Valley Beit Midrash

Enjoy the fifteenth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic: Is Judaism Situated in the Past or Future? In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

ABOUT THE EVENT: Join Rabbi Avi Orlow for a zoom class about the Messianic Idea. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Avi Orlow is the Vice President at the Foundation for Jewish Camp. He has a deep love of irreverent, relevant, revealing Torah. Before joining Foundation for Jewish Camp in 2008, Avi was the Campus Rabbi and Assistant Director of the St. Louis Hillel at Washington University and has held numerous positions as rabbi, educator, and youth leader. He spent 17 years as a camper and then educator at Ramah Camps in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and YUSSR camps in the Former Soviet Union. Avi has a B.A. in religious studies from Columbia University. He was ordained in the charter class at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the open Orthodox rabbinical school. Avi lives in White Plains with his wife, Cantor Adina Frydman, and their children, Yadid, Yishama, Emunah, and Libi. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.faceb

ABOUT THE EVENT: How is body liberation as Jewish issue? In this session, we will learn about the Jewish roots, as well as the Jewish future, of the body liberation movement. We will explore both the history and the current state of fat activism and body positivity, and look at how Jewish communities and Jewish values have an important role to play in this. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Founder and president of Fat Torah, Rabbi Minna Bromberg, PhD is passionate about bringing her three decades of experience in fat activism to writing, teaching and change-making at the nexus of Judaism and body liberation. Her forthcoming book is Belonging for Every Body: a Fat Torah guide to building inclusive spiritual community. Minna received her doctorate in sociology from Northwestern University, with a dissertation on identity formation in interfaith couples, and was ordained at Hebrew College in 2010. Since then she has led a 250-family Conservative congregation in Reading, PA, released a fifth album of original music, and run

Enjoy the fourteenth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic: Divine Torah vs. Biblical Criticism In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

Enjoy the thirteenth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic: Local vs. Global In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

ABOUT THIS EVENT: Liturgy is a kind of sacred poetry, using metaphors and imagery that spoke to our ancestors. What happens when we pair our liturgy with more contemporary poetry? How does poetry help us better understand the yearnings, pain, joy, and questions expressed in our liturgy? And how does it offer us new insights and ways to grapple with the big questions, with doubt, and with our aspirations? ABOUT THIS SPEAKER: Rabbi Hara Person is the Chief Executive of Central Conference of American Rabbis. Previously, she was the CCAR’s Chief Strategy Officer. In that capacity, she oversaw the Communications Department and served as Publisher of CCAR Press, and worked with leadership on overall organizational strategy. Rabbi Person was ordained in 1998 from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, after graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Amherst College (1986) and receiving an MA in Fine Arts from New York University’s International Center of Photography (1992). She served as Ed

ABOUT THIS EVENT: The Jews’ Indian investigates the history of American Jewish relationships with Native Americans, both in the realm of cultural imagination and in face-to-face encounters. These two groups’ exchanges were numerous and diverse, proving at times harmonious when Jews’ and Natives people’s economic and social interests aligned, but discordant and fraught at other times. American Jews could be as exploitative of Native cultural, social, and political issues as other American settlers, and historian David Koffman argues that these interactions both unsettle and historicize the often triumphant consensus history of American Jewish life. Focusing on the ways Jewish class mobility and civic belonging were wrapped up in the dynamics of power and myth making that so severely impacted Native Americans, this books is provocative and timely, the first history to critically analyze Jewish participation in, and Jews’ grappling with the legacies of Native American history and the colonial project upon which

ABOUT THIS EVENT: Through classic Jewish sources and contemporary issues we will delve into the essential practice of social justice in Jewish life. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Rick Jacobs is president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the most powerful force in North American Jewish life. The URJ leads the largest and most diverse Jewish movement in North America, reaching more than 1.5 million people through nearly 850 congregations, 15 overnight camps, the Reform teen youth Movement NFTY, and the Religious Action Center in Washington DC. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

ABOUT THIS EVENT: The meaning of our words is under assault. Can we trust one another, and the language that connects and divides us, to direct us toward truth? Together, we will look at an achingly beautiful passage from Rabbi Isaac Hutner, one of the 20th century’s most creative and inspirational thinkers, who inscribes these questions which are at the heart of today’s political and civil turmoil – directly in the heart of what it means to be a Jew, and a human being. (And, we’ll make use of Harry Frankfurt’s famous Essay “On BS”). ABOUT THIS SPEAKER: Rabbi Jason Rubenstein is the Howard M. Holtzmann Jewish Chaplain at Yale, where he serves the university's diverse and exciting Jewish community. Jason is a native of DC and taught at the Hadar Institute before coming to Yale. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!

