UPDATE: Registration is now closed.
UPDATE 2: Due to unforeseen circumstances, our Scholar in Residence is not able to come to DC this weekend.

Join Rosh Pina following services on Shabbat morning, July 11, for a community lunch with Scholar in Residence Lila Kagedan. Lila will be teaching on the topic of Judaism and Bioethics.

The cost of lunch will be $12 for members and $15 for non-members. Register below by July 8. Babysitting will be available. Email the vaad to sign your child(ren) up.

Rabbi Lila Kagedan (Rav Lila Kagedan in Hebrew) is a consultant, lecturer, activist and educator in the areas of global health, ethics, religion and education and is a student at Harvard University. She was a Hadassah Brandeis Institute-Gender, Culture, Religion and Law Research Associate. Lila is a clinical ethicist and chaplain and is currently completing the Jerusalem Rabbinate ordination tests privately. She is a halachic resource to a variety of religious institutions. She was ordained in 2015 by the Orthodox Rabbinical School for women Yeshivat Maharat.

Lila has consulted for several  NGOs, health care centers and academic institutions and has lectured widely while also working in clinical environments. She has taught Talmud, ethics and Jewish studies in a variety of formal and non-formal settings and has written extensively on medicine and Jewish law, Jewish Ethics as well as on topics relating to women and Judaism/Jewish practice. Lila is the founder of the Sulam School and  holds degrees and certificates from Midreshet  Lindenbaum, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The University of Toronto, Harvard University, The Medstar Washington Hospital Center and Massachusetts General Hospital. She will be accepting a pulpit position upon graduation as well as continuing her clinical and academic pursuits.

Join Rosh Pina on Shabbat morning, November 8, for a Lunch and Learn with scholar-in-residence Sara Labaton. Sara is currently completing a doctorate in Jewish Studies at NYU.  Her research focuses on Abraham ibn Ezra’s interpretation of the Tabernacle and cultic sacrifice and the use of esotericism in his biblical commentaries.  Sara was one of the founding faculty members of Yeshivat Hadar and currently lives on the Jersey Shore with her family. Sara will be teaching on “Conflict between Ritual and Ethics in Jewish Texts and Thought.”

As modern Jews, we often struggle with achieving balance between our ritual lives and our ethical lives. The question of how these two core components of Judaism relate to one another is not a new one. In fact, the Bible itself presents numerous possibilities for understanding the complex relationship between rituals and ethics. Please join us as we examine different biblical and post-biblical perspectives on the role of ritual and ethics in Judaism. From the prophet Amos to the Talmud and from Nahmanides to Chacham Ovadia Yosef, we will grapple with this age-old problem and think about the ways it resonates for us today.

Sara will also give a d’var torah during davening.

Parents! We will be providing free baby-sitting during the lunch and learn. Email the vaad to sign your kids up.

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 4. We have reached capacity. We will no longer be accepting registration for lunch.

Join us after services on Shabbat morning, June 28, for a lunch and learn with Rabbi Uri Topolosky. Rabbi Topolosky will speak on “Creating Accessible Communities. A look at rabbinic responsa on how we physically and spiritually construct our spaces of worship to allow access to a diverse population.”

The cost of lunch is $5 per person. Babysitting will be available; email the vaad to sign your child(ren) up.

Rabbi Topolosky is the rabbi of Beth Joshua Congregation in Rockville as well as Rav HaKehillah at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy.

Update 6/26: Sign-ups for lunch are now closed. Contact the vaad if you wish to be considered for any last-minute openings.