91快活林

91快活林 High Holiday Webinars 2025

Jul 14, 2025

The High Holidays invite us into a season of profound reflection鈥攏ot only on who we are as individuals, but on how we show up for one another and the world. This three-part webinar series explores the emotional and spiritual heart of this sacred time, focusing on the themes of vulnerability, responsibility, and connection.

Together, we鈥檒l consider what it means to pray with presence, to engage meaningfully with others鈥攅ven across difference鈥攁nd to see these days not just as a personal journey, but as a call to collective transformation. Whether you are returning to familiar rituals or seeking a new way in, this series offers space to reflect, connect, and prepare with intention.

Meeting the Moment: Urgent Questions for Israel and American Jews

May 19, 2025 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In a time of deep internal division and existential challenges for Israel, what are the most urgent issues facing the Jewish state today鈥攁nd how can American Jews meaningfully engage? Professor Arnold M. Eisen,Rabbi Gordon Tucker, andRabbi Ayelet Cohenof 91快活林 had a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation based on the themes that emerged at theIsrael at a CrossroadsConvening. Together, they explored how Jewish values can guide us in responding to this critical moment: bridging divides, sustaining hope, and strengthening our collective future.

Healing Together: How Those in Trauma Provide Care for Others

May 12, 2025 By Naomi Kalish | Public Event video | Video Lecture

How do individuals experiencing trauma find the strength to support others in crisis? Rabbi Naomi Kalish, Harold and Carole Wolfe Director of the Center for Pastoral Education at 91快活林, discusses this and other topics withRabbi Annabelle Tenzer, chaplain at Hadassah Hospital-Ein Kerem. Together, they will explore how trauma survivors can also serve as caregivers and highlight key organizations working to provide emotional and spiritual support. This conversation offers insights into resilience, compassion, and communal care in times of crisis.

A Vision for Storytelling

May 4, 2025

Acclaimed authorJonathan Safran Foerinterviewed program directorEtgar Keret to announce the launch of 91快活林鈥檚 MFA in Creative Writing. Together, they鈥檒l discuss the art of contemporary storytelling and their vision for 91快活林鈥檚 groundbreaking new MFA.

Israel at a Crossroads – Expanding the Conversation

Apr 28, 2025

This series builds on the discussions from 91快活林鈥檚 Israel at the Crossroads convening, bringing 91快活林 alumni into conversation about the evolving challenges of Israeli identity, culture, and collective resilience. Through explorations of art, spirituality, and national memory, we will consider how Israeli society navigates questions of belonging, pluralism, and meaning in this complex moment. By engaging voices from across disciplines, Expanding the Conversation seeks to illuminate the ways individuals and communities are shaping Israel鈥檚 cultural and spiritual landscape today.

The “Art” ofZionistThoughtandIsraeliIdentity

Apr 28, 2025 By Matthew Berkowitz | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut

In this session, we explored classical works of pre-State and鈥疘sraeli鈥痑rt鈥痶hat reflect the ethos of the鈥痁ionist鈥痸ision.鈥� Visual鈥痑rt and the artists behind these creations were in animated conversation with classical and modern鈥痁ionist鈥痸oices.鈥� We reflected on the extent to which the material artistic culture of Israel reflects and engages compelling spiritual and national visions of Zionism and a State for the Jews, in light of current events and the ways artists and cultural institutions are responding to this moment

91快活林 MFA in Writing: The Power of Storytelling

Mar 31, 2025

Acclaimed Israeli author Etgar Keret, the director of the 91快活林 MFA in Writing, shared his passion for storytelling in this session of our series, “What’s Next: New Ways of Engaging with Jewish Text” He spoke with Lisa Springer, Dean of the Division of Lifelong and Professional Studies (DLPS) and Associate Provost for Continuing and Digital Learning.

Who Shall Cross: A Talmudic Reimagining of the Passover Narrative

Mar 24, 2025 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Pesah

In preparation for your seder, Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, Director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts, led a thought-provoking session, exploring a Talmudic story that reflects key themes of Passover, raising profound questions about free will, obligation, and inclusion. How do we determine our purpose? Who are our fellow travelers, and what do we owe them? This discussion offers new insights to bring to your Passover table.

From Online Auction to 91快活林 Special Collections: How Two Historic Bibles Were Reunited in the 91快活林 Library

Mar 17, 2025 By David Zev Moster | Public Event video | Video Lecture

This summer, for his 40th birthday, David Moster purchased a rare set of books from the 1800s. The chain of events that followed led to the 91快活林 Library temporarily welcoming a rare and valuable 13th Century Tanakh manuscript into its collection. In this session, you learn about the fascinating backstory of this manuscript and the thrilling story of its reunification. We explore how the study of manuscripts and the scribes who created them can help you think about your own translation and interpretation of the Tanakh.

