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“Propaganda, Persuasion, and the Manufacturing of Reality” — From Pharaoh to Political Media
A hybrid (in-person & virtual) event presentation by Rabbi Marc Gitler
Please note event times are listed in MST
EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BMH-BJ
ABOUT THE EVENT:
This is the third session in a four-part series. Participants may register for one, multiple, or all four sessions - attendance at every session is not required. Each session relates to the main theme but will stand on its own, allowing participants to join at any point in the series. All sessions will also be recorded and made available for those who would like to catch up on any content they miss or revisit the material at a later time.
Truth, Media, and Propaganda - A timely look at misinformation, lashon hara, and the ethics of communication—especially in an age of social media and AI.
Session 3: “Propaganda, Persuasion, and the Manufacturing of Reality” — From Pharaoh to Political Media
This class broadens from personal ethics to societal manipulation. Students would analyze how leaders, governments, and movements shape collective perception through fear, repetition, symbols, and emotional narratives.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi Marc Gitler serves as Senior Jewish Educator for Valley Beit Midrash and is the visiting Rabbi of Aish SanDiego. 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 Cry for Wholeness From the Void: Bridging Zionism and Diasporism
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi David Jaffe
Please note event times are listed in PST.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi David Jaffe is the Founder and Executive Director of Kirva, a national education and training organization that integrates Mussar and Chassidic wisdom and practice with the work of social change. He is the author of Changing the World from the Inside Out, winner of the National Jewish Book Award.
ABOUT THE EVENT:
What is at stake in bridging the growing divide in our North American Jewish community between people who feel strongly connected to the project of Jewish self-determination in our ancient homeland, A.K.A "Zionism" and the growing movement of Diasporism, that decentralizes the role of Jewish statehood in Jewish life. How might we bridge this divide? We turn to the wisdom of Rabbi Avraham Isaac HaCohen Kook for guidance.
“AI, Deepfakes, and the Future of Human Trust” — Can We Still Know What’s Real?
A hybrid (in-person & virtual) event presentation by Rabbi Marc Gitler
Please note event times are listed in MST
EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BMH-BJ
ABOUT THE EVENT:
This is the final session in a four-part series. Participants may register for one, multiple, or all four sessions - attendance at every session is not required. Each session relates to the main theme but will stand on its own, allowing participants to join at any point in the series. All sessions will also be recorded and made available for those who would like to catch up on any content they miss or revisit the material at a later time.
Truth, Media, and Propaganda - A timely look at misinformation, lashon hara, and the ethics of communication—especially in an age of social media and AI.
Session 4: “AI, Deepfakes, and the Future of Human Trust” — Can We Still Know What’s Real?
A culminating discussion about artificial intelligence, synthetic media, and epistemic crisis. If images, voices, and texts can all be fabricated convincingly, what happens to testimony, evidence, and trust?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi Marc Gitler serves as Senior Jewish Educator for Valley Beit Midrash and is the visiting Rabbi of Aish SanDiego. 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.
Are We Idolaters? Yeshayahu Leibowitz on Jewish Spirituality and Jewish Politics
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Samuel Fleischacker
Please note event times are listed in PST
ABOUT THE EVENT:
We will take a look at some of the religious and political writings of the Israeli chemistry professor, philosopher, Torah-commentator and gadfly, Yeshayahu Leibowitz. Our focus will be Leibowtiz's conception of idolatry: what idolatry is, for him; how halakha enables us to struggle against it; and the special danger it poses when it shows up as nationalism, including Jewish nationalism.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Sam Fleischacker is LAS Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC). He works on moral and political philosophy, and the philosophy of Judaism. His most recent book is From Idolatry to Holiness: A Modern Ethical Framework for Understanding Jewish Law (Cambridge, 2026); previous books include Being Me Being You: Adam Smith and Empathy (University of Chicago, 2019), The Good and the Good Book (Oxford, 2015) and Divine Teaching and the Way of the World, (Oxford, 2011). He has also written short pieces for TheTorah.com, including “Hearing God’s Voice” and “Making Sense of Revelation.”
Soul Train: Learning the Words of the Jewish Heart
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Jeff Salkin
EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BMH-BJ
Please note event times are listed in PST.
