Jewish Ideas to Change the World
Jewish Ideas to Change the World delivers thought-provoking content by leading Jewish thinkers with diverse perspectives and backgrounds. It is produced by Valley Beit Midrash. Valley Beit Midrash (VBM) is dedicated to social justice as driven by Torah ethics. VBM's mission is to improve lives through Jewish learning, direct action, and leadership development. Listen to VBM's other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (weekly divrei Torah by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) Stay Connected: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org Attended virtual programs live by becoming a member for just $18 per month...
We Are Free—Now What?
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc Gitler
About The Event:
In this class, we’ll explore the complex reality the Israelites faced after leaving Egypt, when liberation gave way to uncertainty in the wilderness. Drawing on the biblical narrative of their journey through the desert, the class examines how sudden freedom can be disorienting—marked by fear, lack of direction, nostalgia, and the struggle to build a new identity.
About The Speaker:
Marc Gitler is the Senior Jewish Educator at Valley Beit Midrash and visiting Rabbi of Aish SanDiego. A re...
The Seven Questions That Make a Jewish Leader
A hybrid event presentation with Rabbi Mike Feuer
About The Event:
The difference between leading yourself and becoming the hero of your story isn't just semantic - it's spiritual. This talk presents seven questions from the Torah of Jewish heroism that transform personal growth into something greater: a journey of moral courage, service, and sacred purpose. They are a guide for those seeking to lead themselves and others toward a larger narrative of meaning, courage, and purpose.
About The Speaker:
Rav Mike Feuer is an educator, content creator, and spiritual counselor. Through the...
Models of Heroism and Independence in Our Time
A hybrid event presentation with Rabbi Mike Feuer
About The Event:
On the day after Israel’s Independence Day, this talk explores how certain models of Jewish heroism - the warrior and the public leader - have made sovereignty possible, yet cannot by themselves fulfill its deeper promise. Drawing on the Torah of Jewish heroism, we will ask what fuller independence requires today. The answer points to different forms of Jewish heroism: the judge, the healer, and the storyteller - those who shape conscience, restore wholeness, and give meaning to power on the road toward redemption.
The Questions That Never Go Away
A hybrid event with Rabbi Ed Feinstein
The event was co-sponsored by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and hosted by Temple Har Shalom.
About The Event:
A child asks innocently, Where is God? Where did Grandma go when she died? Why do bad things happen? The language may be childlike, but the questions are profound. These are the questions that grow from being human. And Judaism offers answers, profound and moving answers. So let’s open our tradition and share these deep insights into the human condition.
About The Speaker:
Ra...
Forging White Heat: A Post–October 7 Haiku Journey
A virtual event presentation by Sara Tropper
About The Event:
In this book talk, I will present the forging of “White Heat” and read select poems from the volume. I will share what spurred me to write the book, define haiku and its interesting history, and discuss the sumi-e (Japanese pen-and-ink) artwork that accompanies the poems. The talk is designed to give the audience time to absorb the poems and images.
About The Speaker:
Sara Tropper lives in Israel with her husband, children, grandchildren, and a large, affectionate dog. When she is not edit...
Holocaust Testimony Reimagined
A virtual event presentation by Martin Herskovitz
About The Event:
Eighty years after the Holocaust, a new narrative is taking its place alongside the heretofore trauma-based narratives: the artistic narratives of the Second and Third Generations. It is no longer just the atrocities themselves that are at the center of attention, but also how the heirs of the victims, the Second and Third Generations, are taking ownership of these stories and transforming them. The narrative of the Second and Third Generation is a story, not of devastation, but of family connection, allowing the possibility of grieving...
Mayim Bialik in Conversation with Rabbi Shmuly
A sit-down conversation with Mayim Bialik and Rabbi Shmuly.
Mayim Bialik is best known for her lead role as Blossom Russo in the early-1990s NBC television sitcom Blossom. She played the role of Amy Farrah Fowler on the critically acclaimed CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory, for which she received 2 Critics’ Choice Awards, 4 Emmy nominations, and a SAG Award nomination. She served as host of Jeopardy! for 2 seasons, earning her fifth Emmy nomination for her contributions to the iconic show, which won its first primetime Emmy the year she hosted. In 2021, Bialik wrote and directed the fea...
