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.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller

Beth El Phoenix co-hosted the event

About the Event:

The current conflict that has seen a revival of the discussion regarding the Jewish right to establish a state in the Land of Israel has occasioned a renewed focus on the dynamics of sovereignty. Beyond a doubt, implementing Jewish sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael is the essential dimension of political Zionism.

In this seminar, I propose to examine how religion interacts with sovereignty and with the nationalist impulse that it nurtures. Among the questions considered are: Can the mingling of religion and state function constructively or must their interplay always be toxic, resulting in harmful and oppressive outcomes? Can God and religious values curb the excesses of nationalist fervor? How does the seductively alluring nature of power factor into the Zionist expression of Jewish sovereignty? And can there be a Zionism that embraces God, but does not aspire to sovereignty? We will study a variety of sources, ranging from the writings of the Rabbi of Satmar (an avowed anti-Zionist) to the messianic exhortations of the Rabbis Kook (father and son) and the settler rabbis of Gush Emunim (the Bloc of the Faithful) and the pacifist thought of “One of the Passionate Rabbis” – אחד הרבנים המרגישים. We will see how these teachings inform and shape Israeli politics and foment the extremism that is evident today. And we will discover the sober voices of the tradition that promote constraint and a limitation on the unfettered exercise of power.

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t0gs9wE3u3yL9Kw7Swc8JNFPbcH91Grj/view?usp=sharing

About the Speaker:

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller is a faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He recently celebrated 40 years of working with students and faculty as the Executive Director of the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA, where he is now Director Emeritus.

Chaim was ordained at Yeshiva University where he completed a Masters in Rabbinic Literature. He has lectured in the Departments of Sociology, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA, and the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He is a faculty member of the Wexner Heritage Foundation. Chaim was the founding director of the Hartman Fellowship for Hillel Professionals and a founding member of Americans for Peace Now.

Chaim was a rabbinic consultant to Barbra Streisand during the film Yentl. He and his wife Dr. Doreen Seidler-Feller, a clinical psychologist, are the parents of two children.

A virtual event presentation by Melanie Gruenwald

About the Event:

Be fully present to what is present, and integrate past and future into this moment - Kabbalah Experience Awareness Practice

Impermanence is a principle of harmony. When we don’t struggle against it we are in harmony with reality - Pema Chodron

These constantly changing times can be disorienting. How might we embrace grounding practices for a mindful approach to living in the present moment? Using this powerful transformative kabbalah awareness practice, we will explore how we integrate past and present so we can live more fully in the present moment.

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sMTIFj0aG7mb3EJTneZTUBDvaS5ssoGI/view?usp=sharing

About the Speaker:

Executive Director of Kabbalah Experience, Melanie Gruenwald brings over 25 years of non-profit leadership and community organizing to her position. Engaged with senior citizens, families, college students, and teens, Melanie has extensive professional experience with communal leadership and informal Jewish education.

Melanie is energized by building relationships, understanding people’s needs, and finding ways to connect them. She loves the balance of organizational leadership and teaching which she engages daily at Kabbalah Experience.

She earned her B.S. in Psychology from Binghamton University (S.U.N.Y), a Master's in Social Work, and a Certificate in Jewish Communal Service from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University. Melanie has pursued additional Judaic and spiritual studies at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, the Conservative Yeshiva, and most recently, the Kabbalah Experience.

Melanie is married to Rabbi Salomon Gruenwald, Associate Rabbi at the Hebrew Educational Alliance, and is a mom to three children, Koby (z”l), Hannah, and Micah.