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Virtual Events
How Tu B’Shvat teaches us to reduce, reuse and recycle
A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Sharona Halickman
ABOUT THE EVENT:
You may think that reduce, reuse and recycle are modern concepts for saving the environment but when we delve into the Talmud's insights into the Seven Species of Israel, we will find that these ideas are intrinsic in these Biblical fruits.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Sharona holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Stern College and an MS in Jewish Education from Azrieli Graduate School, Yeshiva University. Sharona was the first Orthodox woman to serve as a clergy member as the first Congregational Intern and first Madricha Ruchanit at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, NY. After making aliya in 2004, Sharona founded Torat Reva Yerushalayim, a nonprofit organization based in Jerusalem that provides Torah study groups for students of all ages and backgrounds.
Praying about the Unspeakable: Liturgy and Ritual as Response to Crisis (VIRTUAL)
A hybrid event presentation (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Dalia Marx
EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BETH EL PHOENIX
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Rabbi Dalia Marx, one of the most respected voices in contemporary Jewish thought and liturgy, will talk about how October 7 and the war since have brought profound and rapid changes to the world of Jewish prayer: the language, the focus, even the urgency. Rabbi Marx will also share her reflections on the Jewish responsibility to bring our hostages home, and the prayers—old and new—that have sustained her through this challenging time.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rabbi Marx is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy and Midrash at the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. She is the first woman in Israel to hold a professorship in liturgy and is a trailblazer in both academic and spiritual circles. Her work bridges scholarship and lived practice, and she is the author of several books, including When I Sleep and When I Wake: On Prayers Between Dusk and Dawn. She’s also a contributor to the new Israeli Reform prayerbook, and a leading voice in shaping how prayer responds to collective trauma, grief, and hope.
Defining Justice: Do We Want Equity, Equality, or Revolution?
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Sarah Mulhern
ABOUT THE EVENT:
When we say we want to work for justice, what do we actually mean? In this class, we will dive into the question of whether a truly just outcome is about equity, equality, or is revolutionary in nature, and try to understand what the strengths and weaknesses of each approach to changemaking are. Through discussion and the study of rabbinic texts which advocate for each of these approaches in relation to economic justice, we will explore how each of us can best focus our work to change the world in our areas of passion.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Rav Sarah Mulhern is a Rabbi, educator, and community builder. She serves as the Rabbi of Silverstein Base Lincoln Park, opening her home and her heart to young adults in Chicago. She passionately believes that Torah matters and that Judaism can enrich human life and better society. Rav Sarah is also a nationally-regarded Torah educator, frequently teaching in a wide variety of Jewish adult education settings, particularly on topics of ethics, gender, and Jewish practice. As a rabbi, some of her areas of focus include grief support, feminist and queer niddah education, and crafting joyful halachic egalitarian life cycle rituals. She is deeply committed to inspiring traditional prayer, and is a passionate shaliach tzibur. Rav Sarah was ordained by the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, where she also earned a Masters in Jewish Education, and received private rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes. She is an alumna of Brandeis University, Yeshivat Hadar, Pardes Institute, Drisha Institute, Beit Midrash Har El, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, and the David Hartman Center Fellowship. She can be reached at sarahemulhern@gmail.com or @Rav_Sarah.
The Shabbat Effect: Jewish Wisdom for Growth and Transformation (Salt Lake City)
A hybrid event presentation (in-person and virtual) by Alan Morinis
EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Congregation Kol Ami, United Jewish Federation of Utah
ABOUT THE EVENT:
The topic of this session will be the forthcoming book, The Shabbat Effect. The point of the book is to outline how observing Shabbat with an intention to develop certain inner traits that are germane to a Shabbat practice will prove useful all 7 days of the week, and is a step toward the ultimate human purpose of becoming whole and holy.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Alan Morinis received his doctorate from Oxford University which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship. He is one the leading lights in the revival of the Jewish spiritual tradition of Mussar and is the author of Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (2002), Everyday Holiness (2007), With Heart in Mind (2014) and now The Shabbat Effect (2026).
He is a student of Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr, zt”l, and in 2004 founded The Mussar Institute which has grown to become the world’s leading provider of contemporary Mussar resources and instruction, offering courses, facilitator training, curricula for congregations and organizations, special events, speakers, and retreats.
Alan is a sought-after speaker and spiritual teacher who will be on tour with The Shabbat Effect in early 2026.
The Shabbat Effect: Jewish Wisdom for Growth and Transformation (Denver)
A hybrid event presentation (in-person and virtual) by Alan Morinis
EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Temple Emanuel
ABOUT THE EVENT:
The topic of this session will be the forthcoming book, The Shabbat Effect. The point of the book is to outline how observing Shabbat with an intention to develop certain inner traits that are germane to a Shabbat practice will prove useful all 7 days of the week, and is a step toward the ultimate human purpose of becoming whole and holy.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Alan Morinis received his doctorate from Oxford University which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship. He is one the leading lights in the revival of the Jewish spiritual tradition of Mussar and is the author of Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (2002), Everyday Holiness (2007), With Heart in Mind (2014) and now The Shabbat Effect (2026).
He is a student of Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr, zt”l, and in 2004 founded The Mussar Institute which has grown to become the world’s leading provider of contemporary Mussar resources and instruction, offering courses, facilitator training, curricula for congregations and organizations, special events, speakers, and retreats.
Alan is a sought-after speaker and spiritual teacher who will be on tour with The Shabbat Effect in early 2026.
What Animals Teach Us about Families: Kinship and Species in the Bible and Rabbinic Literature
A virtual event presentation by Professor Beth Berkowitz
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Family separation due to war, migration, and incarceration is a major public concern, but what about the animal families routinely separated by human agriculture and development? What is the impact on them, on us, and on the planet? Moving beyond debates about the ethics of animal consumption to focus instead on animal intimate lives, "What Animals Teach Us about Families: Kinship and Species in the Bible and Rabbinic Literature" takes on the anthropocene and big animal agriculture to consider the fragmented animal families left behind in their wake. In this talk, I read the four “animal family” laws of the Bible alongside their rabbinic interpreters from ancient times to today, narrating how biblical writers and readers conceived of and constituted the ties that bind humans to animals and that bind animals to each other. Through the lens of biblical and rabbinic literature, this book reveals the combination of concern, cruelty, and curiosity that we humans bring to animal lives. My goal is not to restore family values so much as reimagine family to include new forms of life and alternative modes of kinship.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Beth A. Berkowitz is Ingeborg Rennert Chair of Jewish Studies and Professor in the Department of Religion at Barnard College. She is the author of Execution and Invention: Death Penalty Discourse in Early Rabbinic and Christian Cultures (Oxford University Press, 2006); Defining Jewish Difference: From Antiquity to the Present (Cambridge University Press, 2012); Animals and Animality in the Babylonian Talmud (Cambridge University Press, 2018); and What Animals Teach Us about Families: Kinship and Species in the Bible and Rabbinic Literature (University of California Press, forthcoming 2026). She is co-editor of Religious Studies and Rabbinics: A Conversation (Routledge, 2017). Her area of specialization is classical rabbinic literature, and her interests include animal studies, Jewish difference, rabbinic legal authority, and Bible reception history.