A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Leila Gal Berner

The event was Co-Sponsored by Rodef Shalom

About The Event:

Having pioneered a new gateway into Torah learning called "kriat hakodesh,” (reading the holy), Rabbi Dr. Leila Gal Berner will lead us through a deep, contemplative journey through the heart of the Parsha, Vayera, helping participants to discover the profound personal meaning of the Torah text. Silence, learning about the text through midrashim, chant, deep personal questions (contemplated privately) and conversation will all be part of the experience. This approach stems from Rabbi Berner’s book, Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path. 

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Leila Gal Berner was ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and holds a second ordination from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (of blessed memory). She received her doctorate in medieval Jewish history from UCLA, with expertise in the history of Jews in medieval Spain. Her dissertation, “On the Western Shores: The Jews of Barcelona during the Reign of Jaume I, ‘el Conqueridor 1213-1276” has been widely cited and she has taught about the Spanish Reconquista in many Jewish communities. She has also taught in many communities about the “Golden Age of Spanish Jewry under Muslim Rule.”

Rabbi Gal-Berner served as Dean of Students of the ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal Ordination and continues to teach biblical and medieval history, feminist thought, and midrash.  She has recently published Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path. Dr. Gal Berner has taught in the Departments of Philosophy and Religion at American University and George Washington and Emory Universities, and in the Departments of Religion at Swarthmore and Reed Colleges.