Community Beit Midrash

Kol Emeth's Silicon Valley Beit Midrash is currently on hiatus. Please visit the Kol Emeth website to learn more about our online events and classes.

    – Past Community Events –

    The Silicon Valley Beit Midrash and Oshman Family JCC invite you to take part in a monthly communal evening of Jewish learning. On the first Sunday of the month, engage in meaningful text study in an inclusive and intellectually challenging environment with the South Bay Jewish community.

    Our previous community event took place on Sunday, June 5 at the OFJCC (3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto CA 94303, Room E-104).

    6:30-7:30 PM – Session One: Learn on your own, with a friend, or in a group! Group sessions will be led by talented Jewish educators from partnering institutions, including:

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    We were joined by:

    MarderRabbi Janet Marder is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Am. A Los Angeles native, Rabbi Marder was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Following ordination, she pursued graduate studies in the Department of Comparative Literature at UCLA, specializing in Modern Hebrew and Yiddish. Rabbi Janet Marder’s articles have appeared in Reform Judaism Magazine, The Reconstructionist, Sh’ma and several anthologies. She has served as President of the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis, the first woman and the first non-congregational rabbi to be elected to that office. In April 2003 Rabbi Marder was elected the first woman president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. She is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and is co-editor of Mishkan HaNefesh, the new High Holy Day Machzor for the Reform Movement.

    7:30-8:30 PM – Session 2: For the second of hour of this program, each month, SVBM & the OFJCC bring you interactive learning with a top-tier Jewish educator.

    June Educator: Jonah Hassenfeld is a PhD candidate in Education and Jewish Studies at Stanford University, and educator at the Silicon Valley Beit Midrash.  He is a Jim Joseph Fellow and a Wexner Fellow/Davidson Scholar.  He researches the nature and development of high school students’ historical understanding with a focus on the teaching and learning of Jewish history.  Before coming to Stanford, Jonah taught European history and the history of Israel at Gann Academy, a Jewish community high school outside of Boston.


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