OBM Scholar Series May 21, 2024 7:30 pm

Teaching and dialogue on Judaism is About Love
Rabbi Shai Held

A common misconception is that love is a “Christian idea” and not a Jewish one. But what if we have it all wrong? Join Rabbi Shai Held as he introduces the central themes of the book then joins Rabbi Sitkin in a conversation on the centrality of love to the Jewish vision of ethics, spirituality, and theology. What can Judaism teach us about love, and what can a renewed focus on love reveal to us about Judaism?

Rabbi Shai Held, one of the most influential Jewish thinkers and leaders in America, is President and Dean of the Hadar Institute in New York City. Rabbi Held received the prestigious Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education, and has been named multiple times to Newsweek’s list of the most influential rabbis in America and to the Forward's list of the most prominent Jews in the world.  He is the author of Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence (2013) and The Heart of Torah: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion (2017).   His new book, Judaism is About Love, will be published by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux in March 2024.

 The Open Beit Midrash Scholar Series is funded by The Yvette and Herman Gordon Century Fund for Adult Teaching and Learning. Please consider making a contribution to this fund to enhance our adult education programs here. To sponsor a future scholar series event in memory of a loved one or in honor of someone, click here.