A virtual event presentation with Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer

Event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ

About The Event:

Throughout Jewish history, there have been a series of individual attempts to organize Jewish communities towards conquering the Land of Israel and reinstalling Jewish sovereignty. Time and again, these attempts were turned down and declined by the masses. Why? Learning about the fascinating stories of a few individuals, we learn a valuable lesson about freedom and the slippery slope from redemption to messianism.

About The Speaker:

Jonnie Schnytzer is probably the only PhD in Jewish Philosophy, focusing on medieval kabbalah, who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli Naval Commandos in a swimming race. His dissertation focused on the scientific kabbalah of Rabbi Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi. Jonnie’s forthcoming book is about Ashkenazi’s Kabbalah as well as a critical edition of the kabbalist’s majestic commentary on Sefer Yesira. Jonnie is also the author of the Mossad thriller, The Way Back, which paints a picture of contemporary Israel. Jonnie also orchestrated the publishing of an English edition of ‘The Hitler Haggadah’, an important piece of Moroccan Jewish history from the Holocaust. Jonnie has also taken on several leadership roles in the Jewish world, including advisor to the CEO of Birthright and executive manager with StandWithUs. He lectures on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism and Israel, especially about the untold stories and unspoken heroes of Jewish history. Jonnie is happily married, with four gorgeous little kids, lives in Israel, and thinks that Australian Rules Football is the greatest sport ever invented.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Steven M. Bob

About The Event:

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the return to Jerusalem from the first exile in ancient Babylonia. These books contain the foundational ideas for our modern sense of Jewish identity and key elements of our Jewish lives. The public reading of the Torah begins with Ezra reading from the scroll before the community in Jerusalem. In these books we will meet the first people to think of themselves as Jews. Jewish holidays take shape at the beginning of this period, as does the Jewish calendar. Ezra and Nehemiah are the first biblical books to use the names of the months we use today, such as Elul and Kislev.

*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q44NR1z3HgJn2dhx0mvL4OPHxJl9rlU5/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=118303465191084699356&rtpof=true&sd=true

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Steven M. Bob was Senior Rabbi of Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard, IL, for 35 years. Rabbi Bob serves as a Guest faculty member at Wheaton College and as an Instructor at the Hebrew Seminary for the Hearing and the Deaf. He is a faculty leader at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute. His newest book is When Judaism Began: Exploring the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (2026). He is also the author of Go to Nineveh (2013) and Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives (2016), and Ha’aretz named Rabbi Bob as one of the 36 American Jews who helped shape the 2008 Presidential election.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with Mirabai Starr.

Mirabai Starr is an award-winning author, internationally acclaimed speaker, and interspiritual teacher. In 2020, she was honored on Watkins’ list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Drawing from 20 years of teaching philosophy, world religions, and a lifetime of practice, Mirabai shares her wisdom worldwide on contemplative living, writing as a spiritual practice, and the transformational power of grief and loss. She has authored over a dozen books, including Wild Mercy, Caravan of No Despair, Ordinary Mysticism, and renowned translations of sacred literature.

Author of God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico.