**Thank you for your interest in joining us at Honoring Our Past, Shaping Our Future. Unfortunately the event is sold out and we will be unable to accommodate walk-ins.**
Engage with dynamic educators during workshop sessions, get a taste of learning with local thought leaders over brunch, and hear a message from Barry.
8:00 a.m.
Registration Opens
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Opening Plenary
Keynote Panel (Shira Goodman, Moderator) about peoplehood, Jewish identity, and the role of Jewish learning in our lives today. Speakers to be in conversation together: Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit, and Professor Fania Oz-Salzberger.
Workshops
The Bible as a Source for Jewish Identity
Marc Zvi Brettler
Explore Jewish identity from the perspective of a text which doesn’t mention the word “Jewish” until the Book of Esther.
Why I Love Jewish Learning: My Story and Yours
Professor Shulamit Reinharz
The narrative tool of story of self informs learning and journeys. Join a conversation on the role of storytelling in the crafting of identity.
Redefining Judaism for an Age of Anxious Identity
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman
We face unprecedented challenges to identity in 2018. How does broad acceptance of Jews combined with growing anti-Semitism around the world inform who we are and how we see ourselves?
Rabbi Akiva: The Quintessential Adult Learner
David Ariel, Ph.D.
The Talmudic sage Rabbi Akiva is said to have begun his Jewish learning in his 40s. Together we’ll look at the motivations of his sudden rebirth as a Jewish learner and how that has changed the Jewish world.
Jews and Words 2.0: Intellectual Parenting for the New Millennium
Professor Fania Oz-Salzberger
What does it mean to transmit the sacred (and not so sacred) texts of our tradition to the next generation? How will it change them – and us?
Singing God’s Words: Identity and the Power of Jewish Ritual
Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit, Ph.D.
In this interactive workshop, we will examine the power of music and ritual in Jewish worship and consider issues of gender, the impact of digital technology on synagogue practice, and the changing nature of spiritual experience in contemporary Judaism.
A Taste of Learning
Over brunch, learn in small groups in the format of one of the programs that CJP sponsors in the Greater Boston Jewish community.
Closing Plenary
Hear from Dr. Erica Brown and Barry Shrage as we celebrate Barry's 30+ years leading CJP and championing Jewish learning in the Greater Boston area and beyond.