North America
8 Days
 

2010 Lay Leadership Summer Study Retreat
June 30 – July 7, 2010
 
Engaging Israel:
Jewish Values and the Dilemmas of Nationhood
  
Click here for a short video of the Opening Session of the Summer 2010 Lay Leadership Retreat.
 
The Shalom Hartman Institute Lay Leadership Summer Study Retreat is an annual weeklong seminar dealing with major questions facing Judaism in the modern age. The program, in operation for more than 20 years, takes place at the Institute's beautiful campus in the heart of Jerusalem and draws scores of North American lay leaders from across the continent and denominational spectrum.
 
Since Operation Cast Lead, the subsequent Goldstone Report and recent foreign policy debates, there has been an increasing sense that anti-Israeli opinion has moved beyond criticism of some of Israel's actions and policies to the delegitimization of the Zionist project as a whole. The Jewish community at large, since the creation of the State of Israel, has taken as self-evident the need to support Israel. Yet that support is now being questioned on many levels and among large segments of the community. The Jewish community is in urgent need of a new language and argument for assimilating the significance of Israel into the modern Jewish consciousness. 
 
For Summer 2010, our upcoming study programs will focus on these urgent needs and the essential questions and challenges directed against Israel today and use them as a basis for developing a new response and language, based on Jewish ideas and values. Jewish leaders today need to be able to address crucial questions for which they currently do not know the answers. For example:
  • What is the role of "peoplehood" in modern Jewish identity?
  • In a world of intense individualism, can Judaism be defined primarily as a personal and internal experience, or is a sense of belonging to a Jewish collective central to giving meaning and purpose to contemporary Jewish life?
  • How does Jewish sovereignty relate to the self-identity of a Jews living throughout the world?
  • How does Israel balance its legitimate right of self defense with the rights of others? How do we reconcile the Jewish claim to the land with those of the Palestinian people?
  • What are the requirements of morality of war, and how can Israel use its power in a way that is consistent with the highest standards of Jewish morality and values?
  • Can a Jewish state be reconciled with the values of Jewish pluralism and freedom?
  • What does the Jewish national project have to offer in responding to global challenges and advancing the value of Tikkun Olam?
In addition, the study program will include a multi-session track devoted to the study of seven great texts which have framed the identity of the Jewish people taught by senior faculty of the Hartman Institute, evening lectures by guest scholars and Israeli political figures, and excursions exploring the contemporary realities of the State of Israel.
 
2009 Lay Leadership Summer Retreat
 
The 29th annual Lay Leadership Summer Retreat, held July 1-8, 2009, was, “Crisis and Uncertainty: Paradigms of Response.” A record group studied the core values of the Jewish tradition regarding wealth, human need, and ultimate values, and probed how Jewish visionaries of the past responded to moments of crisis and what their responses and texts teach us about the origins of Jewish optimism.
 
Further Information
 
Contact Meirav Fishman at meravf@shi.org.il, 972.2.567.5301.
 

Target Population

 

The program is open to individuals of all denominations from across North America who seek to deepen their knowledge of Judaism and its pluralistic voices, and are committed to utilizing their influence and leadership to promote Jewish vitality in their community.

 

Faculty

 

Summer Retreat study sessions will be led by the faculty of the Shalom Hartman Institute, including David HartmanDonniel Hartman, Moshe Halbertal, Melila Hellner-Eshed, Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi and Noam Zion, as well as visiting scholars such as  David Ellenson.

Reflections
 
The best antidote for spiritual boredom.”
                                                        – Andy Gordon, Phoenix
 
An exalted experience.”
                                                         – Karen Marcus, Miami 
 
The best Jewish learning experience of my life. Helped me in my spiritual quest, answered many questions and raised many more for me.”
                                                        – Michelle Gary, Atlanta
 
 
 
 

 
2010 Lay Leaders Summer Retreat Begins
The theme of the 2010 program is, Engaging Israel: Jewish Values and the Dilemmas of Nationhood. Participants are hearing from David Hartman, Donniel Hartman, members of the Institute`s Engaging Israel Project, and others
Nuclear Medicine Unit at Hospital in Canada Named in Honor of Dr. Douglas Wilansky
The Shalom Hartman Institute is proud to announce a signal tribute that was bestowed on Dr. Douglas Wilansky, Vice Chairman of the Canadian Friends of the Shalom Hartman Institute
Summer 2010 Lay Leadership Retreat New Study Theme: ‘Engaging Israel: Jewish Values and the Dilemmas of Nationhood’
Questions for study include: How does Jewish sovereignty relate to the self-identity of Jews living throughout the world?
Summer study programs under at Hartman Institute (Video)
Summertime is in full swing at Shalom Hartman Institute. Nearly 80 Jewish community leaders from across North America arrived at the Institute on July 1, 2009, for a week of lectures, seminars, tours and special events in the Lay Leadership Study Seminar
New, returning programs in busy Hartman Institute summer (Video)
Shalom Hartman Institute is gearing up for a busy summer, with programs for rabbis, community leaders, Christians, philosophers from mid-June through July
Torah from heaven: Talmudic interpretations of Sinai
What makes the period from 200 BCE to 600 CE a coherent and revolutionary era in Judaism? Halbertal gives four reasons. Watch the video
Engage in Torah Study to Understand World Around Us
We must strive to establish the Torah for ourselves, our families and our communities as a vital, dynamic text, as relevant to our lives today as it was 2,000 years ago
March 1, 2009, is final day for ‘Early Bird’ prices for Summer 2009 programs in Jerusalem
Rabbis looking to attend the Rabbinic Torah Study Seminar from July 6-16, and Jewish community leaders and professionals looking to attend the Lay Leaders Summer Retreat from July 1-8 must complete and pay for their registrations today to receive the special discount prices
Resilience and meaning in times of crisis set as theme of summer Lay Leadership Retreat
We will study the core values of our tradition regarding wealth, human need, and ultimate values in a time of unprecedented economic upheaval and uncertainty
The narrative of Israeli Judaism
A new and exciting development in the last 10-20 years is that some Israelis are starting to build up a new culture that is taking a lot from the old Jewish culture and renewing it
Shlomo Gronich concert video clip - exclusive
Israeli musician Shlomo Gronich performed a special concert at Shalom Hartman Institute on June 30,2008, for attendees of the Lay Leadership Summer Retreat program and others
Jewish community leaders gathering at Hartman Institute for summer program
More than 70 Jewish community leaders from North America are arriving this week at Shalom Hartman Institute for the Lay Leaders annual retreat - two weeks packed with learning, lectures, excursions and experiences
Lay Leadership Summer Study Retreat: Sacred Jewish Narratives and Collective Memory
Through a close study of significant texts, major holidays, lifecycle rituals and historical events, we will explore the paradoxical role of Jewish narratives
 
 
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