The Masks of Doubt: Exploring Purim, Uncertainty, and the Hidden Divine

Mar 10, 2025 By Rabbi David Ingber | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Purim

Purim is a celebration of uncertainty鈥攁 holiday that invites us to embrace the hidden, the paradoxical, and the unknown. Join Romemu鈥檚鈥疪abbi David Ingber for a deep dive into the mystical themes of Purim, where doubt becomes a gateway to faith and masks reveal more profound truths. Together, we explore how the story of Purim reflects the concealment of the Divine, the role of chance and chaos in our lives, and the profound spiritual lessons that arise when we step into the space of not knowing. Discover how Purim challenges us to find meaning and connection amid mystery.

鈥淵outh Shall See Visions鈥�: Engaging the Next Generation of 91快活林 Learners and Doers

Mar 3, 2025

In this past year, 91快活林 launched two national fellowship programs for teens:Ruchot(in partnership with the Rabbinical Assembly, Adas Israel Congregation, USY, USCJ, and Ramah), which engages them in community organizing and social action, and theEmerging Leaders Fellowship, a student-led research program that introduces high school students to academic Jewish Studies. Both programs are inviting young Jews to establish their own connections to Jewish life and tradition.

91快活林 Rabbinic Convocation 2025

Mar 3, 2025

91快活林 bestowed honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees at a convocation ceremony recognizing rabbis for their achievements over many years of distinguished service.

What’s Next? New Ways of Engaging with Jewish Sources

Feb 3, 2025

91快活林 is well-known as a hub of innovative scholarship and a center of academic Jewish Studies. Recently 91快活林 has launched programs in Biblical Hebrew, Pastoral Care, and Teen Learning to name a few that offer accessible entryways into the Jewish textual tradition. Explore how 91快活林 is bringing together new modes of learning with classical sources to meet the needs of today鈥檚 world. Sessions will give participants a taste of the ideas and teaching that are central to these programs.

Digital Revelations: Jewish Text in the 21st Century

Feb 3, 2025 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture

At key moments in our history, revolutions in information technologies have affected the way we study Torah and even the way we define it. Today we are going through such a revolution with very profound consequences. What are the effects of the current revolution and how is affecting our Torah鈥攊n the classroom, in The 91快活林 Library, and beyond?

The John Leopold and Martha Dellheim Senior Recital 2025

Jan 27, 2025

Graduating Cantorial School seniorsRoseanne Benjamin,Rachel Black, andJustin Zvi Pellis, performed at an exciting evening of music and spirit, sharing their talents and their vision for the 21st-century cantorate. The recital featured a wide range of Jewish music in Hebrew and Yiddish, as well as hazzanut, musical theatre, and Israeli folk and art songs. Choral works and compositions written and composed by our graduates were also be performed. The soloists, along with guest artists, were be accompanied by pianist Joyce Rosenzweig, 91快活林 adjunct instructor, and the combined choir of the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, conducted by Hazzan Natasha Hirschhorn.

What Makes Groups Reject Their Own?

Dec 20, 2024 By Rabbi Yael Shmilovitz | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Vayeshev

The best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy. The Wizard of Oz in Wicked (2024) Joseph’s brothers resent him so much they can’t even stand the sight of him: 讜址讬执旨砖职讉谞职讗讜旨 讗止转讜止 讜职诇止讗 讬指讻职诇讜旨 讚址旨讘职旨专讜止 诇职砖指讈诇止诐 (Gen 37:4)鈥攖hey hated him so much they could not dabro leshalom. The commentators […]

Hanukkah, Jewish Power, and the Future of Israel Education

Dec 16, 2024 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Hanukkah

Every year at Hanukkah, Jews everywhere celebrate the Maccabees鈥� military uprising against oppression. But in our day, many younger American Jews are experiencing discomfort with some of the ways that鈥疘srael uses power to fight its enemies and defend its interests, which has led to decreased support and weakened connection to the State. 鈥�鈥�

How should education about Israel鈥� and advocacy on behalf of Israel鈥攃hange in coming years? What lessons should Jews take away from events on and off campus in the wake of October 7, 2023?

Communicating Across Divides

Dec 9, 2024 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Argument is essential to Jewish life鈥攊t forms the basis of the Talmud and the classic Jewish joke about two Jews, three opinions. Yet today the challenge of talking across differences often seems insurmountable.

Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, director of the Block Kolker Center for Spiritual Life, shares insight into how to communicate with those whose opinion differs from yours. She will include tactics for creating structures that enable civility and explore the traps to avoid in your community.

Gleanings from 鈥淶ionism: Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond鈥�

Dec 2, 2024 By Gordon Tucker | Public Event video | Video Lecture

How is Zionism finding expression in our communities? What are the challenges and opportunities in educating younger generations around these ideas? Rabbi Gordon Tucker, Vice Chancellor of Religious Life and Engagement, shares his thoughts from the convening and the new models of engagement with Israel that emerged from our conversations.

The Origins of the Nation Israel: Biblical, Historical, and Archaeological Data

Nov 25, 2024 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Public Event video | Video Lecture

What can we learn from the Bible鈥檚 narratives about the emergence of the nation Israel? Some streams insist on the literal infallibility of biblical history, while others assert that the Jews are not indigenous to Canaan/Israel/Palestine.

Considering biblical texts and archaeological evidence, this session examines the origin of the Israelites as an ethnic and political unit. How does the debate on biblical authority resonate both within and outside academic circles?