Join us at ASBI, Wednesdays for an accessible and thought-provoking shiur. Snacks will be provided.

All classes 8:00 - 9:00 PM

BMW kicks off with a class with Rabbi Wolkenfeld:
RESCHEDULED FOR SHABBAT: November 5 at 12:30 PM - “Community & Community-Standards: Halakhah in a Diverse Jewish World” with Rabbi Wolkenfeld

Three Part Series with Rabbi Yona Reiss: “Law in the Shadow of Tragedy: The Halakhic Response to September 11th”
11/9 - Week 1: The Resolution of the 9-11 Agunah Cases
11/16 - Week 2: Shiva, Burial and Chalitza in the aftermath of September 11th
Monday, 11/28 - Week 3: Kohanim at Ground Zero and at the 9-11 Memorial Museum

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.

Three Part Series with Rabbi Wolkenfeld: “Torah & Torah Scholars”
12/7 - Week I: Rabbi Chaim Brisker
12/14 - Week II:  Rabbi Yitzchak Herzog
12/21 - Week III: Dr. Deena Zimmerman and Malka Peterkovsky

Three Part Series with Professor Malka Simkovich: “Modern Discovery of Ancient Jewish Texts”
1/18 - Week 1: “The Modern ‘Rediscovery’ of the Cairo Genizah and the Story of Solomon Schechter”
1/25 - Week 2: “The Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and its Fifty-year
Publication Process”
2/1 - Week 3: “The Ancient Jewish Texts of Greek Orthodox Monasteries”

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.

Three-Part Series with Rabbi Yakov Danishefsky:
“How & Why to Believe in God in an Uncertain World: Moving from Intellect to Encounter”

While believing in God may have been taught to us as a given, many of us develop doubts, skepticisms, and cynicisms as we age. All too often these questions go unanswered. But do they need to be answered? This series explores the thesis that belief in God is a natural phenomenon requiring little more justification than belief in ourselves. Holistic living, integrating the rational mind as one of the many modes of experience, but not the only one, opens the door to new meaning and spirituality in our lives.

2/8 - Natural Faith and What Happens to It
2/15 - Holistic Living & Recovering Natural Faith
2/22 - Living the God Encounter & The Role of Mitzvot

Rabbi Yakov Danishefsky is a Judaic Studies teacher at Ida Crown Jewish Academy and a part-time Beit Medrash Rabbi at Congregation Or Torah in Skokie. Yakov completed Semicha at Rabbi Isaac Elchanon Theological Seminary, earned his Master's degree in Jewish Philosophy, and is currently pursuing a Master's in Social Work. Yakov is also
completing his fourth and final year as a member of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship. Yakov lives in West Rogers Park with his wife, Dana, and two children, Baruch and Shalom.