Bet Torah is fortunate to be able to welcome a scholar or artist for a weekend each year to speak to our community about themes relating to Judaism. Over the years we have a had scholars with a variety of specialties including music, Jewish life on college campuses, antisemitism and prayer.
2026 Artist: Charlie Kramer
From January 23-25 Charlie Kramer will join the Bet Torah community to share his journey and his music.
Friday
Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat a la Mode
A service featuring two-three of Charlie’s original melodies alongside classic melodies that are mainstays for your community. Charlie will give the sermon, sharing his story of what living with blindness is truly like- breaking common stereotypes and misconceptions of life with a disability. Register here.
Saturday
Lunch & Learn: What Does it Mean to be Blind? | 12:30pm
Charlie will break down one of our most miss-translated blessings, and engage participants in a discussion of what our tradition tells us it means to be blind. Register here.
Evening Concert: Singing in the Dark | 7pm
We all have something that challenges us. Charlie is blind with only 4% of his total vision remaining. He has no peripheral vision and is completely blind at night. Join us in a journey of the senses, blindfolding ourselves to experience the present moment without our sight. Charlie will guide you through deeply feeling the challenges in your life, guiding you to new perspectives through song, prayer and meditation. This experience includes Havdalah and is for people 13+. Please register here.
Sunday
Religious School Session
Charlie will speak with groups of Kulanu students sharing his experience of being disabled and answer questions from the students. Charlie will teach and share his original music between speaking. Parents are welcome to join! More information will be sent to Kulanu parents.
About Charlie Kramer
Legally blind from Retinitis Pigmentosa, Charlie Kramer unites, magnetizes and elevates those around him. Recently featured in USA Today, Charlie is a Disability Life Coach, helping his clients gain vital self advocacy skills, independence, and acceptance; ultimately bringing success to their careers and relationships.
As a certified accessibility professional (CPACC), an internationally touring speaker and performer, Charlie shares his story and powerful message of inclusion, self-respect and equity. Charlie has consulted with over 50 organizations, helping them to develop accessible spaces, practices and products for their employees, community members and customers with disabilities.
To learn more about Charlie and his offerings, visit www.charliekramervision.com.
2024 Scholar: Amy Kalmanofsky
On January 26-27, Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky will join us to talk about the theme of hope.
Hope's Doorway
The capacity to hope is integral to religious life, yet contemporary life makes it hard to feel and express hope. We will explore what hope means in the context of the Bible and consider whether the Bible is a valuable resource for cultivating a language of hope among Jews today.
Friday Night: Promises, Promises
This session will explore God’s promises to the Patriarchs as expressions of hope, focusing particularly on the intimate moment of encounter between God and Abraham in Genesis 15. Register here.
Saturday Afternoon: Awaiting the Good Hour
This session explores how the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah express hope through their remarkable use of maternal imagery. Register here.
About Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky
Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky, Blanche and Romie Shapiro Professor of Bible, is dean of Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies, JTS’s undergraduate school, and dean of the Gershon Kekst Graduate School. As professor of Bible, she teaches courses on biblical literature, religion, and feminist interpretation of the Bible. In her writing and teaching, Dr. Kalmanofsky combines contemporary ideas and critical methods with traditional text study, teaching students to be careful, creative interpreters of Torah.
Dr. Kalmanofsky’s first book, Terror All Around: The Rhetoric of Horror in the Book of Jeremiah (T&T Clark, 2008) uses horror theory to argue that the biblical prophets constructed monsters and crafted language that worked to terrify their audience. Her book The Dangerous Sisters of the Hebrew Bible (Fortress Press, 2014) explores the biblical portrayal of sisters and sisterhoods and argues that both play a vital role in the Bible’s narrative. Her book Gender-Play in the Hebrew Bible (Routledge, 2017) examines the ways in which the Bible defies and challenges its gender norms. Her book The Power of Equivocation: Complex Readers and Readings of the Hebrew Bible (Fortress, 2022) addresses the Bible’s inherent complexity, as well as the complexity of those who seek to read the Bible critically, generously, and honestly.
