Rabbi Rebecca Schatz

Elul Study: High Hurdling - Power and Teshuvah

August 27th, 2020  |  51 mins 57 secs

The path to meaningful and lasting teshuvah is often unnoticeably obscured by the role power plays in our lives. Based on Talmudic stories and a book by Dachar Keltner entitled The Power Paradox, Rabbi Menashe seeks to identify and lower the hurdles to a Tishrei filled with renewal and lifelong teshuvah.

Rabbi Menashe is Executive Director of Camp Ramah in California.

This class was conducted via Zoom on August 27, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: Presents and Presence - Helping Others Is Not Easy

August 26th, 2020  |  51 mins 39 secs

Rabbi Daniel Greyber leads a disucssion of what religion can and can't teach us about acts of hesed. He draws on a story from the Talmud and a poem by Yehuda Amichai to help us undersand how we can give what is most needed and continue the important work of the High Holy Days season.

Daniel Greyber is the rabbi of Beth El Synagogue in Durham, North Carolina. A gold medalist and Captain of the U.S. Swimming Team at the 1993 World Maccabiah Games, Rabbi Greyber holds a Masters in Speech and Communications Studies from Northwestern University and was ordained in 2002 at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of American Jewish University where received the Henry Fisher Award for outstanding achievement in Jewish Studies. In July 2011, he became the rabbi of Beth El Synagogue, a Conservative and Orthodox synagogue in Durham North Carolina that welcomes many intermarried and gay and lesbian families.

This class was conducted via Zoom on August 26, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: A Throne For The Shechina In The Middah of Chesed

August 25th, 2020  |  57 mins 12 secs

Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan leads a discussion of a fascinating and brave Besht teaching about Chesed. Who is in need of Chesed in this world? Who are the ones who should be acting from within this Middah and why?

Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan was born in Jerusalem. She grew up in a Zionist Orthodox family and is a descendent of a long line of Lithuanian Rabbis on her mother's side. She studied law at the Hebrew University but decided not to work in the field – instead she immersed herself in Torah studies at the Hartman and Pardes Institutes in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Kagan is founder and spiritual leader of Nava Tehila in Jerusalem. A dynamic and innovative teacher of Torah, Ruth teaches Kabbala and Hassidut in Israel, internationally and online, and is a co-author, with Rabbi Zalman Shachter-Shalomi of the Hebrew book Jewish Renewal - Integrating Heart and World.

This class was conducted via Zoom on August 25, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: Cheshbon Hanefesh - Taking an accounting of our souls through the Jewish value of Anavah/Humility

August 23rd, 2020  |  55 mins 20 secs

Rabbi Richard Camras of Shomrei Torah Synagogue in Los Angeles leads a discussion on Cheshbon Nefesh an accounting of the soul. The month of Elul invites us to prepare ourselves spiritually for the upcoming Days of Awe. To make the most of this spiritual work, this class focuses on the many ways we can observe how we act or don’t with proper humility as defined by the wisdom of Jewish tradition.

Rabbi Camras has been rabbi at Shomrei Torah Synagogue in the San Fernando Valley since 1999. His passion and focus has been in the area of Jewish education through Torah study. Rabbi Camras serves as President of the Pacific Southwest Regional Rabbinical Assembly. He served for three years as the Chair of the West Valley Rabbinic Task Force at the Valley Alliance Federation and is a lecturer of Practical Rabbinics at the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies.

This class was conducted via Zoom on August 23, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Shabbat Teaching - Afternoon: Ki‌ ‌Teitzei‌

August 22nd, 2020  |  24 mins 9 secs

Rabbi Rebecca Schatz's Shabbat Teaching at Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles, on August 22, 2020.

Elul Study: Letting Go Of Guilt And Shame

August 21st, 2020  |  58 mins 47 secs

Rabbi Mark Borovitz leads a discussion on teshuva and spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days. Rabbi Borovitz is thefounding Rabbi of Beit T’Shuvah, a nonprofit, non-sectarian, Jewish addiction treatment center and synagogue community in Los Angeles.

Officially ordained in 2000 at the University of Judaism with a Master’s in Rabbinic Literature, Rabbi Borovitz combines his knowledge of Torah and street smarts to shape his calling: helping recovering addicts find their way in the world. Spiritual Leader, Author, Senior Rabbi, CEO, ex-con, recovering alcoholic, and overall anomaly, he is able to reach both the addict and the congregant, and de-stigmatize this life threatening disease.

This class was conducted via Zoom on August 21, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: Music As Midrash, Behind The Music Of Prayer - Class 1

August 21st, 2020  |  45 mins 53 secs

Rabbi Josh Warshawsky leads an online discussion of music and the spiritual content of the High Holy Days. Embedded within each piece of music are stories, deep secrets, and intricate connections between Hebrew words and themes. Rabbi Warshawsky helps us deepen our understanding of the wisdom of the Jewish tradition, and enables us to sing with a newfound understanding of the words we bring into the world.

This class, introduced by Rabbi Rebecca Schatz, took place on August 20, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: Curiosity As A Spiritual Practice

August 19th, 2020  |  50 mins 54 secs

Rabbi Zoe Klein leads an online discussion about the importance of curiousity and it's place in Jewish spiritual growth.

Albert Einstein said, “One cannot help but be in awe when one contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…To be spiritual is to be amazed.” In this discussion Rabbi Klein explores the soul-trait of Curiosity and having a Beginner’s Mind.

Zoë Klein serves as the spiritual leader of Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles. After graduating from Brandeis University with a B.A. in Psychology, she pursued the rabbinate out of a passion for ancient texts, mythology, liturgy and poetry. She received ordination from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 1998.

This discussion was conducted via Zoom on August 19, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: Letting Go

August 19th, 2020  |  37 mins 45 secs

An online class featuring music and mediation with Cantor Phil Baron of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California hosted by Rabbi Rebecca Schatz.

Cantor Baron is the son of a violinist and the grandson of a Vilna rabbi. He is is currently part of the clergy cohort of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, an on-going project to study and embody the sacred teachings of the Chassidic masters, with an emphasis on meditation, prayer and mindful living.

This discussion was conducted via Zoom on August 19, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: Other's Weaknesses, and Our Own - What It Means When We Judge Others

August 18th, 2020  |  56 mins 22 secs

The book of Jonah, traditionally read on Yom Kippur afternoon, has one of the most unsympathetic prophets in the Bible. In this class, Dr. Rachel Rosenthal offers an alternative reading of Jonah to help us consider how the ways we view the flaws of others can either hinder or aid our own process of repentance.

Dr. Rachel Rosenthal holds a PhD in Rabbinic Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she serves as an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Talmud and was voted List College Professor of the Year in 2018.

This class was conducted via Zoom on August 18, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: Humility for Life

August 17th, 2020  |  54 mins 21 secs

Rabbi Barry Dov Katz leads a wide-ranging exploration of the nature and role of humility in our lives. He considers the king’s qualities in Parshat Shoftim, Charles Dickens’ character Uriah Heep, and, of course, our own life experience.

Rabbi Katz is the rabbi of the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, New York.

The discussion took place via Zoom on August 17, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: Ahavat Yisrael - Understanding the Name and Character of Israel from the Bible to Bibi

August 16th, 2020  |  42 mins 56 secs

A discussion via Zoom led by Rabbi Joshua Hoffman of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California on August 16, 2020. The session was part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles. part of Temple Beth Am's Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program.

Shabbat Sermon - Morning: Re'eh

August 15th, 2020  |  23 mins 13 secs

Rabbi Rebecca Schatz's Shabbat Sermon at Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles, on August 15, 2020.

Elul Study: Love and Chesed Through Music Meditation and Mindfulness

August 14th, 2020  |  1 hr 2 mins

An hour of music and intention setting with Rabbi Noah Aronson focused on love and chased. Noah crafts an experience that aims at bringing more love and light into the world with his unique music, meditation, movement and mindfulness practices.

This hour was conducted via Zoom on August 14, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: From Tolerating to Celebrating All

August 13th, 2020  |  1 hr 22 mins

This is a discussion via Zoom led by Rabbi Abby Stein, an American transgender author, activist, blogger, model, speaker, and rabbi. She is the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community, and is a direct descendant of Hasidic Judaism's founder the Baal Shem Tov. In 2015, she founded the first support group nationwide for trans people of Orthodox background.

She says the conversation around LGBTQ Jews in our communities (as well as other community members who are part of minority identities within our communities) has usually revolved around tolerating the "other," accepting those that are "different." It's time we move past that. Tolerance is for lactose, not people. People we celebrate. Judaism has so much to teach us on this - how do we ensure that we create communities soaked in love and celebration for those who need it most?

The discussion took place August 13, 2020 as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.

Elul Study: Jewish Ethics of Speech

August 11th, 2020  |  1 hr 27 mins

Rabbi Elliot Dorff leads a discussion on the nuanced ways in which Jewish law tells us what we should not say, and what we should. The Al Het prayer lists more sins of speech than of any other area of life -- food for reflection before the High Holy Days. The discussion was conducted on August 11, 2020 via Zoom as part of the Elul+ Pre-Tishre study program presented by Temple Beth Am Los Angeles.