Filter by Category
Virtual Events
Unfolding: Reflections on the Lessons of the High Holy Days
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Karyn Kedar
Please note event times are listed in PST
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Join Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar for a 45-minute exploration of her award-winning book, Unfolding: A High Holy Day Companion. Drawing from meditations, poetry, reflections, retellings of Talmudic and Hasidic stories, and lyrical encounters with prayer and scripture, Rabbi Kedar will share insights from the book and offer selections that illuminate the path through the months of Av and Elul, Rosh HaShanah, the Ten Days of Repentance, and Yom Kippur.
Together, we will reflect on themes of grief, longing, forgiveness, repentance, and renewal, discovering how ancient wisdom and contemporary spiritual practice can help us navigate this season with greater depth and compassion. Whether this year’s High Holy Days were your first or you have new questions about familiar rituals, this gathering will offer inspiration on how to carry forward the lessons of the holidays into the new year ahead.
Books are available for purchase at a 20% discount for participants. More details will be shared upon registration.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Karyn Kedar is a gifted writer and teacher. She inspires people of all backgrounds and faiths to live intentionally, find beauty and purpose in everyday moments, and cultivate a life of spiritual depth, meaning, compassion, and purpose. Through poetic reflections and practical insights, she guides others to navigate life’s complexities with grace and deepen their connection to their essential self and to others.
As the author of six non-fiction books, everything she writes—whether poetry, liturgy, or essays—is an invitation to pause, to contemplate, and to awaken the spirit.
Her newest work, Unfolding: A High Holy Day Companion, invites readers to sit on the edge of what they know and explore the mysteries of forgiveness, beauty, and spiritual renewal.
Her books, teachings, and retreats explore the shared human experiences of love, struggle, forgiveness, resilience, and the search for meaning. She invites us to “come to the edge of what you know and sit a while.”
Karyn lives with her husband Ezra in the Chicago area. Their children and six grandchildren are making their way in life in both the United States and Israel.
When Judaism Began: Understanding Ezra and Nehemiah
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Steven M. Bob
Please note event times are listed in PST
ABOUT THE EVENT:
The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the return to Jerusalem from the first exile in ancient Babylonia. These books contain the foundational ideas for our modern sense of Jewish identity and key elements of our Jewish lives. The public reading of the Torah begins with Ezra reading from the scroll before the community in Jerusalem. In these books we will meet the first people to think of themselves as Jews. Jewish holidays take shape during the beginning of this period, as does the Jewish calendar. Ezra and Nehemiah are the first biblical books to use the names on the months that we use today, like Elul and Kislev.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi Steven M. Bob was Senior Rabbi of Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard, IL for 35 years. Rabbi Bob serves as a Guest faculty member at Wheaton College and as an Instructor at the Hebrew Seminary for the Hearing and the Deaf. He is a leader of the faculty of Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute. His newest book is When Judaism Began: Exploring the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (2026). He is also the author of Go to Nineveh (2013) and Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives (2016) and Ha'aretz named Rabbi Bob as one of the 36 American Jews who helped shape the 2008 Presidential election.
Messiah: The Zionist Nobody Wants
A virtual event presentation with Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer
Please note event times are listed in PST
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Throughout Jewish history, there have been a series of individual attempts to organize Jewish communities towards conquering the Land of Israel and reinstalling Jewish sovereignty. Time and again, these attempts were turned down and declined by the masses. Why? Learning about the fascinating stories of a few individuals we learn a valuable lesson about freedom and the slippery slope from redemption to messianism.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Jonnie Schnytzer is probably the only PhD in Jewish Philosophy, focusing on medieval kabbalah, who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli Naval Commandos in a swimming race. His dissertation focused on the scientific kabbalah of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie’s forthcoming book is about Ashkenazi’s Kabbalah as well as a critical edition of the kabbalist’s majestic commentary on Sefer Yesira. Jonnie’s also the author of Mossad thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie also orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah’, an important piece of Moroccan Jewish history from the Holocaust. Jonnie has also taken on several leadership roles in the Jewish world, including advisor to the CEO of Birthright and executive manager with StandWithUs. He lectures on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism and Israel, especially about the untold stories and unspoken heroes of Jewish history. Jonnie is happily married, with four gorgeous little kids, lives in Israel and thinks that Australian Rules Football is the greatest sport ever invented.
Unlocking Meaning in the Words of the Siddur
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
Please note event times are listed in PST
ABOUT THE EVENT:
As Jews we spend a lot of time praying, but not a lot of time looking at the texts of our prayers for meaning and understanding. In this session we will explore a method that will aim to deepen your own engagement with prayer through rigorous interpretation. We will examine questions such as: Are traditional prayer formulas able to express my own values/ideas of prayer? What do you do when you "disagree" with the prayer's content? How can I interpret the siddur in a grounded and traditional yet creative manner?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer is President and CEO of the Hadar Institute. Elie has previously worked as a journalist, banker, and corporate fraud investigator. A graduate of Harvard College, he completed his doctorate in liturgy at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was also ordained. He also received semikhah from his long-time teacher, Rav Daniel Landes. A Wexner Graduate Fellow and Dorot Fellow, Elie has been named multiple times to Newsweek’s list of the top 50 rabbis in America. He is the author of Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us About Building Vibrant Jewish Communities and is completing a book on the Amidah.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan: Antisemitic vs. Historically Accurate Interpretations
A virtual event presentation by Professor Amy-Jill Levine
Please note event times are listed in MST
ABOUT THE EVENT:
The famous “Parable of the Good Samaritan” has been interpreted in multiple ways – as a condemnation of racism, as promoting concern for the marginalized, and as justification for taking aid from people of differing political views. Perhaps most often, it is presented by Christians through an ahistorical, antisemitic lens as a condemnation of Jewish religious practice, xenophobia, and elitism. What did it mean to the Jews to whom it was first told, how did antisemitic interpretations develop, and how might interpretations informed by correct understandings of Jewish practice and belief be relevant today?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Amy-Jill Levine is the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace; University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita, Professor of New Testament Studies Emerita, Vanderbilt University.