Crisis is time to reexamine what is truly important

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman of Congregation Agudas Achim in Attleboro, Mass., has a nice piece in a recent edition of her local paper, in which she says our job is not only to survive the immediate crisis, “but also to reexamine what is truly important, what it is we want to do with what little time, [...]

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Hartman Institute creates rabbinic students seminar in Jerusalem for 2009-10

Come and study in Jerusalem at the Shalom Hartman Institute with your fellow rabbinic students from other movements in an open and supportive atmosphere.
Faculty

David Hartman
Melila Hellner-Eshed
Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi
Rut Kaniel Kara-Ivanov
Israel Knohl
Micah Goodman

Topics

Reading the Zohar
The Soul of the Sinner: From Chet to Geulah
God After Auschwitz: Dilemmas in Post-Holocaust Theology
Morality in War
Where Do We Come From?

The Experience

6:00 [...]

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Quick report from Obama phone conference with rabbis

From our colleague Rabbi Jonah Layman:
So I just hung up and I must say that President Obama is quite impressive. He framed his presentation around the “unetaneh tokef” prayer quoting who shall live and who shall die, etc. and the shofar blast. This season he says prompts serious reflection and debate about matters of life [...]

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Hello. This is President Obama calling. Shalom, rabbis…

President Obama is set to call a group of religious leaders today – that’s Aug. 19, 2009 -  to push his health care reform proposal. At least one rabbi with ties to Shalom Hartman Institute is going to be in on the call. Rabbi Jonah Layman, rabbi of Shaare Tefila Congregation of the Washington, DC, [...]

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Here’s why Hartman Institute’s Be’eri program is so important:.Israelis’ low knowledge of Judaism

A new survey reported here has found that the current generation of Israelis has a weak – to be charitable – knowledge of Judaism. According to the article:
The survey revealed that 80% of secular Israelis and 59% of Israelis overall define their level of Judaic knowledge and Jewish heritage as mediocre [...]

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Israel at 61: Continuously Moving Forward – Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman

Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem, Israel, says that Israel at 61 is not looking for messianic redemption or major developments. Israel and Jews should be content if the Jewish State takes small steps of continuous progress toward safety, security, social welfare, democracy, pluralism, and peace.

Special kudos to the person who can [...]

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Hartman ‘represented’ on Newsweek top rabbis, synagogues list

The value and virtues of Top 10, 25 or 50 lists are endlessly debatable. But what is indisputable is that they start discussions – and disputes. The publication this week of the new “Top 50 (U.S.) Rabbis” compiled by Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman & CEO Michael Lynton, News Corporation Executive Vice President Gary Ginsberg and [...]

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Story behind the picture, V. 1 – Ron Aigen

We change the homepage picture on the Hartman website on a regular basis – once every week or so. But we don’t have space to say a lot about each photo. So, beginning with the current picture (see a small version above), we are going to have something to say about each picture as it [...]

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David Hartman laments rise of extremism, irrationality in Jewish world

I don’t want this one to slip away unnoticed, even though it is off the main Hartman website homepage for now: David Hartman’s new column on the rise of extremism in the Jewish world. The essay is adapted from one of his recent lectures in the Pomrenze Lecture Series: Challenges Facing Modern Jewry in Israel [...]

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David Hartman: The rise of religious extremism

David Hartman talks about how Jewish religious extremism, and even “mainstream” Orthodoxy have grown in modern times as more modern, rational movements have struggled.

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