Jewish Ideas to Change the World

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion.

About The Event: We all know that way back when the Torah was given to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. But was it only given to the Israelites? Was it an event that already happened, or is it an event constantly in the making? Learning from texts spanning across geographies and historical periods, we come to rediscover Mt. Sinai.

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.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Gil Gershon Tivon and Dr. Shirli Regev

The event was co-sponsored by Beth El Phoenix

About the Event:

Compassion, kindness & dignity are the three key ingredients needed in most human communications and relationships. They underline emotional intelligence and imply the presence of our soul and heart in human interactions.

About the Speakers:

Rabbi Dr. Gil Gershon Tivon received his rabbinical ordination from the chief rabbinate of Israel, as well as a Rabbinical judge. He served as a community Rabbi in South Africa, Israel, and Arizona, USA, serving a wide spectrum of religious Jewish observance of all walks of life. He serves as a Rabbi, certified chaplain, and the Spiritual Director at Spiritual Care Hospice. He has a Ph.D. in Holistic Counseling and Pastoral Psychology. He is a certified Mediator, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, and book author.

Dr. Shirli Regev is a mentor, author, hypnotherapy certified therapist (Transformational Therapy), chaplain, and spiritual care provider with 25 years of experience. She holds two PhDs in Holistic Counseling & Pastoral Counseling Psychology. She holds a Master’s degree in Coaching Education (Ohio University) and a Bachelor’s degree in Business (Touro University) and Special Education (Beth Berel Israel). She has written eight books about self-development, spirituality, and growth, some of which she co-authored with Dr. Rabbi Gil Tivon. Today, she is a Holistic Counseling Doctor.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx

The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel

About The Event:

Time is crucial for our self-perception, cultural orientation, and social structure: whoever controls time controls the conversation. We will examine ancient and more recent debates regarding the Jewish calendar and will ponder why there are few such controversies today—with one notable exception.

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Dalia Marx, Ph.D., is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy and Midrash at HUC-JIR’s Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem and teaches in various academic institutions in Israel and Europe.

Marx, a tenth-generation Jerusalemite, earned her doctorate at the Hebrew University and her rabbinic ordination at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem and Cincinnati in 2002. She is involved in various research projects and is active in promoting liberal Judaism in Israel. Marx writes for academic and popular journals and publications.

Marx is the lead editor of the Israeli Reform siddur, Tfillat HaAdam (2020). Her book From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar (Yeditos Sfarim 2018), was translated into several languages and is available in English from the CCAR Press. She is the author of When I Sleep and When I Wake: On Prayers between Dusk and Dawn (Yediot Sfarim, 2010, in Hebrew), A Feminist Commentary of the Babylonian Talmud (Mohr Siebeck, 2013, in English), About Time: Journeys in the Jewish-Israeli Calendar (Yediot Sfarim, 2018, in Hebrew) and the co-editor of a few books.

Her new book, From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar (CCAR 2023) presents a fascinating exploration of the treasures of the Jewish year and artfully blends traditional and contemporary perspectives on each Hebrew month and its holidays. See Marx’s website for more information.

Marx lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Roly Zyblersztein, Ph.D. They have three children.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Sharona Halickman

The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ

About The Event:

How were women the heroines of the Passover story and what rituals have we taken on to honor them?

Do women traditionally recline at the Seder? What is a Miriam’s cup? Are women obliged to drink the four cups of wine?

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 member of the clergy 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.

A virtual event presentation by Professor Zvi Zohar

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About the Event:

In ancient times, some rabbis held that since one is commanded to study Torah day and night (Joshua 1:8), other intellectual realms could be acquired only ‘when it is neither day nor night.’ An exception could be made only for learning a practical profession, enabling one to earn a living. (See, e.g., JT Pe’ah 1:1).

Following in the spirit of those ancient scholars, many East European Rabbis in recent centuries were against secular studies for boys and men and viewed such studies as antithetical to the true Torah. So, too, some rabbis permitted secular studies as a practical concession enabling one to gain a livelihood.

Rabbi Yosef Hayyim was one of the greatest rabbis in the entire world in the half-century leading up to WWI. He was an all-round scholar – Halakhist, Kabbalistic, interpreter of Aggada and Midrash, composer of religious poetry, and famous for his lively and compelling sermons. Nevertheless, many people have not heard of him, as he was a Sephardic/Oriental rabbi who spent his entire life in Baghdad. In addition, many people imagine Sephardic Jews (and rabbis) to be simple, naïve traditionalists – as opposed to the cleverness and sophistication of European/Ashkenazic Jews.

However, it was specifically the ‘Sephardic/Oriental’ Rabbi Yosef Hayyim who strongly advocated that Jewish schools offer a curriculum offering both Torah and ‘general’ studies in tandem, not because general studies are needed to earn a living but because of their inherent intellectual and spiritual religious value.

In this session, we will study (in translation) the original texts of Rabbi Yosef Hayyim on this topic and discuss the significance of his views.

*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c0bJtwOQ0FWHA-G_cf8wND9XqiOY2Lyt/view?usp=sharing

About the Speaker:

Zvi Zohar is a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. He is the Chauncey Stillman Professor of Sephardic Law and Ethics at Bar-Ilan University, where he teaches in the Faculties of Law and Jewish Studies and is editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Law, Religion and State. At Shalom Hartman Institute, he heads the Alan and Loraine Fischer Family Center for Halakha.

Professor Zohar’s main area of research is the history and development of halakha from the earliest times to the present. He has a special interest in the halakhic writings of Sephardic and Mizrahi rabbis in modern times. Professor Zohar has published more than 100 books and scholarly articles in Hebrew, English, French, and German.

His most recent book in English, Rabbinic Creativity in the Modern Middle East, was published in 2013 by the Hartman Institute’s Kogod Library of Judaic Studies in conjunction with Bloomington Academic Press.