Yom Kippur Study Sessions

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Yom Kippur Study Sessions

To enhance the spirit of Yom Kippur and enable congregants to extend their personal reflection, we offer a variety of study sessions and panel discussions after our Congregational service on Yom Kippur morning.

Our Study Sessions are suitable for adults of all ages. Some are appropriate for teens as well.

Featured Session

**11:45 am – 1:00 pm at Temple* or via livestream**

Faith and Leadership

Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig; Mayor Muriel Bowser; and Tom Nides, United States Ambassador Nominee to Israel

Mayor Bowser and Tom Nides are extraordinary leaders, each with deeply held religious values. On this holiest day of the year, they will join Rabbi Lustig in Kaufmann Sanctuary for a conversation about the crossroads of faith and leadership.

*Proof of full vaccination is required to attend in person.

Additional Study Sessions

Session 1: 1:30 – 2:15 pm via Zoom
The Biden Administration’s Policies Toward the Middle East: A Strategic Assessment**	*Michael Sharnoff* Associate Professor, National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies	At the end of President Biden’s first six months in office, how can we understand and assess U.S. policy toward the Middle East? How have recent conflicts and developments impacted regional security and stability? What options exist to ease tension between the United States and Iran and the Israelis and Palestinians?	RSVP
Systemic Injustice Requires Systemic Solutions	*Jonathan Greenblatt and Bryan Parker*	WHC Member and former Board Member Jonathan Greenblatt and his business partner Bryan Parker will discuss the alarming lack of progress made by the legal profession in recruiting, advancing, and promoting to partnership attorneys of color, and why they formed Legal Innovators to address the problem on a systemic basis.	RSVP
Looking for God	Jim Salander	Exploring our relationship with God is the right, privilege, and responsibility of every Jew — not just rabbis and teachers. As Reform Jews, however, this is something we do not often do. Yom Kippur is a time for introspection about who we are spiritually, and this hour will help you explore some questions about God and your relationship with the Divine. All are welcome; a belief in God as outlined in the Torah or from your early Jewish education is not required.	RSVP
Renewal After COVID	*Dick Kaufmann*	Prerecorded music program with crooner Dick Kaufmann and his band.	Watch on YouTube
Session 2: 2:30 – 3:15 pm via Zoom
B’tzelem Elohim: Untold Stories of Our People**	*Panel discussion moderated by Allie Heiman, LGBTQ+ Affinity Group Liaison, and Rabbi Eliana Fischel*	How does a Black Jew feel when they come into our building? What is it like for Jews in the LGBTQ community to go to a rabbi for premarital counseling? How has and hasn’t Judaism adapted for Jews with disabilities? While we pride ourselves on being a warm and welcoming community, we, like our Yom Kippur liturgy reminds us, sometimes miss the mark. Join us as we hear from those in our community whose stories we may not have heard before: stories that celebrate our accessible and loving congregation and stories that remind us we still have further to go. This panel is presented by our Jews of Color and LGBTQ+ affinity groups.	RSVP
Preaching to Nineveh: What We Can (Still) Learn from the Book of Jonah	*Simeon M. Kriesberg*	WHC member Simeon M. Kriesberg will lead an interactive exercise to help us reflect more deeply about the meaning of Yom Kippur and the Book of Jonah that we read every year on this holiest of days. Please have on hand a sheet of paper, a pen or pencil, and an envelope.	Canceled
Repentance, Reparation, and Restoration	*Rabbi Michael Namath* Director of Leadership Development at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism	Rabbi Namath will explore Jewish texts that examine these three Jewish values through the lens of current events.	RSVP

**denotes study sessions that will be available to view in Kaufmann Sanctuary for those who wish to spend the day at Temple.

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Yom Kippur Study Sessions