To our members and friends,
It is gratifying that my collection of essays, entitled Increasing Peace Through Balanced Torah Study, will appear in January as Conversations issue 27. Thanks to several generous co-sponsors, we look forward to distributing this issue throughout the country as I speak and promote the values of the Institute. We hope that the volume contributes to disseminating our work in a tangible way to the thousands of people we reach each year.
By now we also are in full gear with our of classes and programs through the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. Here is a brief summary of upcoming December-January offerings:
Navigating Through Nach: A Survey of the Prophets
Although Tanakh lies at the heart of the vision of Judaism and has influenced billions of people worldwide, many often lack access to these eternal works. The best of traditional and contemporary scholarship will be employed as we study the central themes of each book. This year we will study the Twelve Prophets and the books of the Writings (Ketuvim). The course is taught at a high scholarly level but is accessible to people of all levels of Jewish learning. Newcomers always welcome. Free and open to the public.
Wednesdays from 7:00-8:00pm, at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, 125 East 85th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenue) in Manhattan.
Remaining classes for the fall session (Twelve Prophets, Psalms) December 7, 14, 21. Winter session will resume on February 1.
If you would like to hear the twenty classes I gave last year in this survey course, and the first few classes of the new season, they are available at our Online Learning section of our website: https://www.jewishideas.org//online-learning
I also have begun a three-part History at Home series at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on Great Biblical Scandals. The next class will be on Saturday night, December 17: “King David and Bat Sheva: An Affair to Remember.”
The third and final class of this series will be on Saturday night, January 14: “King Ahab: Did He Do Something Right?”
Co-sponsored by the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals and Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun.
Saturday nights from 8:30-9:30pm, at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun,
125 East 85th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenue) in Manhattan.
Throughout the year, I will be speaking at the Sephardic Minyan at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun (125 East 85th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan). It is a warm, welcoming, vibrant community. Aside from Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, when holiday tickets are required (please contact the synagogue office at 212-774-5600 for details), everyone always is invited to attend.
On Sunday January 15, 3:45-4:35 pm, I will be speaking at the Orthodox Union National Convention at CitiField, on “Eradicating Amalek & The Seven Nations: Is Biblical Judaism a Religion of Violence?”
All of our classes and publications revolve around the eternal relevance of the Torah as a moral guidebook able to sensitively confront serious ethical issues of the present through an evaluation of our classical sources and contemporary thinkers.
I am grateful to the members and supporters of the Institute for making all of our programs, publications, and classes a priority in the development of American Jewish religious and communal life. Thank you,
Rabbi Hayyim Angel
National Scholar