Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis Rabbinic Seminar

2017-2019

Theme: “Godliness: Implications for a Rabbi’s Work”

Thanks to the generosity of the Harold M. Schulweis Institute (HSMI), the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies (ZSRS) continued the bold educational initiative for their rabbinical students, presenting a Seminar series  “Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis Rabbinic Seminar” from 2017 to 2019.

The  theme was Godliness: Implications for a Rabbi’s Work.  Godliness is a linchpin in the Rabbi’s revolutionary  introduction of Predicate Theology as a way to relate positively to divinity, and its celebration in prayer and ritual. Quoting from Rabbi Schulweis, “We are an old-new people and we require old-new ways to renew our connection with our ancestors’ faith. From Elohim to Elohut, Godliness, is not a path away, but towards our spiritual renewal and reconciliation.”

The sessions were presented as follows:

From God to Godliness – Guest Lecturer Rabbi Ed Feinstein : Addressing the reasons that would impel a man like Rabbi Schulweis to move from God to Godliness, and to explore the consequences in terms of halakhah, pastoral care, and morality.

Godliness as a Source for Healing – Guest Lecturer Rabbi Sharon Broun: Addressing ways that a focus on godliness makes possible better pastoral responses. What do you say when…?

Godliness and the Person – Guest Lecturer Malkah Schulweis: The tool to fully express godliness requires an understanding of the psychological processes of the individual.

Fulfilling the lifelong vision of Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis and with the support of the Schulweis Institute, Dr. Michelle Green Willner founded the Jewish Community Children’s Choir   in 2011.  The choir’s success in bringing together children from different tracks of Judaism has proven Rabbi Schulweis’ passionate belief in the power of combining Jewish tradition and music as a means to overcome barriers to discourse.

The LA Jewish Community Children’s Choir elevates a new generation of singers through a diverse repertoire; musicianship skills; social, historical and cultural awareness; and personal responsibility and enhancement. Our mission is to inspire young singers who come from diverse backgrounds to represent and appreciate their unique culture and heritage through song throughout the Los Angeles community.

The LA JCCC Purpose:

Socially—befriending children from all sectors of the Jewish community and generating tolerance and respect between them;

Educationally—teaching children how specific Jewish texts relate to their Jewish heritage;

Musically—how to read music, how to sing properly with great musicianship and how to perform professionally;

Personally—to enhance each child’s self-esteem, deportment, Jewish consciousness and responsibility of contributing to the community at large.

Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, z”l, initiated the JCCC because he believed that “A community that sings together stays together.”

To see a video of a recent concert, CLICK HERE

New members are always welcome. For further information and to schedule an audition please visit:  The Los Angeles Jewish Community Children’s Choir

In the fall of 2004, Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis (z”l), delivered a sermon to the congregation at Valley Beth Shalom on Rosh Hashanah regarding the need to develop a response to the on-going genocide in Darfur. In a few short months, Jewish World Watch was formed from volunteers at VBS, led by Janice Kamenir-Reznik, co-founder and president. In the months that followed, other synagogues in the Los Angeles area expressed interest in participating. The Institute has been providing funding to support Jewish World Watch since the organization was founded. JWW has raised more than five million dollars for relief and development projects that impact tens of thousands of people in Sudan and Congo.  For further information, CLICK HERE

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The Scholars In Residence for Rabbi Harold Schulweis(z”l) commemorative Shabbatot, supports  a weekend program each year, at the time of the Rabbi’s Yahrzeit,  devoted to study, learning, prayer.  Past programs are listed here.  Titles for our past speakers indicate their professional affiliation at the time of the program.

• 2015 Rabbi David Ellenson, President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, a leader of the Reform movement in Judaism. Dr. Ellenson is a scholar of modern Jewish thought and history, recognized for his writings and publications in these fields.

• 2016 Chancellor Arnold Eisen, Jewish Theological Seminary. Dr. Eisen or Arnie, as he is usually referred by, is an academic and an American Judaic Scholar. He has served on the faculties of Stanford, Tel Aviv and Columbia Universities. Over the weekend he will speak about Rabbi Schulweis’ place in contemporary Jewish thought.

• 2017 Rabbi Avi Weiss. Avraham Haim Yosef ha Cohen is a modern Orthodox ordained rabbi, author, teacher, lecturer and activist who heads the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in The Bronx, New York. He is he founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a rabbinical seminary referred to as “Open Orthodox, an offshoot of Orthodoxy.

