Jewish Community Center of Washington, DC

Freedom and Redemption: A Day of Learning in Preparation for Passover with the Hadar Institute
Edlavitch DCJCC

Join the EDCJCC as we welcome the Hadar Institute into our Center for an afternoon workshop. The Hadar Institute is an educational institution that empowers Jews to create and sustain vibrant, practicing communities of Torah learning, prayer, and service. This learning program will include a panel and a breakout session. Each session will bring open-hearted and passionate discussions coupled with deep classical text study and new interpretations for a modern age.

SCHEDULE 
1:30pm—2:00pm Doors Open and Registration
2:00pm—3:15pm Plenary: Freedom and Redemption: Reflections on the Highlights of the Seder
3:15pm—3:30pm Break
3:30pm—5:00pm Workshops: Led by Rabbis Elie Kaunfer, Avi Killip, and Ethan Tucker

Workshops:

"Positive and Negative Liberty: Freedom from or Freedom to?"  
In this session, we will look closely at the question of the purpose of freedom and its role in the Passover story.  Following the insights of R. Yitzhak Hutner, a prominent 20th century rabbinic educator, we will reexamine just what this festival of freedom is about and how it is meant to shape our lives.
Led by Rabbi Ethan Tucker
  

Arami Oved Avi - The Central Midrash of the Haggadah
Together we will examine the midrash that defines the Haggadah, uncovering new insights and understandings of this critical rabbinic text. Why, of all midrashim, is this the core of the telling of Seder night? What is added to our understanding of the Exodus through these sometimes fantastical rabbinic comments? Through parallel sources and other interpretations, we will aim to shed new light on the way we might read this text, and explore its relevance for Pesah and our own spiritual lives.
Led by Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
 

Assuming Authority or Persuading the Powerful: How does an Egyptian Prince make change in Egypt?
This session will explore two Rabbinic stories of Moses's attempts to bring justice to Egypt. Each Midrash depicts Moses as a person with some privilege and power (an Egyptian prince), in a system that oppresses the weak (in this case, the Israelite slaves).  The texts describe two very different approaches to change making. Together we will ask: What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach? And what do these stories of Moses teach us about Passover and our lives today?
Led by Rabbi Avi Killip

COST
General Admission: $18
Student Admission: $10
Cost should not be barrier for participation in this program. Please be in touch if the cost of this program would prevent your attendance.


rabbi elie kaunfer

 

Rabbi Elie Kaunfer is President and CEO of the Hadar Institute. Elie has previously worked as a journalist, banker, and corporate fraud investigator. A graduate of Harvard College, he completed his doctorate in liturgy at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was also ordained. A Wexner Graduate Fellow and Dorot Fellow, Elie is a co-founder of the independent minyan Kehilat Hadar and has been named multiple times to Newsweek’s list of the top 50 rabbis in America. He was selected as an inaugural AVI CHAI Fellow, and is the author of Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us About Building Vibrant Jewish Communities (Jewish Lights, 2010). 

 

 

Avi Killip

Rabbi Avi Killip serves as VP of Strategy and Programs and Director of Project Zug at the Hadar Institute. Avi was ordained from Hebrew College's pluralistic Rabbinical School in Boston. She is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and holds a Bachelors and Masters from Brandeis University in Jewish Studies and Women & Gender Studies. Avi has worked as a teacher and Jewish professional in two synagogues, an independent minyan, a mikveh, and a yeshiva.

 

 

 

Rabbi Ethan Tucker

Rabbi Ethan Tucker is President and Rosh Yeshiva at the Hadar Institute and chair in Jewish Law. Ethan also directs Mechon Hadar’s Center for Jewish Law and Values. Previously, Ethan was a faculty member at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, where he taught Talmud and Halakhah in the Scholars' Circle. Ethan was ordained by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and earned a doctorate in Talmud and Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a B.A. from Harvard College. He has been named multiple times to Newsweek’s list of the top 50 rabbis in America. A Wexner Graduate Fellow, he was a co-founder of Kehilat Hadar and a winner of the first Grinspoon Foundation Social Entrepreneur Fellowship.

 

 

Co-sponsored by:

mechon hadar logo   

 


Date:
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Address:
1529 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036

We're sorry, the deadline for online sales has passed. Contact program staff listed above to purchase by phone.

 


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