Valley Beit Midrash

As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Paul Root Wolpe ABOUT THE EVENT: Two paradigms of human-created ‘monsters’ have reverberated through modern history as models for considering everything from genetic safety, to scientific hubris, to man’s relationship to the material world and G-d. In this talk we compare these two legends and discuss why they portray Humankind so differently and teach such different lessons. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Paul Root Wolpe, Ph.D. is the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair in Jewish Bioethics, Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Sociology, and the Director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Bioethics – Neuroscience, and sits on the editorial boards of over a dozen professional journals. Dr. Wolpe served for 17 years as Senior Bioethicist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He is Immediate Past-President of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors,

Enjoy the first session of Valley Beit Midrash's "Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks, dates subject to change). Topic - Visiting the Sick (Bikkur Cholim) ABOUT THE CLASS: In this new class series, Rabbi Shmuly will teach 40 classes, each with its own unique theme. The common thread to the series is living with deeper kindness. How can the Torah inspire us to live with deeper love and compassion? How can Jewish pearls of wisdom inform how we care for one another? ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!

A LIVE interview with Prof. Chaim Sukenik, President of Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev) -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

Learning live with Reb Daniel Peled-Schwartz at VBM's beit midrash! -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

A virtual event presentation by Former MK Tehila Friedman, Rabbi Dr. Daniel Gordis and Rabbi Avidan Freedman EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: BMH-BJ Congregation ABOUT THE EVENT: The establishment of a Jewish state reintroduced the Jewish people to moral dilemmas of sovereignty and power with which they did not have to grapple for 2000 years. Even 70 years in, some of these challenges have not enjoyed sufficient attention or focus. Former MK Tehila Friedman, Rabbi Daniel Gordis, and Rabbi Avidan Freedman will share political, ideological, historical, and religious perspectives on one of the least well known, and on of the most morally pressing of these challenges, the question of Israeli arms exports. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS: Former MK Tehila Friedman is a former Knesset member, a social entrepreneur, a director in the non-profit world, a writer, speaker, jurist, Jurusalemite, and mother of 5. Rabbi Dr. Daniel Gordis is the Vice President of the Shalem College, a senior Koret fellow, and head of the college’s humanitie

As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!

A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Sharona Halickman ABOUT THE EVENT: On Purim we observe four main mitzvot as well as various customs. Where did these laws and customs originate from and are they still relevant today? 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 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 non profit organization based in Jerusalem which provides Torah study groups for students of all ages and backgrounds. -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash

A hybrid event (in person & accessible virtually) with Ambassador Martin Indyk EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY: Beth El Congregation ABOUT THE EVENT: Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz will be interviewing Ambassador Martin Indyk about his new book (Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger And The Art Of Middle East Diplomacy), followed by questions from the audience and a book signing. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Martin S. Indyk is distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he was the John C. Whitehead Distinguished Fellow in International Diplomacy in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. From February 2015 to March 2018, he served as executive vice president of Brookings. Indyk served as the U.S. special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from July 2013 to June 2014. Prior to his time as special envoy, he was vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program and a senior fellow and the founding director of the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings. -- DONATE: www.

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Ron Wolfson ABOUT THE EVENT: When you get to heaven, what questions do you think you’ll be asked about how you lived your life on earth? In the Talmud and through the centuries, rabbis have imagined what these questions might be. In this challenging, poignant and humorous presentation, we’ll study text, share stories, and explore the concept of cheshbon ha-nefesh, a spiritual accounting of the soul. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: DR. RON WOLFSON is the Fingerhut Professor of Education at American Jewish University in Los Angeles, where he has been on the faculty for forty-six years and president of the Kripke Institute. He is the author of seventeen books on Jewish life, including Shabbat, Passover, Hanukkah, God’s To-Do List, The Seven Questions You’re Asked in Heaven, The Spirituality of Welcoming, Relational Judaism, The Relational Judaism Handbook, a memoir, The Best Boy in the United States of America, and his latest book with Dr. Bruce Powell, Raising A+ Human Beings: Crafting

As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!

A conversation with Spertus Institute's leaders Dean Bell & Keren Fraiman at Valley Beit Midrash with President & Dean Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc D. Angel ABOUT THE EVENT: Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) is the classic Jewish thinker who strove to reconcile Judaism and philosophy/science. Baruch Spinoza (1632-1667) is the classic Jewish heretic who revolutionized modern rationalistic philosophy and did much to undermine traditional religious beliefs. By drawing on the teachings of both of these intellectual giants, we can seek a traditional Judaism that is vibrant, intellectually challenging, and meaningful. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rabbi Marc D. Angel is Founder and Director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals (jewishideas.org), fostering an intellectually vibrant, compassionate and inclusive Orthodox Judaism. He is Rabbi Emeritus of the historic Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York City (founded 1654), where he began serving in 1969. Born and raised in the Sephardic community of Seattle, Washington, he went to New York for his higher education at Yeshiva Universi

As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!

A virtual event presentation by Jonnie Schnytzer ABOUT THE EVENT: Serbian kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai may or may not have heard of New York Sheriff Mordechai Emmanuel Noah and vice versa. Contemporaries, both had a Zionist dream more than half a century before Theodore Herzel. Let’s view the texts which may have influenced the Austrian father of modern Zionism. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Jonnie Schnytzer is a Phd candidate focusing on medieval kabbalah. His dissertation is focused on the kabbalistic system of thought of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie is also preparing a critical edition of Ashkenazi’s commentary on Sefer Yesira. Probably the only PhD student in Jewish Philosophy who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli naval commandos in a swimming race, Jonnie’s also the author of Mossad thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie has recently orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah’, an important piece of Moroccan Jewish hi

Enjoy the fortieth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - No State, One State or Two States: Herzel vs. Wise, Art Green vs. Peter Beinart In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

As part of the weekly Parsha Podcast on Divine Ethics and Human Justice with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz -- DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month!

Enjoy the thirty ninth session of Valley Beit Midrash's "The 40 Greatest Debates in Jewish History!" series. (1 per week for 40 weeks). Topic - Hierarchy vs. Populism: Moshe vs. Korach In this class, we will explore the 40 greatest debates in Jewish history. We will study texts, reflect on the historical contexts, and discuss the values involved. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will present for about 20-30 minutes and then the remaining 30-40 minutes will be for questions and conversation. DONATE: www.bit.ly/1NmpbsP​​​​​​​ For podcasts of VBM lectures, GO HERE: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/learning-library/ www.facebook.com/valleybeitmi...​ Become a member today, starting at just $18 per month! Click the link to see our membership options: www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member/

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jon Greenberg -- ABOUT THE EVENT: The Jewish preference for wine over beer and other beverages for sacramental purposes has extremely ancient roots. The taste for beer may have played an important role in the invention of agriculture and development of the first permanent villages. However, it also had a strong link with polytheism. With cold or outright hostile relationships between farmers and nomadic herders from Cain and Abel to the range wars of nineteenth-century America, wine-drinking Israelites and beer-quaffing Egyptians, Canaanites, and Mesopotamians were inclined to view one another’s preferred drinks with skepticism or disdain. The ten plagues of the Exodus and the prohibition of leaven at Passover can be understood in this light. Wine-related halachot and midrashim such as the laws of kil’ei kerem and the link between Noah’s grapevine and the tree of knowledge provide additional depth of insight into the connotations that these drinks carry and how practical ch