An Unfinished Freedom: Passover as the Birth of an Ideal
An event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Armin Langer and Rabbi Moishe Steigmann
About The Event:
This year, we explore what freedom meant for the Israelites, who were included—and who were left out—in the Torah’s vision of liberation. We’ll reflect on how the call for freedom is both aspirational and incomplete and consider how its message resonates today. Together, we’ll imagine ways to carry forward the radical, unfinished work of freedom in our own lives and communities. This session will be co-taught by Rabbi Dr. Armin Langer of Congregation Shir Hadash and...
Going Out with Knots: My Two Kaddish Years with Hebrew Poetry
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Wendy Zierler
About The Event:
This class will trace the origin of my feminist Kaddish / COVID memoir and the related Shir Hadash project, as well as the title “Going Out with Knots,” and will cover some thematically related poems.
*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tT11EayuMRuXhgqP7FBTjAePMCHQCWG1/view?usp=sharing
About The Speaker:
Wendy Zierler is Sigmund Falk Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Feminist Studies at HUC-JIR in New York. She received her Ph.D. and her MA from Princeton Univ...
Religion Meets Spirituality: Rabbi Shmuly in Conversation with Alan Morinis
Rabbi Shmuly has a sit-down interview with the founder of The Mussar Institute, Alan Morinis as they talk about the intersection of religion and spirituality in Judaism.
Alan Morinis received his doctorate from Oxford University, which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship. He is one of the leading lights in the revival of the Jewish spiritual tradition of Mussar and is the author of Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (2002), Everyday Holiness (2007), With Heart in Mind (2014), and now The Shabbat Effect (2026). He is a student of Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr, zt”l, and in 2004 founded The Mussar Institute, which has...
Torah, Tarot, and Trickery: Judaism’s Take on Magic and Divination
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Steven Gotlib
About The Event:
What does Judaism REALLY believe about magic and divination? Join Steven Gotlib, an experienced magician/mentalist and former Tarot-reader, to delve into this fascinating and under-appreciated topic.
*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sKlv6niYx2BOjjCQvslDf5mI22PgST3V/view?usp=sharing
About The Speaker:
Steven Gotlib is the Associate Rabbi at Mekor Habracha/Center City Synagogue and Director of the Center City Beit Midrash in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
*There were technical difficulties wi...
The Shabbat Effect
A hybrid event presentation by Alan Morinis
The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ
About The Event:
The topic of this session will be the forthcoming book, The Shabbat Effect. The point of the book is to outline how observing Shabbat with the intention of developing certain inner traits germane to a Shabbat practice will prove useful all seven days of the week and is a step toward the ultimate human purpose of becoming whole and holy.
About The Speaker:
Alan Morinis received his doctorate from Oxford University, which he attended on...
The Shankbone Redemption: The Inside Story of Passover
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Ed Feinstein
The event was co-sponsored by: The Hammerman Family & Congregation Or Tzion
About The Event:
Each year we recite the story, with Pharaoh and Moses, frogs here, frogs there, and the splitting sea. It is our story, the foundation of our faith and vision of history. Buried in the story, beneath the songs and symbols of the holiday, is a message about the human condition and our mission in the world. Join us as we explore the message and its significance for...
Why Is This Passover Different From All Other Passovers?
A Tradition of Revolution
An event presentation by Rabbi Ed Feinstein
About The Event:
“Tradition!” sang Tevye, “that’s how we keep our balance!” Tradition is our superpower. We know that the words we say, the rites we practice, and the ethics we embrace have come down through the generations. But there is another source of our power, one not often recognized – our remarkable ability to re-invent, re-imagine, re-interpret our faith, our institutions, our identity in moments of crisis. This capacity for meeting catastrophe with spiritual creativity may be the real secret of our survival. At this moment of our histo...
Stranger In A Strange Land
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc Gitler
About The Event:
Join Rabbi Marc for a thought-provoking exploration of one of Judaism’s most foundational questions. We remember the Exodus from Egypt every single day and celebrate it yearly on Pesach, recounting the story of our people’s liberation from bondage. But this raises a profound theological challenge: why did our ancestors have to endure the suffering of enslavement in the first place? In this session, we’ll examine classical Jewish texts and contemporary interpretations to wrestle with questions of divine purpose, human suffering, and th...
The Sacred Struggle: Jewish Responses to Trauma
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Benjamin David and Rabbi Lindsey Danziger
About The Event:
In this session, we will uncover lessons from The Sacred Struggle: Jewish Responses to Trauma. This book is a powerful anthology of personal stories, offering a deeply moving exploration of how Jewish wisdom can help us navigate life’s most difficult moments.
