandchildren.
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz sits with Rav Gavriel Reiss to talk about Rav Yehuda Ashkenazi.
Rav Gavriel Reiss was born and raised in Los Angeles but moved to Israel as a teenager. He served in elite IDF units before dedicating himself to Jewish education. In 2017, he embarked on a trailblazing initiative to break out of the security fence of Pnei Kedem in southern Judea to create a farm that would not only serve to help Jews learn to live more authentically on the land but also prevent the European Union from usurping land in Area C through its proxies in the Palestinian Authority (if not for this farm, the Jews of southern Judea would have been completely cut off from the Dead Sea). Rav Gavriel holds a triple degree in philosophy, political science & economics from the Hebrew University and a letter of Yoreh Yoreh from Rav Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg zt"l.
Rav Gavriel Reiss was born and raised in Los Angeles but moved to Israel as a teenager. He served in elite IDF units before dedicating himself to Jewish education. In 2017, he embarked on a trailblazing initiative to break out of the security fence of Pnei Kedem in southern Judea to create a farm that would not only serve to help Jews learn to live more authentically on the land but also prevent the European Union from usurping land in Area C through its proxies in the Palestinian Authority (if not for this farm, the Jews of southern Judea would have been completely cut off from the Dead Sea). Rav Gavriel holds a triple degree in philosophy, political science & economics from the Hebrew University and a letter of Yoreh Yoreh from Rav Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg zt"l.
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Avidan Freedman
About the Event:
Maimonides writes that one who looks at past tragedies as mere happenstance is acting “cruelly”. Rather, the events of the past must goad us to introspection. Using the writing of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik as a model, we will explore how to suggest directions of introspection that Israeli society needs to consider, and how to do that without claiming to understand God’s plans for the world.
About the Speaker:
Rabbi Avidan Freedman completed a Master's Degree in Jewish Education at the Azrieli Graduate School, and received rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and the Israeli Rabbinate. He is an educator at the Shalom Hartman Institute’s high school and post-high school program and an activist who founded Yanshoof, an organization dedicated to establishing moral limits for Israeli weapons exports. Learn more at www.yanshoof.org
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Jacob Siegel
Temple Solel co-hosted the event
About the event:
“Business as usual” is leading us to rising economic suffering, societal division, and climate crisis. A new approach promises socially responsible investing by looking at “environmental, social, and governance (ESG)” concerns. Amid the new buzzwords and their ensuing controversy, the question remains: Where should you invest your retirement savings, pension plan, or organization’s endowment? This class will explore Jewish guidance, helping the modern Jewish investor harness ancient wisdom to leverage their investments for good.
About the speaker:
Rabbi Jacob Siegel has spent years working with individuals and institutions across North America to bring Jewish values and wisdom to bear on investment decisions and to invest in a climate-smart future. He received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and earned his undergraduate in mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis. He lives in Eugene, Oregon with his family, where he serves on the board of his local Jewish Federation and his local credit union.
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Yonatan Neril
About the Event:
Rabbi Yonatan Neril will explore Jewish teachings that relate to ecology and why it’s so critical that Jewish communities mobilize to address the climate crisis. We are facing the greatest challenge we have ever faced and Jewish wisdom has a critical role in informing values and environmental behavior. Religion is a fundamental part of many people’s lives and a key motivator. Rabbi Neril, who is visiting Denver from Jerusalem, will also share about the work of his Jerusalem-based NGO in Israel and internationally to promote faith groups inspiring behavioral change for sustainable living.
About the Speaker:
Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development. He speaks internationally on religion and ecology and co-organized thirteen interfaith environmental conferences in Jerusalem, the U.S., and Dubai. He completed an M.A. and B.A. at Stanford University. He lives with his wife, Shana, and two children in Jerusalem.
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Elaine Leeder
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel
About the event:
For the last twenty-eight years Elaine Leeder has been working in prisons, first at Elmira Correctional Facility, then San Quentin, and now in prisons all over California. Her teaching, then running self-help groups and now doing Victim/Offender Dialogues, has shown her that there is redemption, remorse, and contrition behind the walls. People can be transformed even in the most oppressive of circumstances.
Leeder will discuss the Jewish values like Teshuvah, Chesed, and Tikkun Olam that deeply inform her work. She will describe the forgiveness she sees in victims (or victims’ families) for some of the most horrendous of crimes like murder, kidnapping, rape, and robbery. Her presentation will focus on real situations that will inspire and touch you in profound ways. Her growth has been deeply informed by these powerful stories.
About the speaker:
Elaine (Sneierson) Leeder is a Professor Emerita of Sociology and the Dean Emerita of the School of Social Sciences at Sonoma State University. Previously she was a Professor at Ithaca College, Ithaca NY. She has 48 years of distinguished accomplishments and experience in academia and public service. Leeder is listed in Who’s Who of America Women, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who of American Teachers. Her awards include a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship, Visiting Scholar status at the United States Holocaust Museum, outstanding teaching awards, research and travel grants, and numerous awards from student and community agencies. She is a co-founder of the Jewish Studies program and the producer of the Holocaust and Genocide Memorial Grove and the Anne Frank tree installation at Sonoma State University. Leeder has an MSW from Yeshiva University, an MPH from the University of California at Berkeley, and a PhD from Cornell University, and has published six books and numerous articles. Her book The Family in Global Perspective: A Gendered Journey is based on her Semester at Sea voyages in 1992, 1999, and 2013. One of her books My Life with Lifers: Lessons for a Teacher, Humanity Has No Bars describes her work in prisons in NY and CA where she taught, ran groups, and now does victim-offender dialogues. Her exemplary career encompasses roles as professor/teacher, psychotherapist, consultant, author, and advocate for social justice. Visit her at www.elaineleeder.com
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. David Harbater
Co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion & BMH-BJ
About the Event:
Throughout history, billions of people worldwide have studied the biblical account of creation without realizing that there is not one account but rather two separate and competing accounts. Through a careful reading of the text, we will explore these two accounts and the perspectives that emerge from each regarding such fundamental questions as the nature of God, the characteristics that distinguish human beings from other species, the role that God calls upon us to fulfill in the world, and the relationship that God envisions between men and women.
*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ohi3XGFxoe3Dj_q6lD5G0jaaEnktkrqm/view?usp=sharing
About the Speaker:
Rabbi Dr. David Harbater teaches Bible and Jewish thought at Midreshet Torah v’Avodah, the Amudim Seminary, and the Women’s Beit Midrash of Efrat. He previously served as a lecturer in Jewish education at Herzog College; as a curriculum writer for the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning, a project of the Hebrew University; and as a teacher of Bible, Jewish thought, and Talmud in a variety of frameworks, both in Israel and in the United States. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yeshiva University, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg, and earned his PhD in education from the University of Haifa.
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