Dr. Kalmanofsky also has written numerous articles examining the biblical representation of women and the roles women play in the Bible, as well as articles that consider the biblical rhetoric of violence. She serves on two editorial boards: The Journal of the Feminist Studies in Religion and the Biblical Interpretation Series. You can find a list of Dr. Kalmanofsky's publications and lectures here.
2023 Scholar: Hartley Lachter
On February 10-12, 2023 Dr. Hartley Lachter joined us for a weekend on spirituality in Judaism and a report on Jewish Life on college campuses.
Programs
Friday Night: Antisemitism Past and Present
Saturday Morning: What is Kabbalah?
Saturday Evening: Reincarnation and Judaism
Sunday Morning: Reports from Jewish Campus Life
About Dr. Hartley Lachter
Hartley Lachter, Associate Professor of Religion Studies, holds the Philip and Muriel Berman Chair in Jewish Studies, and serves as the director of the Berman Center for Jewish Studies. His scholarship focuses on medieval Kabbalah, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between Jewish historical experiences and the development of kabbalistic discourses. His work explores how medieval Jewish-Christian debates, as well as disruptive moments of violence and forced conversion, shape Jewish mystical literature and serve as a form of cultural resistance for some pre-modern Jews. His recent book, Kabbalistic Revolution: Reimagining Judaism in Medieval Spain, was published by Rutgers University Press.Hartley Lachter’s teaching interests include course on Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah, survey courses on Judaism and Jewish thought, theory and method in the study of religion, and explorations of contemporary religious extremism and violence. In both his work and his teaching, Dr. Lachter invites his readers and students to consider how religious identities are negotiated through the production of public discourses that shape,and are shaped by, the interactions across identity boundaries. Hartley Lachter lives in Allentown, PA, with his wife, Dr. Jessica Cooperman, who is a Religion Studies professor at Muhlenberg College, where she directs the program in Jewish Studies. Hartley and Jessica have two daughters, Zoe and Mollie.
2022 Scholars: Rabbi Mark Novak and Renee Brachfeld
On January 28-30, 2022 master storytellers Rabbi Mark Novak and Renee Brachfeld joined us for the weekend for performances, workshops, and story-inspired prayer.
About Rabbi Mark Novak
Mark is a free-range rabbi, musician, composer, storyteller, and spiritual director. A master at creating sacred space, he brings with him over 40 years of professional theater experience. He is founder of and spiritual guide of Minyan Oneg Shabbat, Washington DC's Jewish Renewal happening, which offers a monthly session of Mindfulness Practice Thru a Jewish Lens.
His project - A Year of Stories - dedicated to the memory of his teacher, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi of blessed memory, is Mark's retelling of stories gathered from a vast variety of sources.
From 1977-1986 Mark was a member of the renowned Living Stage Theater Company at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. His original theater pieces have been performed at Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts and The Smithsonian. Visit Mark online at RebMarko.com
About Renée Brachfeld, MSW
Renée has been a professional storyteller and teacher since 1987. She has performed and taught at synagogues, churches and retreats throughout the US and Canada, as well as international storytelling festivals. Her workshops are fun and dynamic, bringing out the storyteller in each individual. She is a co-host of The Grapevine, a monthly storytelling series for adults.
At the outset of the pandemic, Renée quickly helped move all MFSI and Grapevine events online. Over the course of this difficult time, she has become a well-known Zoom master. She now assists other groups and organizations with creating and running online events that maintain the warmth and interaction previously expected only from in-person gatherings.
She has been heard on NPR, and her written stories have been published in Penina Schram’s Chosen Tales, and Goldie Milgram’s Mitzvah Stories.
Renée is also a pretty darn good juggler. Visit Renée online at Jewishstorytelling.com.