A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Jeff Salkin

EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BMH-BJ

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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. 

A virtual class presentation by Dr. Andrew Porwancher

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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.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Martin Lockshin

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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.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Natan Margalit

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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.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill

EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BMH-BJ

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ABOUT THE EVENT:

The 21st-century Kabbalistic approaches to AI offer optimistic utopian approaches based on the writings of Sefer Yetzirah and Rabbi Isaac Luria. Secular innovators of AI at MIT who see the world as informational and AI as creativity, authors in Jewish thought who see the world as the Lurianic network, and rabbis who treat the new informational era as the unfolding of the divine mind and even a messianic fulfillment. 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Rabbi Prof. Alan Brill is the Cooperman/Ross Chair for Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University. Brill is an expert on Jewish thought and interfaith relations. He is the author of many books including Judaism and World Religions: Christianity, Islam, and Eastern Religions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), Judaism and Other Religions: Models of Understanding (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Brill received a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh in India. He was a keynote speaker at the R-20 conference held in Indonesia, This research produced his recent volume Rabbi on the Ganges: A Jewish Hindu Encounter (Lexington Books, 2019). His recently published book is A Jewish Trinity: Contemporary Christian Theology Through Jewish Eyes (Fortress Press, 2025).

A virtual presentation by Dr. Marc Dollinger

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EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: TEMPLE SOLEL

ABOUT THE EVENT:

One of the thorniest questions in contemporary American Jewish life, the boundaries between anti-Israelism, anti-Zionism, and antisemitism are now the subject of university policy debates as well as proposed state and federal action. This presentation offers historical background into each category, outlining the points of debate in this highly-contentious subject.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Dr. Marc Dollinger holds the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility at San Francisco State University. Dr. Dollinger currently serves on the executive board of the Union for Reform Judaism. He is also board president of URJ Camp Newman. Professor Dollinger has spoken about his research with the CEO of the NAACP on CNN as well as the CNN-podcast “Silence Is Not An Option,” the PBS docu-series Black and Jews: An Interwoven Alliance, the NFL Network, ESPN, and Germany’s National Public Radio. Just for fun, Dr. Dollinger helped actress Helen Hunt learn about her Jewish roots on the prime-time NBC show, “Who Do You Think You Are?”

A virtual event presentation by Rabba Aliza Libman Baronofsky

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ABOUT THE EVENT:

The mishna was written during a time period that included the destruction of the second temple and the Bar Kochba Revolt. The 63 tractates of the mishna include the rabbis' origin story for rabbinic Judaism and many clues about the world it was written in. We'll explore mishnas that give us explicit information about the early rabbinic period as well as hints about the groundbreaking changes happening in the Jewish world at the time.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Rabba Aliza Libman Baronofsky is a career educator who teaches Jewish text and mathematics at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School. In the summer, she works as a teacher and Rabba at Camp Yavneh in Northwood, NH. She is the host of the podcast “Mishna Accomplished.”

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Paul Franks

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ABOUT THE EVENT:

What is kavanah — usually translated as “intention” — in the performance of mitzvot?  What, in particular, is kavanah in Jewish prayer?  Often used but rarely explained, the term will be illuminated by means of the speech act theory of the great Oxford philosopher and architect of the Normandy invasion, J. L. Austin (1911-60), articulated most famously in his 1955 William James Lectures at Harvard, later published as How to Do Things with Words.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Paul Franks is the Robert F. and Patricia Ross Weis Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies, and the Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Yale University. Educated at Gateshead Yeshiva, Oxford and Harvard, he has taught at Indiana University, Notre Dame, and Toronto, and has been visiting professor at Chicago, Leuven, and Hebrew University.  He works on post-Kantian philosophy, Jewish philosophy and kabbalah.  Among his publications are Franz Rosenzweig: Philosophical and Theological Writings, and All or Nothing: Systematicity, Transcendental Arguments, and Skepticism in German Idealism.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Karyn Kedar

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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.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Steven M. Bob

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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.