National Scholar August Report

To our members and friends

We are hitting the ground running in August-September, as we launch another year of classes and programs for the Institute.

Special Symposia on Rabbi Marc Angel’s Thought

We are about to embark on a historic year for our Institute, as we celebrate Rabbi Marc D. Angel’s fifty years in the rabbinate. On Sunday, September 15, from 10:00-12:00, we will hold a symposium on Rabbi Angel’s teachings, featuring Rabbi Angel, who will offer personal reflections on his fifty years in the rabbinate, and I will give a lecture on the core teachings of Rabbi Angel. The program is free and open to the public, and will be held at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan (125 East 85th Street between Park-Lexington Avenues). The symposium also will be posted on YouTube. At the event, we will distribute complimentary copies of Conversations 34, a newly-published collection of essays by Rabbi Angel.

Looking ahead to Sunday, May 3, the International Rabbinic Fellowship, which was co-founded by Rabbi Angel, will hold a special study program at their annual convention that will be open to the public exploring the thought and contributions of Rabbi Angel. The program also will be held at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan. We will give more details of this unique program as it gets closer.

 

Scholar-in-residence Shabbat in Deal, New Jersey

On Shabbat August 23-24, I will be the Shabbat scholar-in-residence in Deal, New Jersey. Hosted by the Sephardic Community Alliance, I will be speaking on “Rambam and other Rabbis on Jewish Belief,” and “Afterlife in Jewish Tradition and Implications for Today.” Talks are free and open to the public. For more information, go to https://www.scaupdates.org/home.

 

Classes in September

On Mondays and Wednesdays, September 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, from 12:00-12:45 pm, I will give a six-part series on the Book of Jonah and other Haftarot of the Holiday Season for the Beit Midrash of Teaneck, at the Teaneck Jewish Center (70 Sterling Place, Teaneck, NJ). Free and open to the public.

On Sunday, September 8, 10:30-11:15 am, I will give a lecture on “The Binding of Isaac: Extremely Religious without Religious Extremism.” It will be held at CareOne Teaneck (544 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ). Free and open to the public.

On Mondays September 9 and 16, 1:00-2:15 pm, I will give a two-part series on “Insights into Kohelet.” They will be at Lamdeinu Teaneck, at Congregation Beth Aaron (950 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck, NJ). For registration, go to https://www.lamdeinu.org/.

 

University Network

We have lined up a wonderful group of college students as Campus Fellows for our University Network. We welcome the following fellows for the 2019-2020 academic year:

Yona Benjamin (Columbia University), Matt Jelen (Harvard University), Mikey Pollack (University of Maryland), Aryeh Roberts (University of Maryland), Zachary Tankel (McGill University), Sara Evans (Queens College), Raffi Levi (Rutgers University), Ben Nechmad (Rutgers University), Jakob Glogauer (Ryerson University), Ora Friedman (Stern College, Yeshiva University), Ari Barbalat (University of Toronto), Ayelet Rubenstein (University of Pennsylvania), Daniel Fridman (Yale University), Yoni Abrams (Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University), and Steven Gotlib (Yeshiva University, RIETS).

If you know of qualified college students on other campuses who would be good leaders and ambassadors for the Institute, please have them contact me, [email protected].

 

Sephardic Initiative

Over the past two years, we have run several very successful Educators Conferences in New York-New Jersey and in Los Angeles. Educators learned how to better incorporate Sephardic voices into their Elementary and High School classrooms, and reported back on how they have implemented the ideas we provided in their classrooms. We hope to expand our network significantly and run further educators conferences, distribute our publications, and further our efforts to teach the wholeness of Judaism through its plethora of great thinkers from all ages and locations.

 

As always, thank you for your ongoing support of our programming and efforts to disseminate our ideas and ideals throughout North America and beyond.

 

Rabbi Hayyim Angel

National Scholar