About The Speakers:
Benjamin David is the rabbi at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. He is a respected teacher, writer, and leader within the Reform Movement. The son of Ra...
What Animals Teach Us About Families
A virtual event presentation by Professor Beth Berkowitz
About The Event:
Family separation due to war, migration, and incarceration is a major public concern, but what about the animal families routinely separated by human agriculture and development? What is the impact on them, on us, and on the planet? Moving beyond debates about the ethics of animal consumption to focus instead on animal intimate lives, “What Animals Teach Us about Families: Kinship and Species in the Bible and Rabbinic Literature” takes on the Anthropocene and big animal agriculture to consider the fragmented animal families left behi...
Esther: The Whole Ruth, but Nothing like the Ruth
An event presentation by Rabbi Ben Greenfield
The event was co-sponsored by Jewish Nevada
About The Event:
Reading the Bible’s only two works named after women as belonging to one sustained conversation reveals two vastly different portrayals of heroism, narrative arc and female power. In this comparative study, we argue for — and spell out the implications of — reading Esther and Ruth in light of each other.
*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k1CzBdhVTopQKPEho3GUG__m8DYhEISiGXGrZ_dTawU/edit?tab=t.0
About The Speake...
The Hidden Messages of Purim
A virtual event with Rabbi Marc Gitler
About The Event:
In this class, we'll explore the deeper layers of the Purim story that often go unnoticed. Together, we’ll look beyond the costumes, noise, and celebration to uncover subtle themes woven into the Megillah—hidden miracles, quiet acts of courage, and the power of human choice when God seems absent. Through close reading and reflection, this class will reveal how Purim speaks not only to ancient Persia but to our own lives, offering timeless insights about resilience, faith, and finding meaning beneath the surface.
*Sour...
What is the Most Important Mitzvah in the Torah?
A virtual event with Rabbi Marc Gitler
About The Event:
Judaism contains 613 mitzvot, each shaping Jewish life in its own way. But are some more central than others? In this lecture, we’ll explore how the Torah and later Jewish thinkers have grappled with the idea of prioritizing commandments. By examining key biblical passages and rabbinic teachings, we’ll ask what it might mean to identify a “most important” mitzvah, or a core set of values that anchor them all. Along the way, we’ll consider how these debates can help us clarify what Judaism asks of us—and...
The Masks We Wear
A virtual event presentation by Melanie Gruenwald
About The Event:
In this session, we will take a psycho-spiritual, kabbalistic exploration of our multiple masks and identities, and explore the themes connected to the upcoming holiday of Purim.
*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DccDFTg4zbdz7e-SC_wusZRtcEy7NIoH/view?usp=sharing
About The Speaker:
Melanie Gruenwald, Executive Director of Kabbalah Experience, brings over 30 years of non-profit leadership and community-organizing to her position. Engaged with senior citizens, families, college students, and teens, Melanie has extensive professional experience with...
Defining Justice: Do We Want Equity, Equality, or Revolution?
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Sarah Mulhern
About The Event:
When we say we want to work for justice, what do we actually mean? In this class, we will dive into the question of whether a truly just outcome is about equity, equality, or is revolutionary in nature, and try to understand what the strengths and weaknesses of each approach to changemaking are. Through discussion and the study of rabbinic texts that advocate for each of these approaches in relation to economic justice, we will explore how each of us can best focus our...
The Sevenfold Path: A Traveler’s Guide to Jewish Wisdom
A hybrid event presentation (in-person and virtual) with Shira Milgrom and David M. Elcott
The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Israel
About The Event:
In this traveler’s guide to spiritual practice, Milgrom and Elcott bring the reader to many paths that seekers of the sacred walk. What is the universal sevenfold path? Recognizing a spark of the divine; honoring the covenant with all living things; engaging in healing and growth; opening our lives to the divine presence; seeing where we are as a sacred place; seeking and pursuing justice; and taking time to...
Praying About the Unspeakable: Liturgy and Ritual as Response to Crisis
A hybrid event presentation (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Dalia Marx
The event was co-sponsored by Beth El Phoenix
About The Event:
Rabbi Dalia Marx, one of the most respected voices in contemporary Jewish thought and liturgy, will talk about how October 7 and the war since have brought profound and rapid changes to the world of Jewish prayer: the language, the focus, even the urgency. Rabbi Marx will also share her reflections on the Jewish responsibility to bring our hostages home, and the prayers—old and new—that have sustained her through this chal...