ABOUT THE EVENT:
No, “Soul Train” isn’t just a retro music show—it’s about training our souls to rediscover the sacred power of Jewish prayer. Rabbi Jeff Salkin will help us explore the deeper meaning of the siddur; why prayer can feel distant for modern Jews, and how it can become relevant, moving, and even transformative. Based on his new book “Inviting God In: A Guide to Jewish Prayer” (CCAR Press).
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi Jeff Salkin is a noted writer and author. He has discussed the American political scene on CNN and the BBC. His column, “Martini Judaism: For Those Who Want to be Shaken and Stirred,” published by the Religion News Service, has won several awards for best religion column of the year, and is also an award-winning podcast. He has been a commentator on the American political scene on CNN and the BBC, his essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Commentary, the Wall Street Journal, Tablet, and Forward.
He is the author of twelve books on such diverse topics as b’nai mitzvah, masculinity, Israel, interfaith relations, the spirituality of career, and Judaism as counter-culture. His most recent book is Inviting God In: A Guide to Jewish Prayer, which will teach Jews how to find meaning in the worship experience. His other recent book is Tikkun Ha’Am: Repairing Our People – Israel and the Crisis of Liberal Judaism – the first book to predict the post-October 7 era of American Judaism. Reviewers have called the book “daring” and “controversial.”
After a distinguished career as a congregational rabbi, Rabbi Salkin co-founded and co-directs “Wisdom Without Walls: an online salon for Jewish ideas,” a program that engages Jews in Zoom conversations with significant Jewish thinkers about American Judaism, post-October 7.
Rabbi Salkin currently lives in Montclair, New Jersey, and devotes his time to his family, friends, and consuming vast quantities of coffee.
The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton
A virtual class presentation by Dr. Andrew Porwancher
Please note event times are listed in PST.
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Join Professor Porwancher as he debunks a string of myths about the origins of this founding father to arrive at a startling conclusion: Hamilton was probably raised Jewish in his Caribbean youth. With a detective’s persistence and a historian’s rigor, Porwancher reveals the untold story of our most enigmatic founding father — and its revolutionary consequences for understanding the republic he fought to create.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Andrew Porwancher is a Professor of History at Arizona State University. He previously held fellowships at Harvard, Oxford, and Princeton, and earned his PhD at Cambridge. His book—The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton—was published by Princeton and received the Journal of the American Book-of-the-Year Award.
The Torah's Ritual Response to an Unsolved Murder
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Martin Lockshin
Please note event times are listed in PST.
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Join us for a class on Deuteronomy 21:1–9, exploring its rich history of interpretation. This powerful passage appears in that week’s Torah reading, offering a timely opportunity to engage with it more deeply.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Martin Lockshin is a University Professor Emeritus at York University and lives in Jerusalem. He received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University and his rabbinic ordination in Israel while studying in Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav Kook. Among Lockshin’s publications is his four-volume translation and annotation of Rashbam’s commentary on the Torah.
Beyond Either/Or: Jewish Nestedness Can Heal a Fractured World
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Natan Margalit
Please note event times are listed in PST
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Either/Or dilemmas such as Universal versus Tribal, Us versus Them, Culture versus Nature, and more only keep us stuck in conflict and confusion. But Judaism's core mode of thought is not either/or, it's nested, fractal and leads us to the kinds of both/and solutions that we need today. We'll explore the ways that Jewish wisdom of nestedness in our traditions, rituals and texts can lead us to hold the complexity of Jewishness and universal values, of human progress and caring for the natural world, and of finding the balance between individual freedom and communal bonds.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Natan Margalit was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. As a young adult he lived for twelve years in Israel and received rabbinic ordination at The Jerusalem Seminary in 1990. He earned a Ph.D. in Talmud from UC Berkeley in 2001. Natan has taught at Bard College, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College. He is currently the Dean of Faculty and a member of the Va’ad (steering committee and core faculty) of the Aleph Ordination Program, and serves as chair of their Rabbinic Texts department. Natan is the author of The Pearl and the Flame: A Journey into Jewish Wisdom and Ecological Thinking. He is the founder of Organic Torah, fostering holistic thinking about Judaism, environment and society, which is a program of Aleph: Alliance for Renewal.