Emanu-El Reads Lectures

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ollowing the success of last year’s Emanu-El Reads... program, this year we are undertaking a reading of
The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Seven learning experiences have been organized around the text. All sessions are free; no registration is required. Attend whenever it is convenient for you. Temple members may purchase copies of the book for $12 each from the seventh floor Temple Office.

ARE JEWS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WHOLE WORLD?

Rabbi Neil Gillman, Scholar-in-Residence, Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-El Wednesday, January 23 — 6:30 P.M. Leventritt Room (One East 65th Street) Heschel’s The Sabbath struggles to find a balance between Jewish ritual demands and moral/social responsibility. Rabbi Gillman will examine the implied tensions in the book and how they inform the contours of Jewish responsibility to the Jewish community on the one hand and to the world on the other. Listen to the podcast of this lecture. Read the opening remarks by Temple President Marcia Waxman.

WHAT THE SABBATH MEANS TO ME: A PANEL DISCUSSION

Wednesday, March 12 — 6:30 P.M. Grenwald Hall (One East 65th Street) Join us for a thoughtful, personal conversation about how people incorporate (or not, as the case may be) elements of the Sabbath, its meaning, spirit or observance, into their lives. The panel includes Lydia Kukoff, author of Choosing Judaism; Julie Salamon, author of Rambam’s Ladder: A Meditation on Generosity; and Temple congregant Maxwell Moss, one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Emanu-El Reads program. Listen to the podcast of this lecture.

PRAYING WITH MY LEGS: A DOCUMENTARY FILM BY STEVE BRAND

Tuesday, March 25 — 6:30 P.M. Greenwald Hall (One East 65th Street) Praying With My Legs is a work in progress that will become a two-hour documentary about the life, thought and transformative impact of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. The film will explore Heschel’s religious thought while examining his forthright social activism, relating these two aspects of his work and demonstrating the significance of their intersection in Heschel’s belief and worldview. This program is made possible in part through the Schwarzhaupt-Levite Video Endowment Fund.

ISRAEL’S HERITAGE: THE MEANING OF THE SABBATH FOR REFORM JEWS

Rabbi Leon Morris, Executive Director, Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-El Tuesdays, April 1, 8, 15 — 6:30 P.M. Leventritt Room (One East 65th Street) The Sabbath is described by Heschel as our cathedral in time. It embraces aspects of rest, joy and holiness. Its observance is comprised both of things we do and things we refrain from doing. In addition to examining some of the classic sources about Shabbat, we also will discuss the Reform Movement’s official guides to religious practice and its responsa literature, exploring a variety of ways that Reform Jews have interpreted and applied the laws of the Sabbath to contemporary life.

he following three programs will be led by our Emanu-El Reads Scholar-in-Residence, Rabbi Michael Marmur, Dean of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem.

IN SEARCH OF HESCHEL

Thursday, May 1 — 6:30 P.M. Greenwald Hall (One East 65th Street) One hundred years after the birth of Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972), his influence continues to grow. A pioneer of interfaith and social activism, as well as a versatile scholar and highly original thinker, Heschel built a name and reputation that are still in the ascendant. In this lecture Michael Marmur will present different ways in which Heschel is understood and appreciated. All are invited to join him “in search of Heschel.” This event is co-sponsored by the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-El.

ISRAEL AT 60: REFLECTIONS OF A REFORM ZIONIST

Friday, May 2 — 6 P.M. Fifth Avenue Sanctuary As Israel marks its 60th year, Michael Marmur will offer an insider’s view of some of the major processes unfolding in Israeli society, some of Israel’s most remarkable achievements and some of her most formidable challenges. He also will offer his thoughts on the prospects for an indigenous Israeli Reform Judaism and why this matters so much. What role does Reform Judaism have to play in the life of the Jewish State? What are we to make of what has been called the “the Jewish return into history”? Are Reform Judaism and Israel compatible or contradictory? Rabbi Marmur will speak from the pulpit at the conclusion of Friday evening services. Afterwards, an Oneg Shabbat will be held in I.M. Wise Hall. RSVP to (212) 744-1400, ext. 214 if you are planning to attend the Oneg.

HOLY SPACE, HOLY TIME

Saturday, May 3 — 10:30 A.M. Fifth Avenue Sanctuary As the Holiness Code from the book of Leviticus is read, Rabbi Marmur will consider where Jews look for holiness. Making use of a major distinction between “Time” and “Space” to be found in the thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel, Rabbi Marmur will present some of the key dilemmas and major opportunities presented by the State of Israel. Rabbi Marmur’s final lecture will be in the form of a Sabbath morning sermon. This program is made possible in part through the Miriam and Henry Goldberg Memorial Lecture Fund.

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