The Grown-Up Midrash Says: Five Radical Midrashim Not Taught in Day Schools
A hybrid event presentation by Rabbi Ben Greenfield
About The Event:
Did God lust after the Matriarchs? Did Jacob think he was Divine? Did Mordechai breastfeed Esther? The Midrash (the rabbinic expansion on Biblical stories) is too often read as a set of fables or children's stories. But in truth, the Midrash contains some of the most radical, imaginative, and philosophically astute readings of the Bible in our Tradition. Together we will explore five midrashim that have yet to enter the popular Jewish conscience, but probably should.
About The Speaker:
Rabbi Ben Greenfield...
How Tu B’Shvat Teaches Us to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Sharona Halickman
About The Event:
You may think that reduce, reuse, and recycle are modern concepts for saving the environment, but when we delve into the Talmud's insights into the Seven Species of Israel, we will find that these ideas are intrinsic in these Biblical fruits.
*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PJE9haKXAMUditgC1dczIVprxD-61sMo/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=118303465191084699356&rtpof=true&sd=true
About The Speaker:
Rabbanit Sharona Halickman holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Stern College and an MS in...
The Power of Song: Lifting Our Voices in Praise and Protest
A hybrid event presentation with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz and Moishe Steigmann, The Mindful Rabbi.
About The Event:
As we approach Shabbat Shirah, the “Shabbat of Song,” and reflect on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we turn our attention to the sacred power of voice. From the Israelites singing at the sea to modern movements for freedom and justice, song has carried the Jewish spirit through moments of triumph, struggle, and hope. Join Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz and Moishe Steigmann, The Mindful Rabbi, for an evening of learning, dialogue, and inspiration. Through text study, refl...
Hiding in Holland: A Resistance Memoir
A virtual event presentation with Dr. Shulamit Reinharz
About The Event:
In her book, Hiding in Holland: A Resistance Memoir, Dr. Reinharz offers a unique narrative by collaborating with her father, Max Rothschild, to share personal stories of survival and resistance during the Holocaust. Her insights offer an enriched understanding of history's impact on contemporary Jewish identity.
About The Speaker:
Shulamit Reinharz was born in Amsterdam and grew up in New Jersey. She has also lived in Israel for numerous one-year stays as well as in Utrecht and Oxford for research appointments. She...
Ivri: The Roots of Anti-semitism
A virtual event presented by Rabbi Marc Gitler
About The Event:
Anti-semitism has seemingly been around forever. In this lecture, we will explore its earliest expressions through stories in the Book of Genesis, focusing on the figure of the Ivri—the “Hebrew” who stands apart. By examining these foundational narratives, we’ll uncover how difference, otherness, and moral challenge can provoke hostility. Together, we’ll consider how these ancient dynamics continue to shape anti-Jewish hatred today and what insights they offer for understanding—and responding to—anti-semitism in the 21st century.
*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.co...
Ethics at the Center: Jewish Theory and Practice for Living a Moral Life
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff
About The Event:
Drawing from Chapter 3 of the book, Ethics at the Center: Jewish Theory and Practice for Living a Moral Life, this session will explore how Western, Christian, and Jewish traditions understand the nature of the human being, and how these differing perspectives shape a wide range of moral issues.
*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R8ev3vsjgm5n7wSKE9ekiLRtwHDVR_vM/view?usp=sharing
About The Speaker:
Elliot Dorff, Rabbi (Jewish Theological Seminary o...
Bal Tashchit: How to Turn an Ancient Law Into a Force for Earth’s Care
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi David Seidenberg
About The Event:
The law against wasting or destroying things, Bal Tashchit, is a torch held up by Jewish environmentalists to prove that Judaism cares about the Earth, but the law, as it is codified in halakhah (Jewish law), is that you can destroy anything if you can make a profit doing it. We will delve into the roots and interpretations of Bal Tashchit, including Rambam, Ramban, Sefer Chinukh, and others, to find the basis for fixing Bal Tashchit so that it can become a strong...
How Are These Responsa Different From All Others?
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. David Golinkin
About The Event:
Responsa are written answers by rabbis to halakhic questions. Since 1985, I have written approximately 900 responsa, over 200 of which have been published. In this lecture, I would like to explain my methodology by describing six characteristics of my Responsa, and giving examples, primarily from my most recent volume: Responsa in a Moment, volume 6.
*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sY-ROug4-Tcgeri-kbfj_5Bhphh0vDJd/view?usp=sharing
About The Speaker:
Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin was...
Lessons from the Olive Tree for Families, Jewish Unity, and the Social Security System
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jon Greenberg.
About The Event:
This program will explore the symbolic and halachic significance of the olive tree. The questions we’ll examine include:
Neglected agricultural and political reasons that the olive oil Chanukah displaced an earlier symbol of Chanukah,Why the 15th of Av became a day for matchmaking,How the social and technological history of olive use mediates a five-hundred-year-old debate about how to read the Talmud, andThe beautiful lesson about family relationships that the Psalms draw from the biology of the olive tree.*So...
What We Celebrate When We Celebrate Hanukkah: Four Theories on Unsettled Question
A hybrid event with Rabbi Ben Greenfield.
About The Event:
Classic Rabbinic sources offer very different answers to a key Hanukkah question: what exactly are we celebrating on this holiday? From Medieval Zionism to Rabbinic Pacifism, we'll explore 5 vital “retellings” of the Hanukkah story with very different takes on these 8 days.
Source Sheets:
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About The Speaker:
Ben Greenfield serves as Scholar in Residence, VBM Las Vegas, and as the Director of Jewish Learning at The Adelson Upper School in Las Vegas. Ben...
Animals as Kabbalistic Masters
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer.
About The Event:
Animals don’t receive much attention in kabbalistic texts and even less so in scholarship on kabbalah. When they do, it is predominantly to teach humans to be better humans. Howrome anonymous kabbaalist who believed there was a deeper connection between humans and animals, to the point that stories were told about animals that shared kabbalistic secrets. What can they teach us today about animals, humans, and a shared future?
About The Speaker:
Jonnie Schnytzer is probably the only PhD in Jewish Ph...
Power and Politics in the Hebrew Bible
A hybrid event presentation by Rabbi David Kasher.
About The Event:
The epic narratives in the Books of the Prophets take us on a dramatic journey from the chaotic days of the Judges to the building and breaking of the Israelite monarchy in Samuel and Kings. Along the way, we encounter prophets, priests, and kings locked in a struggle over the meaning of power, justice, and leadership. Together we’ll explore how these stories reflect the political theory of the Hebrew Bible, and ask what wisdom these books might hold for us as we wade through th...
Before Good & Evil: Moral Relativism in Jewish Ethics
A hybrid event presentation by Rabbi David Kasher
About The Event:
What does it mean to call something “good” or “evil”? Are moral values absolute, or do they depend on culture, context, and perspective? This class explores how Jewish texts across the ages have grappled with questions of moral relativism — examining biblical narratives, rabbinic debates, and modern philosophical reflections to uncover how Jewish tradition understands the foundations of moral judgment.
*Source Sheet:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TehhGK4d5pHZR1_p7EnKtXZ62zNADJev9oCofu0Hn6s/edit?usp=shar.ing
About The Speake...
A Jewish Trinity: Contemporary Christian Theology Through Jewish Eyes
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill
About The Event:
The Christian affirmation of a triune God has always perplexed and confounded Jews. Can Jews move beyond understanding the Trinity as inherently tri-theistic? This talk serves as an entry into a range of issues in Jewish-Christian theological differences, presenting a Jewish understanding of topics in contemporary Christian theology, such as the Trinity, original sin, and incarnation. Brill will discuss how Jews and Christians can engage in comparative discourse on theological issues with full clarity and understanding. We will strive to move beyond reconciliation toward...
Faith, Healing, and Hope: Mitch Albom in Conversation with Rabbi Shmuly
Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with author Mitch Albom to talk about faith, healing, and hope.
Mitch Albom is an internationally renowned and best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster, and musician. His books have collectively sold 42 million copies worldwide; have been published in 51 territories and in 48 languages around the world; and have been made into Emmy award-winning and critically-acclaimed television movies. In 2006, he founded the nonprofit SAY Detroit, which provides pathways to success for Detroiters in need through major health, housing, and education initiatives. He also founded a dessert shop and a gourmet popcorn...
