This fall, join us in the Beit Midrash at ASBI every Wednesday at 8:00 PM for an accessible and thought-provoking shiur. Snacks will be provided.

“4 Radical Jewish Ideas”
A four-part series with Rabbi David Wolkenfeld

October 14: “People of the Book”
October 28: “In G-d’s Image”
November 4: “Toward a Better World”
November 18: “The Weekend Reimagined”

We are excited to welcome Rabbi Yona Reiss back for a
two-part series on Assisted Reproductive Technology.

October 21: “Whose Wife Is It Anyway? - Establishing Parenthood
according to Jewish Law”
November 11: “IVF, IUI, PGD, ART, and HALACHA”

Rabbi Yona Reiss is Av Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council. A noted Torah scholar, attorney, and jurist, Rabbi Reiss is a summa cum laude graduate of Yeshiva College (YU) and went on to receive his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was senior editor of the Law Journal. He received rabbinic ordination from RIETS, where he also earned the distinction of Yadin Yadin. Rabbi Reiss served as director of the Beth Din of America from 1998 to 2008. A frequent writer on a variety of topics relating to both Jewish and secular law, he has published widely in Jewish publications, as well as in the Wall Street Journal and New York Law Journal.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Malka Zeiger Simkovich back for a two-part series.

December 2: “The History and Legacy of the Hanukkah Story”

This lecture will review the ancient sources on the Hanukkah story, focusing on the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees as well as passages in the writings of Josephus and in rabbinic literature. We will explore the tension between two threads concerning the origins of the Maccabean dynasty: the military thread and the theological thread. We will also discuss early Christian thinkers who presented the Maccabean family as proto-Christian martyrs, and how the Hanukkah story figures in early Christian tradition.

December 16: “Jewish Conflicts With the Roman Empire: Placing the Temple's Destruction in Context”

This lecture will focus on the string of Jewish uprisings against the Roman Empire that were carried out in the first and early second century CE, especially those in the years 48, 66, 115, and 135. We will discuss what circumstances led to these rebellions, and how they may have impacted rabbinic approaches to military conflict.

Dr. Malka Simkovich is a visiting instructor of Jewish Studies at Catholic Theological Union. She earned an MA degree in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University and a BA in Bible Studies and Music Theory from Stern College of Yeshiva University. She recently completed a doctorate at Brandeis University, where she studied Second Temple Judaism, early Rabbinic literature, and early Christian literature. Dr. Simkovich also works as an editorial assistant for the Harvard Theological Review.