OU’S RABBI STEVEN WEIL TO GIVE MEMORIAL LECTURE ON ISRAEL’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, AT MANHATTAN JEWISH EXPERIENCE, DECEMBER 7
Rabbi Steven Weil, Orthodox Union Executive Vice President
Rabbi Steven Weil, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union, will present the Ruth B. Wildes Memorial Lecture at Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE) on Wednesday, December 7. Beginning at 8:00 p.m., he will discuss “Israel’s Encounter with the International Community: Reading Genesis a Second Time.”
According to its website, MJE, located at 131 West 86th Street, is “a cutting edge program for young Jewish professionals in their 20’s and 30’s, with little or no background in Judaism who are interested in connecting more to each other, to their community, and to Judaism.”
Rabbi Mark Wildes, MJE Founder and Director, noted, “Rabbi Steven Weil’s unique ability to speak to the pressing issues of our day with great insight and passion will, no doubt, resonate with MJE’s population of young Jewish professionals who may not have had much of a Jewish educational background, but who are otherwise well-educated and are exploring their place in the Jewish community.”
He continued, “I believe that my students, the MJE participants who come from literally all backgrounds — unaffiliated, Reform, Conservative and Modern Orthodox — will all be inspired by Rabbi Weil’s deep understanding of Torah, specifically as it relates to the modern Jew.”
Rabbi Mark Wildes, Manhattan Jewish Experience Founder and Director
The lecture, sponsored by the Wildes family, marks the 16th yahrzeit (anniversary of death) of Rabbi Wildes’ mother, Ruth B. Wildes z”l, of Forest Hills. Noted Rabbi Wildes, “Growing up in my parent’s home, virtually every Shabbat I saw someone new to the Jewish community at our Shabbat table. My mother’s warm smile and beautiful Shabbat table were so inspiring to those new to the community. It truly served as the impetus for the creation of MJE, which reaches out to those with less of a Jewish background and those with less of a connection to the community. I thought, if we could do half the job my mother did in inspiring Jews to the beauty and excitement of Shabbat and Jewish life, we would be achieving something amazing for the Jewish people. And I truly think we have, all in her memory.”
For further information, contact MJE at www.jewishexperience.org/.
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