• 2018 Rabbi Irving and Blu Greenberg. Rabbi Greenberg, also known as Yitz, is an American scholar, author and Orthodox rabbi. He is known as a strong supporter of Israel, and a promotor of greater understanding between Judaism and Christianity. Blu Greenberg is an American writer specializing in modern Judaism and women’s issues who founded the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance.

• 2019 Dr.Uri Herscher, born in Tel Aviv, is an American rabbi and academic, founder and CEO of  the Skirball Cultural Center, an educational institution in Los Angeles devoted to sustaining Jewish Heritage and American democratic ideals.  Rabbi Herscher is a very dear and close friend of Rabbi Schulweis whom he credits with his becoming a rabbi.

Notice of future programs will appear in this space as they are scheduled.

“Chesed” is a Hebrew word that is commonly translated into English as “loving-kindness”, “kindness”, or “love”. The  Chesed Connection at  Valley Beth Shalom  targets opportunities where our volunteer forces can be of assistance, and places people in our community in meaningful volunteer situations. The Institute provided seed funding to support the initiation of the program at VBS, which attracts people who…

– Would like to help alleviate hunger
– Are passionate about protecting and saving the environment
– Are interested in helping ‘at-risk’ youth achieve success
– Find it fulfilling helping ill or disabled people
– Enjoy working with abandoned animals
– Would enjoy knitting or crocheting chemo caps and baby blankets
– Participate in the VBS Task Force on the Homeless

Current information on the Chesed program at VBS can be found   HERE

The Valley Beth Shalom Caring Connection offers care, compassion and support during the moments of life’s transitions and celebrations.

– Connecting Valley Beth Shalom clergy and expertly trained team of VBS volunteers with members needing comfort and support

– Connecting VBS physicians with each other to discuss diverse doctoring and medical ethical issues melded with the study of Jewish wisdom with Rabbi Noah Zvi Farkas

– Connecting our members with the latest information on health and wellness by sponsoring periodic educational programs

To get involved or request our assistance, please contact Susan Rubin, Caring Connection Director at 818-530-4056. or CLICK HERE

Valley Beth Shalom was the formative home for Aminadav Aloni and his creation of a great archive of Jewish music for solo voice, choir, and orchestra.  Ami was recognized as a gifted composer with whom VBS was blessed with a 30 year association.  With the encouragement of Rabbi Schulweis, a distinct liturgical voice was fashioned for the congregation.  Aloni’s work, some in collaboration with Rabbi Schulweis, have spread worldwide, increasing awareness, pride and consciousness of the beauty of Jewis music and its power to enhance the religious experience.  The Aminadav Aloni Music Foundation has been established to gather and publish the vast treasure of Ami’s repertoire.

The Schulweis Institute provided seed funding to help establish VBSnextGen, a home for young Jewish couples at Valley Beth Shalom: providing a platform to lead, make a difference, form lasting friendships, cultivate Jewish life and help build the future VBS family.
VBSnextGen was founded on the belief that a meaningful life is best lived in community. Jewish learning and practice can transform – it can change lives, give purpose, and invest people in the world. VBSnextGen served as a path for connection, transformation, and social action.

Keeping true to its mission of creating and supporting legacy programs affecting the arts, Tthe Institute supported establishing an art gallery in the halls of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino California, and has provided support to the following exhibits in that space:

– Faces of the Homeless: Painting the Unseen Among Us. Use current text and use a “click here” link to a slide show, as done on the current HMSI website

– Ketubot Exhibit. A display of various Ketubot (a Ketubah is a contract signed by a bride and groom as part of the Jewish Wedding ceremonies) from various sources, from weddings held in various countries at various times over the past 100 years

– A Week in the Life of Valley Beth Shalom

Composed by Russell Steinberg
On May 28, 2014, the first performance of Sacred Transitions: A Song Cycle Based on Meditations by Harold M. Schulweis, composed by Russell Steinberg [link is http://www.russellsteinberg.com/chamber/#Sacred%20Transitions ], was presented at Valley Beth Shalom and jointly supported by the Schulweis Institute and the Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles, Richard Braun M.D. Chairman/Founder. The texts from these songs are selections from meditations by Rabbi Schulweis, on the four primary life passages—birth, marriage, sickness/age, and death (the meditations are all available in the archive on this website). Steinberg wrote “Rabbi Schulweis revitalizes rites of passage as sacred moments in our lives by using simple, clear and beautiful language to focus us to a higher awareness…I find a personal intimate quality to these meditations, as if one person is speaking to another with deep love, compassion, and awareness. Click here for further information.