Thank you for your interest in ScholarStream 5783! Beginning in August and spanning all the way up to Shavuot, the Conservative Movement seminaries and institutions are partnering to offer seven series that will bring your community face-to-face with the brightest and most engaging scholars our movement has to offer.
All ScholarStream lectures will be recorded and made available to all registered participants.
Class titles, dates, and scholars for each series are listed below. If you have any questions, please reach out to Christine Aucoin.
Series 1: Elul: A Journey Toward Repentance
Wednesdays (Aug. 31st - Sep. 21st)
Please note that the first three lectures in this series take place at 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT / 7 PM Israel Time, and the last lecture takes place at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT.
- Aug. 31st (12 PM ET) - Questioning the Unquestionable God: A Heart to Heart Mono/Dialogue with God
- Rabbi Dr. Reb Mimi Feigelson, Senior Lecturer in Rabbinics and Mashpiah Ruchanit, The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary
- Sep. 7th (12 PM ET) - Was Adam the First Ba’al Teshuvah (repentant sinner)? From the Apocrypha to the Midrash
- Dr. Gila Vachman, Lecturer in Midrash, The Schechter Institute
- Sep. 14th (12 PM ET) - From Atonement to Repentance: The Message of Jonah
- Prof. David Frankel, Associate Professor of Bible, The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
- Sep. 21st (8 PM ET) - Sin and Repentance in Judaism and Christianity: It All Depends on How You Understand Human Beings in the First Place
- Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Sol & Anne Dorff Distinguished Professor in Philosophy, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
Series 2: What's Your Burning Question?
Wednesdays, 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT (Oct. 26th - Nov. 16th)
- Oct. 26th - Why Study Talmud?
- Rabbi Eliezer Diamond, Rabbi Judah Nadich Associate Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, The Jewish Theological Seminary
- Nov. 2nd - Why Shouldn't We Give Up On Synagogue Schools?
- Dr. Shira Epstein, Dean of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, The Jewish Theological Seminary
- Nov. 9th - Where Did All the Women Go? Reflections on Studying the Gendered Past
- Dr. Sarit Kattan Gribetz, JTS Fellow & Assistant Professor of Classical Judaism at Fordham University
- Nov. 16th - "Why Do We Find Prayer So Hard?"
- Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, The Jewish Theological Seminary
Series 3: Great Thinkers Who Have Influenced Conservative Judaism
Wednesdays, 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT (Nov. 30th - Dec. 21st)
- Nov. 30th - Heschel on Prophecy: Spirituality and Activism
- Rabbi Gordon Tucker, Vice Chancellor for Religious Life & Engagement, The Jewish Theological Seminary
- Dec. 7th - Understanding God and Ourselves through the Stories of Our Tradition (Neil Gillman)
- Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Sol & Anne Dorff Distinguished Professor in Philosophy, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
- Dec. 14th - Gender, Theology, Halakhah: the Works of Rachel Adler
- Rabbi Gail Labovitz, Professor of Rabbinic Literature, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
- Dec. 21st - What’s Next for Conservative Judaism: What Has Changed, What Will Change, and What Should Change?
- Dr. Arnold M. Eisen, Chancellor Emeritus & Professor of Jewish Thought, The Jewish Theological Seminary
Series 4: The Exodus in the Jewish Tradition: Philosophy, Bible, Midrash and Art
Wednesdays, 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT / 7 PM Israel Time (Jan. 11th - Feb. 1st)
- Jan. 11th - The Exodus and the Struggle for Civil Rights in the Thought of Prof. A. J. Heschel (in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the 50th Yahrzeit of Prof. Heschel)
- Professor Ari Ackerman, President and Associate Professor of Jewish Thought, The Schechter Institute
- Jan. 18th - Two Conceptions of the Miracle at the Sea
- Rabbi Prof. David Frankel, Associate Professor of Bible, The Schechter Institute
- Jan. 25th - The Ten Plagues and the Exodus in Jewish Art
- Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin, President, The Schechter Institutes, Inc.
- Feb. 1st - “By the merit of righteous women were our ancestors redeemed from Egypt”: a midrashic view of the Exodus
- Dr. Tamar Kadari, Senior Lecturer in Midrash, The Schechter Institute
Series 5: How the Conservative Movement’s Law Committee Impacts our Lives Today
Wednesdays, 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT (Feb. 8th - March 1st)
- Feb. 8th - Aliyot for Non-Binary Jews: Liturgical Innovation and Interpersonal Respect
- Rabbi Guy Austrian, Author of the Teshuvah "Calling Non-Binary People to Torah Honors", & Rabbi Deborah Silver, Rabbi of Congregation Shir Chadash
- Feb. 15th - Matriarchy Confronts Patriarchy: Liturgy as a Vehicle for Change in Jewish Religious Culture
- Rabbi Joel Rembaum, Author of the Teshuvah "Regarding the Inclusion of the Names of the Matriarchs in the First Blessing of the Amidah"
- Feb. 22nd - Choosing Parenthood: ART (Artificial Reproductive Technology), Adoption, and the Single Parent
- Rabbi Susan Grossman, Author of the Teshuvah "Choosing Parenthood: ART, Adoption, and the Single Parent"
- March 1st - Halakha, Criminal Justice and Capital Punishment
- Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky, Author of the Teshuvah "Participating in the American Death Penalty"
Series 6: Living our Values: Social Justice and Social Action
Wednesdays, 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT (March 8th - March 29th)
- March 8th - Are They Idolators? Making Room for Other Religions
- Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Abner & Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
- March 15th - Let Justice Roll Down Like Water
- Dr. Yael Landman, Assistant Professor of Bible, The Jewish Theological Seminary
- March 22nd - What They Say is Just - Changing Law and the People who Live It - An Examination of the Story of the Daughters of Zelophechad and What It Teaches about Changing Legal Interpretation
- Rabbi Cheryl Peretz, Associate Dean, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
- March 29th - Love Your Neighbor As Yourself: What do classical Jewish sources think we owe to others, and what does the feeling of love have to do with it?
- Dr. Sarah Wolf, Assistant Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, The Jewish Theological Seminary
Series 7: Counting the Days & Making Every Day Count
Wednesdays, 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT / 7 PM Israel Time (April 19th - May 10th)
- April 19th - Yom Hashoah
- Rabbi Marc Kaye, Rabbi at the Fuchsburg Jerusalem Center
- April 26th - Yom Haatzmaut
- Rabbi Nava Meiersdorf, Rabbi at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center
- May 3rd - Lag BaOmer: Mystical Reflections on the Omer
- Dr. Eitan Fishbane, Professor of Jewish Thought, The Jewish Theological Seminary
- May 10th - Multi-Sensory Experience of receiving Torah
- Rabbi Cheryl Peretz, Associate Dean, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies