Torah Curious

As the sun sets on the last night of Passover, Jews break out the bread. In many Arabic countries, this ushered in the Mimouna, the party/festival/meet-your-neighbors block party that brought together Jew and Gentile in food and celebration. Normally, Berlin is full of Mimouna celebrations. This year, given Corona, we've moved online for the First Annual International Mimouna Festival (https://www.facebook.com/events/580538189229905/)

Jeremy Borovitz talks with initiator Dekel Peretz about the founding of the International Mimouna Festival. Poet Mati Shmuelof reads an iconic Mimouna poem by Rabbi David Bozaglo (https://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/song/pages/song.aspx?songid=8412&fbclid=IwAR0gu9pR8chYnx9XFXC6FumDaPwa3lRHTMziuuAU145kDuQ6M1Ac-h8_0no#2,20,15319,23)

 and author Erez Majerantz reads excerpts from his new book "Life is the best of a bad lot" recently published in German by AphorismA Verlag.

(http://en.erezmajerantz.de/category/biographie-1?fbclid=IwAR3t7yJGgdfd0-tTt0Kj3kQml2r_f2ocRzmK_1hHdkc49y6OxgtJGd_eDHA)

Sabrina reserves the right to reject her Judaism---she just isn't choosing to exercise it at the moment. Raised secular-Russian in Philly, she flirted with Islam before finding herself in the Orthodox Jewish world. Come and learn with Sabrina as she balances her multiple roads on route to forging her own path. To learn more about Sabrina, or about our work, check out basehillel.de! We have lots of Passover resources!

There weren't so many Itamars growing up in Vienna---in fact, there weren't many who grew up like Itamar in very many places at all in Central Europe. Shabbat observant and open to the world, strictly Orthodox but still trying to understand the outside world. Come and learn how his agnosticism makes him more open, and take a listen to some people tunes that comprise the Torah of his soul. 

After a chance encounter with a group of secular Israelis in her small German town at the age of 14, Tanja Berg began to understand that there was a whole other side to her Jewish identity. From London to Berlin to Israel, Tanja is an activist, a feminist, and a committed leader. Come and learn about her volunteerism, especially with Beit Deborah (https://www.bet-debora.net/), and get some amazing Torah from Bertha Pappenheim, the founder of the Jewish Women's Association in Germany in 1904. 

Benjamin Schapiro isn't your average medical student---or, for that matter, your typical Jew, or your typical Yeshiva bochur, or your typical Sociologist, or....the list could go on. His otherness, in fact, is such a huge part of his existence, that wherever he goes, he is bound to become atypical. 

Join Benja (born Anatoly) as we go on a journey exploring the meaning of spirituality, Jewishness, and the mundane, and how all of it might be the same thing, after all. 

Naomi Henkel-Guembel stands at the intersection of Jewish, Israeli, and German identity. Which part of ourselves is that which we choose, and which part is our burden? Please join us on a fantastic journey that will take us from Rabbinic gurus in the bay area to ancient family houses outside of Mainz, as we learn from Naomi what it means to grapple with an identity made of many parts. Oh, and also, she's going to be a Rabbi!

Josh Weiner is standing on the chair at his parent's Shabbat table, reaching for a more meaningful existence. From Jerusalem to London and eventually to Berlin, Josh finds meaning---and G-d---in the everyday. Come and learn with Josh as we explore Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav and the Torah of sitting with friends by the Spree river. 

7 years ago, a Rabbi's wife convinced Nina Peretz, along with her husband, Dekel, that they had to do something to help their local synagogue. Fast forward, and Fraenkelufer has turned into a young and vibrant communal hub in Berlin's Kreuzberg neighborhood. From a timid public speaker to a powerful leader, learn how Nina's work transforms her community, and how her community has allowed her to be transformed. 

Source sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/182373?lang=bi

Mendel Itkin is an inheritor of the legacy of Ibn Ezra---a thinker and philosopher who still stays within the bounds of Jewish tradition. Part-time Academic, part-time anti-Missionary activist, full-time Orthodox Rabbinical student, Mendel is a force to be reckoned with! Don't miss our fascinating conversation, with some impassioned Torah!

Source sheet below!

https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/208580.1?lang=bi

Dalia Grinfeld is a force to be reckoned with! Assistant Director of European Affairs for the ADL, Dalia is always front and center as an active representative of the Jewish people. A thinker, an activist, and a friend, Dalia does a bit of everything. Our conversation ranged from growing up Jewish in Germany, to feminism, to why Jews in North America and Israel only pay attention when something bad happens. And of course, we get to learn about Jewrovision!