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Virtual Events
Righteous Idolaters? A History of Christianity Through Jewish Eyes
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Joshua Garroway
Please note event times are listed in PST.
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Jews have viewed Christians alternatively as friends and as enemies, as partners in salvation and as pitiable idolaters. Why such contrasts? Come learn how Jewish perspectives on Christianity have developed from ancient, to medieval, to modern times. Hopefully, you'll come away some combination of amused, disgusted and inspired!
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi Joshua Garroway is the Sol and Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judaeo-Christian Studies at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. Raised in Rochester, New York, Rabbi Garroway earned a BA in Religion from Duke University in 1998, rabbinical ordination from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 2003, and a PhD in New Testament Studies from the Religious Studies department of Yale University in 2008. While his academic books and articles focus on the origins of Christianity, and specifically the life and writings of Paul, his teaching and popular writing deal with Jewish texts and history more broadly. Professor Garroway lectures widely in synagogues, churches, and other public venues. He is also engaged in several interfaith ventures, including the Los Angeles area InterSem program and the Jewish-LDS Academic Dialogue. Rabbi Garroway currently lives in Pasadena, California, with his wife, Professor Kristine Henriksen Garroway, and their three teenage boys. For fun, he enjoys chess, tennis, opera, period pieces, and taking his kids to Dodgers games.
Nonviolence in a violent world: Aharon Shmuel Tameres in Conversation with Martin Luther King and James Lawson
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Aryeh Cohen
Please note event times are listed in PST.
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Rabbi Aharon Shmuel Tamares is probably the most passionate Jewish voice against nationalism, militarism, and, most of all, war. A prolific writer in the first four decades of the twentieth century, he articulated an opposition to war and violence rooted in a theological vision which saw war as modern idolatry; or in another formulation, war as the service to the idolatry of nationalism. Rev. James Lawson was, according to his friend and colleague Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the foremost theorist of nonviolence in this hemisphere. Lawson's understanding of nonviolence was rooted in his understanding of Christianity and the thought of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the driving force—both theologically and philosophically, and practically—of the training and workshops which led to the Nashville and Memphis movements and whose impact was felt throughout the civil rights movement. He understood nonviolence as a way of life which operated on and impacted the personal, the communal, the national and ultimately international stages. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. needs no introduction. His career, cut short by the politics of assassination, changed the way that Americans viewed political dissent, and the possibility for change in this country. Nonviolence was central to his thought and fueled his demand for justice in the United States, and to curb the violence that the United States was inflicting on other countries. The class will deal with the following questions posed to each of our thinkers: 1. What is the difference between not being violent and nonviolence as a way of life? 2. What is the role of suffering in the nonviolent demand for justice? 3. Are there not "good" wars or at least "just" wars? 4. What are the religious roots of nonviolence or anti-militarism/anti-nationalism? How do Tamares, Lawson, and King differ on this question?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Aryeh Cohen is Rabbi and Professor of Rabbinic Literature at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University. He serves as Vice-President of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and is a co-convener of the Black Jewish Justice Alliance. He is past-President of the Society of Jewish Ethics and served on the inaugural interfaith advisory board of the Los Angeles District Attorney's office. He is the author of Justice in the City: An Argument from the Sources of Rabbinic Judaism, and has published widely in academic and public forums. He is also a poet.
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.
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:
TBA
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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.
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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.