with Drs. Arnie Eisen, David Ellenson, and Nancy Fuchs Kreimer
D’var torah by Dr. Deborah Waxman, moderated by Dr. Eric Caplan
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Our first of a three part series in honor of the 40th Yahzeit of Mordecai Kaplan and the 90th anniversary of Judaism as a Civilization!
Arnold Eisen served as Chancellor of JTS from 2007-2020 and is currently a member of its faculty, teaching courses in modern Jewish thought. Widely recognized as one of the world’s experts on American Judaism, Eisen is the author of five books, dozens of scholarly articles and hundreds of essays, blogs and commentaries on the weekly Torah portion. He is currently completing work on a volume of personal theology entitled Seeking the Hiding God.
David Ellenson currently serves as Chancellor Emeritus as well as I.H. and Anna Grancell Professor Emeritus of Jewish Religious Thought at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He served as Director of the Schusterman Center of Israel Studies at Brandeis University from 2015-2018 and is currently Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis. From 2001-2013 Ellenson was President of HUC-JIR, and in 2018-2019, following the tragic death of Rabbi Aaron Panken, Ellenson was called upon to be Interim President of HUC-JIR. His latest book, American Jewish Thought Since 1934, co-authored with Michael Marmur, was published by Brandeis University Press in 2020.
Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, Ph.D., is Associate Professor Emerita of Religious Studies and the founding Director of the Department of Multifaith Studies and Initiatives at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College where she was ordained in 1982. She also holds a masters degree from Yale Divinity School and a doctorate from Temple University.
With support from the Henry Luce Foundation, Nancy has pioneered innovative community based learning opportunities for rabbinical students and their peers of other faiths. Her projects include: Dialogue Retreats for Emerging Muslim and Jewish Leaders; Cultivating Character: A Conversation across Communities; and Campus Chaplaincy for a Multifaith World.
Nancy is a past president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and a founding board member of the Interfaith Center of Philadelphia, Shoulder-to-Shoulder of the Islamic Society of North America, and the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Rabbi Lester Bronstein, Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben, Rabbi Hillel Cohn, Linda Rich and Ittai Hershman, The Jewish Publication Society, Sherwood and Barbara Malamud, Rabbi Arnie Rachlis, Reconstructing Judaism, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Rabbi Dennis Sasso, Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, Rabbi Sid Schwarz, Jane and Harvey Susswein, Rabbi Jeffrey Weill