A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Aryeh Cohen

About The Event:

Rabbi Aharon Shmuel Tamares is probably the most passionate Jewish voice against nationalism, militarism, and, most of all, war. A prolific writer in the first four decades of the twentieth century, he articulated an opposition to war and violence rooted in a theological vision which saw war as modern idolatry, or in another formulation, war as the service to the idolatry of nationalism. Rev. James Lawson was, according to his friend and colleague Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the foremost theorist of nonviolence in this hemisphere. Lawson’s understanding of nonviolence was rooted in his understanding of Christianity and the thought of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the driving force—both theologically and philosophically, and practically—of the training and workshops which led to the Nashville and Memphis movements and whose impact was felt throughout the civil rights movement. He understood nonviolence as a way of life that operated on and affected the personal, communal, national, and ultimately international stages. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. needs no introduction. His career, cut short by the politics of assassination, changed the way that Americans viewed political dissent and the possibility for change in this country. Nonviolence was central to his thought and fueled his demand for justice in the United States, and to curb the violence that the United States was inflicting on other countries. The class will deal with the following questions posed to each of our thinkers: 1. What is the difference between not being violent and nonviolence as a way of life? 2. What is the role of suffering in the nonviolent demand for justice? 3. Are there not “good” wars or at least “just” wars? 4. What are the religious roots of nonviolence or anti-militarism/anti-nationalism? How do Tamares, Lawson, and King differ on this question?

About The Speaker:

Aryeh Cohen is a Rabbi and Professor of Rabbinic Literature at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University. He serves as Vice-President of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and is a co-convener of the Black Jewish Justice Alliance. He is a past president of the Society of Jewish Ethics and served on the inaugural interfaith advisory board of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. He is the author of Justice in the City: An Argument from the Sources of Rabbinic Judaism and has published widely in academic and public forums. He is also a poet.

An event presentation by Rabbi Marc Gitler

About The Event:

Truth, Media, and Propaganda – A timely look at misinformation, lashon hara, and the ethics of communication—especially in an age of social media and AI.

Session 2: “Lashon Hara in the Information Age” — Speech, Gossip, and Viral Culture

Building on the first class, this session applies Jewish laws of speech to modern media ecosystems. What happens when gossip becomes algorithmic, and outrage becomes profitable?

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Marc Gitler serves as Senior Jewish Educator for Valley Beit Midrash and is the visiting Rabbi of Aish SanDiego. A recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, he was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children.

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc Gitler

The event was co-sponsored by Kavod Senior Life

About The Event:

This class will examine the history of sacred Jewish ritual objects sent from Dubrovnik, Croatia, to Yeshiva University for safekeeping during a time of danger, and the story of what happened to them afterward. We will explore questions of ownership, preservation, and responsibility, and consider what it means to safeguard religious treasures.

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Marc Gitler serves as Senior Jewish Educator for Valley Beit Midrash and is the visiting Rabbi of Aish SanDiego. A recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, he was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. The founder of Fast for Feast lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife Sarah and their four children.