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Meet Our 2013-14 University Fellows

The University Network Fellows Program continues to grow this year with twenty-three students across seventeen schools striving to make Orthodox Judaism a vibrant part of their communities.

 

ANGEL PARA SHABAT ~ Reflexiones Sobre las Porciones Semanales de la Torá

A partir del año 2008, el Instituto de Ideas e Ideales Judíos ha venido publicando una columna semanal “Angel for Shabbat” escrita por el Rabino Marc D. Angel. Muchos miles de lectores han disfrutado de estas columnas en el sitio web del Instituto (jewishideas.org) y a través de su distribución por correo electrónico.
Este volumen recopila en forma impresa una colección de estas reflexiones sobre la porción de la Torá de la semana.

ESSAY CONTEST: Making Orthodox Synagogues More Meaningful

We thank all those who shared their ideas on how to make Orthodox synagogues more meaningful. We've chosen SEVEN winners. Their suggestions can help our synagogues and communities be stronger, more creative, more engaging. The winning essays are from Pam Ehrenkranz (Stamford, Connecticut); Yael Kassorla (Atlanta, Georgia); Dr. Alan Krinsky (Providence, Rhode Island); Rabbi Arnold Samlan (West Hempstead, New York); Barbara Mendes (Los Angeles, California); Leonard Stein (Beer Sheva, Israel); and Hinda Bramnick (Boca Raton, Florida).

We hope that you discuss these suggestions among friends and congregants.

Let us work together for an intellectually vibrant, compassionate and inclusive Orthodox Judaism.

 

 

 

 

Book Review of Hillel Goldberg's "Storied Lives around the World"

Dr. Israel Drazin is the author of twenty-three books, including a series of five volumes on the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible, which he co-authored with Dr. Stanley M. Wagner, and a series of four books on the twelfth century philosopher Moses Maimonides, the latest being Maimonides: Reason Above All, published by Gefen Publishing House, which he wrote alone. His website, visited by over 25,000 people annually is www.booksnthoughts.com.

Storied Jewish Lives around the World, by Hillel Goldberg

Feldheim Publishers, 2013, 228 pages

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg, an award winning author who has published inspiring Jewish stories for over 45 years, and has authored five previous books, has now given us three dozen well-crafted, easy-to-read, inspiring tales of people who we will admire, people we should emulate.

“There is greatness,” Rabbi Goldberg writes, “not only in well known leaders. ‘There is no person who does not have his hour.’ I have known this person too – the ‘simple Jew,’ the poshuteh Yid – shining in his moment of distinction. I have tried to capture” the greatness of these Jews, and their contribution to those around them.

End-of-Year Campaign: An Opportunity to Make a Real Difference

December 2013

THE INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH IDEAS AND IDEALS NEEDS YOU! Thank you for your support and encouragement. You have helped the Institute in its work to foster an intellectually vibrant, compassionate and inclusive Orthodox Judaism. PLEASE KEEP THE INSTITUTE IN MIND WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR END-OF-YEAR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.

***We have an active and informative website, jewishideas.org, reaching many thousands of readers throughout the world
***Our National Scholar has been giving classes, lectures and programs to many communities and on college campuses
***We have published 17 issues of our journal, Conversations, read by many thousands

Update from Rabbi Hayyim Angel, National Scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals

Rabbi Hayyim Angel reports on his first six months as National Scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.

National Scholar
Six Month Report
June 1-November 30, 2013

I am pleased to report that I now have completed the first six months of working as National Scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. It has been an honor and privilege working to support our vision, primarily through teaching and also through writing and internet classes. We have hit the ground running, and this report summarizes our various projects and activities over the past six months.
Our initial goals reflect a desire to reach broad segments of the community, joining them in learning dialogue and representing the kind of Torah Judaism that is authentic to tradition and intellectually sound, engaging, and vibrant.
Our major areas of focus are:
• University Students:

Online Lecture by Rabbi Hayyim Angel, on the Roots and Meaning of Hanukkah

Rabbi Hayyim Angel is the National Scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, and teaches Tanakh at Yeshiva University. He lectures widely, and many of his recent shiurim are available through the Online Learning link at jewishideas.org

Rabbi Hayyim Angel recently gave a lecture at the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates, New York, giving insight into the history and nature of Hanukkah. You can access his lecture, as well as his source sheet of texts, at The Books of the Maccabees and Rabbinic Thought: Getting to the Roots of Hanukkah- You can click on the Online Learning link at jewishideas.org and then click on to the link for this fascinating lecture.

Hanukkah: Bright Lights, Big Cities

Rabbi Alan Zelenetz has been professionally involved in Jewish education, academia, and independent scholarship for more than 25 years.

What do we expect from our synagogues?

Leah Bieler has an MA in Talmud and Rabbinics. She teaches Talmud to students of all ages and backgrounds. Leah spends the school year in Connecticut and summers in Jerusalem with her husband and four children. This article is reprinted from the Times of Israel, October 2, 2013.

In light of the new Pew study on Jewish affiliation, there will be a lot of hand-wringing about what the Jewish community can do to get people more engaged. My revolutionary
suggestion? Get to synagogue.

People are always telling me that they’d love to come to shul more often, but they’re just not as religious as I am. Its one of the hazards of being married to a rabbi. Strangers think they know my exact level of religiosity, whatever that means. So here’s what I’ll say. You have no idea what goes on inside my head. And I have no idea what you’re thinking, either. Even more blasphemous, I don’t care.

Learning to Say Thank You

Meshulam Gotlieb was awarded his BA in English Literature and Talmud and his MA in English Literature by Bar IlanUniversity. He is an alumnus of Yeshivat Sha’alvim and Beit Morasha of Jerusalem, and received rabbinical ordination from Beit Midrash Meretz. He lives in Beit Shemesh, Israel, and for the last decade has been working as a translator and editor, specializing in Judaic and Torah Studies.

There is probably no sentiment as fundamental to Judaism as recognizing the good that others do for us and expressing our gratitude to them (in Hebrew, “hakarat ha-tov”). God is reputed to have created the world in a burst of loving-kindness for which humanity and all living creatures should intuitively praise Him, and the Jewish people’s special relationship with God is predicated on His kindness in having redeemed the Jews from Egypt. The very word for Jew in Hebrew, Yehudi, comes from the verb le-hodot, to thank, and hearkens back to our foremother Leah thanking God for giving birth to her fourth son. Therefore, I was not surprised to recently come upon a poster in Har Nof (a largely Haredi, Jerusalem suburb) proclaiming that this Jewish calendar year is the year of Hakarat Ha-tov.

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