Rabbi Hayyim Angel is National Scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. He serves as Rabbinic Scholar of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New York, and also teaches Tanakh at Yeshiva University. A masterful teacher, his classes, lectures and writings reach many thousands of people throughout the world.
To our members and friends,
I now have completed my third year of working as the National Scholar of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. It has been an honor and privilege working to promote our vision nationwide primarily through teaching, and also through writing and creating internet classes. This report summarizes my various projects and activities over the past year.
This past year has witnessed remarkable progress in terms of focusing our classes and programs toward articulating the vision of the Institute. We have found a new home and partner at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan, we have been working far more extensively running teacher training sessions with future educators and rabbis, and our classes are geared toward promoting the specific values of our Institute.
Our partnership with Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun has grown beautifully over the past year with my serving as the KJ Rabbinic Scholar. We held a symposium on bringing peace through Torah, led the History at Home lecture series, and had a weekly survey of the Bible that integrated the best of traditional and academic scholarship. Over thirty members of the Kehilath Jeshurun community have joined the Institute over the past year, and we look forward to more joining us in the coming year.
My major areas of focus have been:
• Teacher Training:
o One of our central goals is to train other rabbis and educators to spread Torah to schools and communities. In this manner we create bridges with many people in the field to work together, and have a great impact on students and communities across the country.
o A highlight of this year was a teacher training session via Skype to educators of the Academy for Jewish Thought and Learning in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.
o I taught a course on “How to Teach Bible in Synagogues” to the Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) at Stern College for Women.
o I participate annually in Yeshiva University’s graduate program in Experiential Education.
o I participate annually at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah’s Bible Study days in June.
o I gave two lectures at the Allegra Franco School of Educational Leadership in Brooklyn, NY.
• Community Education:
o There is a serious thirst for the kind of learning represented by our Institute, and a sizable number of communities have invited us. Through a combination of scholar-in-residence programs and lectures in different communities, we reached thousands of interested adults directly in the past year.
o In addition to the weekday programs that generally are held in the New York Tri-State area, it was gratifying to visit communities as a Shabbat scholar-in-residence in Los Angeles, CA, Memphis, TN, Hollywood, FL, Nashville, TN, Silver Spring, MD, Brooklyn, NY, and Stamford, CT.
• Publications:
o I am in the final stages of a commentary on the prophetic books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi in the context of the Second Temple Period. It will be published by Maggid Press in Jerusalem.
o I have begun working on a volume on the central values of the Institute and how they foster communal unity without conformity. We hope to publish it as a special issue of Conversations in January.
• Internet Learning:
o We have significantly expanded our Online Learning section on our website, https://www.jewishideas.org//online-learning.
Below is an itemized listing of the various classes and programs over the past year.
• May 23-25: Shavuot scholar-in-residence at the Young Israel of Century City, Los Angeles CA.
• June 28-29: Three lectures at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Annual Bible study days.
• July 1: Lecture for Yeshiva University’s graduate program in Experiential Education.
• July: Seven lectures to create online video classes for Aleph Beta (alephbeta.org).
• August 17: Lecture at Congregation Etz Chaim in Queens NY.
• October 14: Lecture at the Allegra Franco School of Jewish Leadership in Brooklyn, NY.
• October 23-24: Shabbat scholar-in-residence at Congregation Anshei Sfard Beth El Emeth in Memphis, TN.
• October-November: Three lectures on how to teach Bible in Synagogues to the Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) at Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University.
• November 13-14: Shabbat scholar-in-residence at the Young Israel of Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• November 21: History at Home Lecture at Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan.
• December 6: Lecture at Congregation Hochmah U’Mussar in Brooklyn, NY.
• December 17-18: Shabbat scholar-in-residence at Congregation Sherith Israel in Nashville, TN.
• January 15-16: Shabbat scholar-in-residence at the Kemp Mill Synagogue in Silver Spring, MD.
• February 2: Lecture at the Young Israel of Oceanside, NY.
• February 20: History at Home Lecture at Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan.
• March 13: Teacher training to educators of the Academy of Jewish Thought and Learning in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.
• April 5: Lecture to the Yeshiva University Women’s Group in Manhattan.
• April 6: Lecture at the Allegra Franco School of Jewish Leadership in Brooklyn, NY.
• April 8-9: Shabbat scholar-in-residence at the Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn, NY.
• May 8-22: Three-part lecture series at the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates in Queens, NY.
• May 15: Symposium on Peace through Torah, at Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan.
• May 20-21: Shabbat scholar-in-residence at Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, CT.
Most frequently, I served in my capacity of Rabbinic Scholar at Kehilath Jeshurun. This involved speaking in the KJ Sephardic minyan weekly and giving regular classes in KJ.
I also continue to teach courses to advanced undergraduates at Yeshiva University. For the coming semester, I will be teaching a course on the opportunities and challenges that arise from the interface of traditional and academic Bible study. I look forward to bringing elements of that course into future teacher trainings and scholar-in-residence weekends throughout the country.
Thank you all for your support and enthusiasm, and I look forward to promoting our Torah vision for many years to come.
Rabbi Hayyim Angel
National Scholar
Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals