Limmud Bay Area Festival 2019: Full Schedule

12:20pm PDT

Hope in Times of Darkness

Jews, and the societies we’ve lived in, have faced times of tremendous turmoil, uncertainty and fear. In response, Jewish text and tradition have evolved to rise to the spiritual challenges of those times, offering us hope for a better future. In this challenging political moment, how might our textual tradition help us think about and build resilience, hope and a sense of possibility for the future?

Presenters

Mimi Micner

Pardes-Kevah Fellow

Mimi Micner is a fifth year Rabbinical Student at Hebrew College in Boston. She is a Mussar teacher, organizer, writer and spiritual seeker.

Friday June 28, 2019 12:20pm - 1:20pm PDT
Knights Valley (Student Center, 2nd Floor)

Text, Pardes-Kevah

1:30pm PDT

Belief, Relationship and Practice: Jewish Responses to Tragedy

In this session we will draw from sources throughout Jewish history to explore two questions that bear on all of our lives -- how to make sense of calamities and how to respond to them.

Presenters

George Altshuler

Pardes-Kevah Fellow

George Altshuler is a rabbinical student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He previously worked as a journalist and teacher in Washington, DC, Haiti and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Friday June 28, 2019 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
Ballroom B (Student Center, 3rd Floor)

Text, Pardes-Kevah

2:30pm PDT

LIFE IN BODY: Owning My Expertise

Everyday, doctors around the world prescribe medication, perform exams and give us diagnoses. And we adhere to their requests because after all...they are the doctors. What would it mean for us to question and push a little more in regards to our own healthcare? This class will examine what it means to be an expert and who gets to make those decisions.

Presenters

Emily JK Holtzman

Pardes-Kevah Fellow

Emily is passionate about teaching and spreading Torah to the masses. She believes that our tradition examines what it means to be human and how to live righteously in the world. Emily is entering her 4th year as a student of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies.

Friday June 28, 2019 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT
Knights Valley (Student Center, 2nd Floor)

Text, Pardes-Kevah

9:20pm PDT

Women, Payos, and Beards: Bodies or Gender?

Is the mitzvah of peyos relevant to people of all genders? In attempting to answer this question we will learn some Talmud, discuss what the rabbis had to say about women and facial hair, and see what we can bring from this discussion into the project of creating queer halacha.

Presenters

Jamie Schwartz

Pardes-Kevah Fellow

Jamie is currently a rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston, after having spent three years learning at Pardes and Hadar. Her past incarnations include sofer’s assistant and biology lab tech. She also makes a mean potato kugel.

Friday June 28, 2019 9:20pm - 10:20pm PDT
Knights Valley (Student Center, 2nd Floor)

Text, Pardes-Kevah

3:40pm PDT

I Got Torah in My Bag, Swag: the Intersection of Jewish Literature and Pop Culture

This class will explore the meaning and messages of Torah as it is found in Jewish literature as well as literature from the pop culture canon of today. It seeks to challenge our notion of what is considered a text and where we can find meaningful spiritual content as we encounter popular music, television/film, and literature of all kinds.

Presenters

Jenna Stein Turow

Pardes-Kevah Fellow

Jenna is a fifth year rabbinical student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University, and works as the rabbinic intern at Adat Ari El in Valley Village, CA. She is passionate about experiential education, building meaningful community, and seeks authenticity... Read More →

Saturday June 29, 2019 3:40pm - 4:50pm PDT
Knights Valley (Student Center, 2nd Floor)

Text, Pardes-Kevah

6:45pm PDT

Conflict Brings Tikkun: Restorative/Transformative Justice and Teshuva

When conflict arises in our communities, oftentimes society tells us to shrink back and avoid getting involved - instead to rely on outside sources or the criminal (in)justice system. Having agreed-upon structures in place can help communities become more resilient, so in this session we will explore Jewish approaches to engaging with conflict.

Presenters

Noam Vered Lerman

Pardes-Kevah Fellow

Noam is from Milwaukee, WI and is a fifth year rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston, MA. They are one of the co-founders of Let My People Sing!, and also started Der Yiddish Tekhines Proyekt, a project which is making Yiddish women's liturgy accessible through song and... Read More →

Saturday June 29, 2019 6:45pm - 7:45pm PDT
Ballroom B (Student Center, 3rd Floor)

Text, Pardes-Kevah

10:00pm PDT

On the Foolishness of Optimism...and the Advantages of Practicing it Anyway

Past experience often dictates future expectations, but optimism maintains that tomorrow might be better than today. Explore the practice of optimism through Jewish texts, considering how this (advantageous?) foolishness could impact our contemporary relationships and lives.

Presenters

Mollie Feldman

Pardes-Kevah Fellow

Mollie Feldman is the Assistant Director and Senior Jewish Educator at American University Hillel in D.C., where she loves helping students from all backgrounds become active participants in the experience of Jewish learning. She has an MA/MA in Near Eastern & Judaic Studies and... Read More →

Saturday June 29, 2019 10:00pm - 11:00pm PDT
Knights Valley (Student Center, 2nd Floor)

Text, Pardes-Kevah

9:30am PDT

Magical Halacha

Are you chayav for murder if you use a killing curse? Can you count in a minyan if you're invisible? Are questions like these important? This session is about having fun geeking out on hilchos Harry Potter. In the process, we will also explore some of the deeper issues at stake in these laws and examine the phenomenon of theoretical halacha itself.

Presenters

Jonah Peretz-Lange

Pardes-Kevah Fellow

Jonah is a teacher of Talmud and Jewish studies in Boston and a graduate of the Pardes Educators Program. He lives in Somerville, MA with his wife and cat.

Sunday June 30, 2019 9:30am - 10:40am PDT
Knights Valley (Student Center, 2nd Floor)

Text, Pardes-Kevah