Enjoy the twelfth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic: The Grah vs The Besht In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

Enjoy the eleventh session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic: Truth vs. Compromise In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

ABOUT THIS EVENT: Let’s forget everything we’ve been told about what it means to be Jewish and delve into the four books which forever made, and changed Jewish history; The Bible – where our story begins; The Talmud – when we are told to question everything; The Guide for the Perplexed – the book which told to be rational, & The Zohar – the book which revealed God’s secret. In this class we will learn about the unique revolution offered by each book, unravel what it has meant to be Jewish over time, and perhaps even come to question what being Jewish means for each one of us. ABOUT THIS SPEAKER: Jonnie Schnytzer is a Phd candidate focusing on medieval kabbalah. His dissertation is focused on the kabbalistic system of thought of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie is also preparing a critical edition of Ashkenazi’s commentary on Sefer Yesira. Probably the only PhD student in Jewish Philosophy who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli naval commandos in a swimming race, Jonnie’s also the aut

ABOUT THIS EVENT: The summer months typically supply a significant portion of Arizona’s annual rainfall, but in recent years have been bone dry. As Monsoon season arrives, it’s tempting to pray for rain. But can we do so as Jews? And if we did, what would it look like? Join Dr. Daniel Stein Kokin as he presents his “Tefillat ha-Monsoon,” and explores the halakhic, literary, and identity issues raised by this new prayer. ABOUT THIS SPEAKER: Dr. Daniel Stein Kokin is an academic wanderer, in senses both geographic and disciplinary. He has taught at Yale, UCLA, and the University of Greifswald in Germany, and been hosted by departments or programs for Italian, Israel Studies, Protestant Theology, and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, to name just a few. He writes on Renaissance Humanism, Jewish-Christian relations, and modern Israel, and also develops academic presentations that synthesize scholarly lecture and dramatic performance. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at ASU. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1N

Enjoy the tenth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic: The Angels vs. God In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

ABOUT THIS EVENT: A deep dive into the book and the man: Kohelet. Learn how this poet’s chapbook serves as a vehicle for a life review of the author and provides direction for our own lives–and how this perspective, wow consistent with the internal workings of the book challenges scholarly and traditional notions of authorship and intent. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Kerry Olitzky is the former long time executive director of Big Tent Judaism. He was vice president of the Wexner Heritage Foundation and was on the faculty and administration of Hebrew Union College following his tenure as a congregational rabbi. He is the author of over 75 books and hundreds of articles and has recently focused his attention on writing children's books, motivated perhaps by the blessing of 7 grandchildren. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! C

ABOUT THIS CLASS: Mitzvot are oftentimes understood as outward-facing actions, but doing the internal work to develop one’s middot, or character traits, is equally a mitzvah we are called to fulfill. The Torah, both in law and narrative, has much to teach us about cultivating a healthy personality of Humility, Patience, Gratitude, Order, and more. In this series – inspired by the works of Rabbi David Jaffe and Alan Morinis – we will journey through a number of the core character traits, study their appearances in canonical Jewish works, and explore practical ways of becoming better citizens, family members, and friends through the practice of Mussar. Class 9 discusses the trait "Bechirah". ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Originally from Los Angeles (where he was a successful child actor), Rabbi Loren Berman is the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic Regional Jewish Educator for Moishe House and an Outreach and Engagement Associate at Sefaria. Previously, he was the supervisor of High Holidays programming at Riker’s Island Corr

Enjoy the ninth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic: Ayn Rand vs. Karl Marx In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https://www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Natan Sharansky was born in Donetsk, Ukraine. He was a spokesman for the human rights movement, a Prisoner of Zion and leader in the struggle for the right of Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel. Subsequent to his request to make aliya, Mr. Sharansky was arrested on trumped up charges of treason and espionage. He was convicted in a Soviet court and served nine years in the Gulag with many stretches in a punishing cell. Following massive public campaigns by the State of Israel, World Jewry and leaders of the free world, Mr. Sharansky was released in 1986, making aliya on the very day of his release. In his first few years in Israel, Mr. Sharansky established the Zionist Forum to assist Soviet olim in their absorption in Israel. In the 1990's, he established the Yisrael B'Aliyah party in order to accelerate the integration of Russian Jews. He served in four successive Israeli governments, as Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. In 2018 he received the highest Israeli award - th

ABOUT THIS CLASS: During this pandemic, our sense of time and our daily routines have changed significantly. Have you ever wondered what God has been doing all day? In this class, we’ll explore a number of rabbinic stories that imagine God’s daily schedule and nightlife. These narratives are playful and quirky but beneath the whimsical surface they address profound theological questions about how the world operates and how each of us ought to use the hours of each day. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dr. Sarit Kattan Gribetz is Associate Professor in the Theology Department at Fordham University, Acting Director of Fordham's Center for Jewish Studies, and a student at Yeshivat Maharat. Her first book, Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism, received a National Jewish Book Award in Scholarship, and she is currently working on her next book, titled Jerusalem: A Feminist History. DONATE: http://www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ https:/

ABOUT THIS CLASS: Mitzvot are oftentimes understood as outward-facing actions, but doing the internal work to develop one’s middot, or character traits, is equally a mitzvah we are called to fulfill. The Torah, both in law and narrative, has much to teach us about cultivating a healthy personality of Humility, Patience, Gratitude, Order, and more. In this series – inspired by the works of Rabbi David Jaffe and Alan Morinis – we will journey through a number of the core character traits, study their appearances in canonical Jewish works, and explore practical ways of becoming better citizens, family members, and friends through the practice of Mussar. Class 9 discusses the trait "Bitachon". ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Originally from Los Angeles (where he was a successful child actor), Rabbi Loren Berman is the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic Regional Jewish Educator for Moishe House and an Outreach and Engagement Associate at Sefaria. Previously, he was the supervisor of High Holidays programming at Riker’s Island Corr