Jewish Ideas to Change the World Valley Beit Midrash

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz sat down with Rabbi Mike Feuer to discuss what victory looks like in today’s Israel-Gaza War.
Rav Mike Feuer is an educator, content creator, and spiritual counselor. He teaches and inspires people around the world through his Jewish Story History podcast and the Jewish Heroism Project. Whether working through teaching, content, or narrative therapy Rav Mike’s mission is always the same – to tell a story of the past that upholds a present identity fit to build the future of which we dream.


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A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Gil Gershon Tivon and Dr. Shirli Regev
The event was co-sponsored by Beth El Phoenix
About the Event: 
Compassion, kindness & dignity are the three key ingredients needed in most human communications and relationships. They underline emotional intelligence and imply the presence of our soul and heart in human interactions.
About the Speakers: 
Rabbi Dr. Gil Gershon Tivon received his rabbinical ordination from the chief rabbinate of Israel, as well as a Rabbinical judge. He served as a community Rabbi in South Africa, Israel, and Arizona, USA, serving a wide spectrum of religious Jewish observance of all walks of life. He serves as a Rabbi, certified chaplain, and the Spiritual Director at Spiritual Care Hospice. He has a Ph.D. in Holistic Counseling and Pastoral Psychology. He is a certified Mediator, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, and book author.
Dr. Shirli Regev is a mentor, author, hypnotherapy certified therapist (Transformational Therapy), chaplain, and spiritual care provider with 25 years of experience. She holds two PhDs in Holistic Counseling & Pastoral Counseling Psychology. She holds a Master’s degree in Coaching Education (Ohio University) and a Bachelor’s degree in Business (Touro University) and Special Education (Beth Berel Israel). She has written eight books about self-development, spirituality, and growth, some of which she co-authored with Dr. Rabbi Gil Tivon. Today, she is a Holistic Counseling Doctor.


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A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel 
About the Event: 
In this seminar, we will consider how we’ve arrived at this moment of an outpouring of anti-Jewish venom on campus and what can be done to reintroduce civility and mutual respect between the alienated and offended groups. What is the underlying cause of this explosion of hostility and what is the University’s responsibility to address the issue? A sober and nuanced assessment by a 50-year veteran of the campus wars.
About the Speaker: 
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller is a faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He recently celebrated 40 years of working with students and faculty as the Executive Director of the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA, where he is now Director Emeritus.
Chaim was ordained at Yeshiva University where he completed a Masters in Rabbinic Literature. He has been a lecturer in the Departments of Sociology and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA and the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He is a faculty member of the Wexner Heritage Foundation. Chaim was the founding director of the Hartman Fellowship for Hillel Professionals and a founding member of Americans for Peace Now.
Chaim was a rabbinic consultant to Barbra Streisand while making the film Yentl. He and his wife Dr. Doreen Seidler-Feller, a clinical psychologist, are the parents of two children.


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A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Sharona Halickman
The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ
About The Event: 
How were women the heroines of the Passover story and what rituals have we taken on to honor them? 
Do women traditionally recline at the Seder? What is a Miriam’s cup? Are women obliged to drink the four cups of wine?
About the Speaker: 
Sharona holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Stern College and an MS in Jewish Education from Azrieli Graduate School, Yeshiva University. Sharona was the first Orthodox woman to serve as a member of the clergy as the first Congregational Intern and first Madricha Ruchanit at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, NY. After making aliya in 2004, Sharona founded Torat Reva Yerushalayim, a nonprofit organization based in Jerusalem that provides Torah study groups for students of all ages and backgrounds.


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A virtual event presentation by Dr. Boris Draznin
The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion
About the Event: 
Dr. Draznin will discuss How History and Genetics Define Jewish Diversity and Identity, the book he published (Cambridge Scholar Publishing) in 2023. The book and his presentation will reveal current answers to old questions as to how Jewish people might be genetically related. Modern genetic research tackles ingrained convictions about ethnicity and religion, journeying through time and place – from the Twelve Tribes of Israel, through Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Greco-Roman empires to today’s Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and uncovers how the Jewish gene pool travels through history. With a unique blend of enthusiasm and experience, Dr. Draznin shares a fascinating perspective on the Jewish diaspora then and now.
About The Speaker: 
Boris Draznin, MD, Ph.D. is the Celeste and Jack Grynberg Professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, former President of the Western Association of Physicians, and Chair of the Professional Section of the American Diabetes Association. He is a member of the American Association of Physicians and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He authored or edited over 200 scientific articles, book chapters, and books.


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A virtual event presentation by Noam Zion
About the Event: 
In this class, we will address the question: How will you celebrate your seder in a time in which so much is lo b’seder (not in order), in a time of war, collateral damage to civilians, endangered hostages, and various kinds of worldwide antisemitism? The problems will not be resolved by Seder night, but we must celebrate as Jews have celebrated Pesach in the worst of times. But we must also acknowledge the profound experiences of the last year and the new questions raised. Joy and yet remembrance are essential in this seder. 
To respond to that urgent existential need for Israeli Jews, Mishael, and Noam Zion have issued this new Haggadah. Come and hear how the authors have imagined Seder 2024 and learn about how their new Haggadah may be a valuable resource for your American Jewish seder. Note the new Hebrew Haggadah, published March 17, 2024, was produced to reflect updated issues of Israeli civil and military society with its struggle with the massacre, its ongoing unresolved trauma, and its deep struggle between despair and hope. An English Seder Supplement 2024 will be shared with all participants.
*Source Guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DFKgOgTBfJbXE3dyaPQIgg_vJoIUR8Ge/view?usp=sharing
About the Speaker: 
Noam is now emeritus at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem where since 1978 he has been a senior research fellow and educator. He earned a graduate degree in general philosophy at Columbia University and the Hebrew University while studying Bible and Rabbinics at JTSA and the Hartman Beit Midrash.
His popular publications and worldwide lecturing have promoted Homemade Judaism – empowering families to create their own pluralistic Judaism during home holidays – Pesach, Hanukkah and Shabbat. His most popular publications include A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah; A Different Light: The Big Book of Hanukkah; A Day Apart: Shabbat at Home; The Israeli Haggadah: Halaila Hazeh; and A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices (published together with his son). But his most recent book written with his son came out on March 17, 2024, Haggadah Yisraelit to reflect on the latest events of October 7, 2023.
His most recent academic research encompasses a trilogy on the intellectual history of philanthropy entitled Jewish Giving in Comparative Perspectives (2013) and a nine-part series on Talmudic Marital Dramas (2018). In 2021 Jewish Publication Society published Sanctified Sex: The 2000-Year Jewish Debate on Marital Intimacy.


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