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Jun

11 2016

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Jun

12 2016

Tikkun Leil Shavuot (BIC, CSS, JFM)

7:30PM - 1:30AM  

Beth Israel Center 1406 Mound Street
Madison, WI

Contact Elissa Pollack
(608) 256-7763
elissa@bethisraelcenter.org

Join us for a night of Jewish learning with area Rabbis and speakers from across Madison's Jewish community! This year’s Tikkun Leil Shavuot will explore the concept of freedom within the context of American Judaism. Dairy delights will be served to keep learners sharp throughout the evening!

FREEDOM
What does freedom mean to you? This is the question that the Israelites faced at the foot of the mountain, as they waited to receive the Torah. And it is the question that is on all our minds during this season of heated political discourse and handwringing.

Free will. Free Market. Free Love. Free Lunch. Free speech.
Are we free? Has there ever been a time when or a way in which you have not been free? How does the American concept of freedom resonate or conflict with a Jewish sense of this idea? How do we understand the essential Jewish story of the Exodus if we consider going free the beginning of the story, not the end?

The evening begins at 7:30 pm
Ma'ariv at 9:10 pm
Sessions resume (after Ma'ariv and dessert) around 9:50 pm

This year's speakers are:

  • Dan Pekarsky - Philosphy "'Let freedom ring!'" But what is it? Jewish and American Perspectives on Freedom"
  • Mark Copelovitch - World Economics "The Wealth of a Holy Nation: Jewish Perspectives on Free Trade and Global Finance"
  • Matt Banks - Spirituality "Free your Mind, and the Rest will Follow: Revelation through Meditation"
  • Rabbi Renee Bauer - Activism "The Fight for Freedom: Jewish Inspirations for Social Justice Work"
  • Rabbi Joshua Ben-Gideon - Rabbinics Text Study: "Rabbinic Ideas on the Ethics of Free Trade"
  • Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman - History "The Meaning of Freedom: Reflecting on American Slavery and the Slavery of Our Ancestors"
  • Jon Pollack - Culture "Talkin' Hava Negilah Blues: Judaism & Freedom in Bob Dylan's America"
  • Daniel Gill and Shirly Gill-Raiz - Israel "We are all Slaves: Perspectives on Freedom"
  • Also back by popular demand: Poetry interludes with Kathy Miner.

Beth Israel Center thanks the Jewish Federation of Madison and Congregation Shaarei Shamayim for their support of this event.