Nosh N Drosh

June 1^st at the Home of Bick/Katz

The Help with Rav Yosef and Kevin Kish

The Talmud devotes several entire chapters to labor law, reflecting the importance that the Torah places on the relationship between employers and workers. Our community relies heavily on the labor of nannies, housekeepers, gardeners, and custodians. What are our halachik and religious responsibilities and obligations toward the people we employ and what do we have the right to expect from them? What are the real-life challenges that many of our immigrant workers face and how might these impact our halachik obligations? We are privileged to be joined for this discussion by Kevin Kish the director of the Employment Rights Project at Bet Tzedek, who will co-facilitate the program with Rav Yosef.

June 22^nd at the Home of Benjy & Susan Nachimson

Someone’s Knockin’ at My Door, Someone’s Ringin’ the Bell… with Rav Yosef and Aryeh Hirsch

Almost nightly, there are folks who come to our doors seeking financial assistance, and often they are carrying a document issued by the West Coast Va’ad HaChesed attesting to their need. But what is the West Coast Va’ad HaCeshed and what exactly do they know about these individuals? More broadly, what is the general scope of our halachik responsibility when it comes to answering the knock at the door? We are honored to be joined by Aryeh Hirsch, one of the founders of the West Coast Va’ad haChesed who, together with Rav Yosef, will co-facilitate the program.

June 29^th at the Home of Lipner/Yasgur

Cousins with Rav Yosef and Imam Jihad Turk

Imam Jihad Turk is the former Director of Religious Affairs of the Islamic Center of Southern California, and faculty member at Bayan Claremont, a graduate school that trains Muslim scholars and religious leaders. But, the members of BDJ’s two-year old Jewish-Muslim discussion group simply know him as Jihad, the engaging, personable and incredibly knowledgeable co-founder (along with Rav Yosef) of the group.  He has long been interested and active in the areas of identity formation in the American-Muslim community, interfaith relations and Islamic reform movements and will be sharing his perspectives on the American-Islamic experience, and future of Jewish-Muslim relationships.

July 13^th at the Home of Marnin & Alison Weinreb

Loving Peace, Pursuing Peace with Rav Yosef

One of the founders of Bet Hillel, Rav Ronen Neuwirth, visited with us just before Yom Ha’atzmaut and told us of the organizations commitment to cultivating warmer and mutually respectful relationships between the “Dati” and “Hiloni” communities in Israel. To that end, Bet Hillel has published halachik source sheets concerning how one may eat in the home of someone who doesn’t observe Kashrut and about inviting people for a Shabbat meal, even when you know that they may drive to get there.  Rav Yosef will teach from these texts and explore how Bet Hillel’s halachik positions impact the American Jewish community.

August 24^th

God Talk – Yamim Noraim Edition with Rav Yosef

The liturgy of the Yamim Noraim can be majestic and stirring, but for the many of us who struggle with the exact nature of our belief, the prayers can also be frustrating or upsetting.  At this gathering we’ll break into small groups to discuss the feelings and thoughts certain passages from the machzor evoke and what that does for our spiritual experience. Rav Yosef will facilitate a larger group discussion. This God Talk will also serve as a launch point for an ongoing God Talk series that will meet periodically during the upcoming year. BYOM (Bring your own Machzor)!