Tag Archives: Text Study

Please learn and celebrate with Kavod!

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The 30th Anniversary of the KAVOD TZEDAKAH FUND

3 Online Classes with Mitzvah Heroes & Jewish Study about Tikkun Olam

Sundays, October 15, 22, and 29, 2023  

11am Texas Time [ = Noon Eastern Time / 9am Pacific Time]

Please Register here to join and receive the Zoom Link

Each class will feature text study with some great Jewish teachers and conversations with some of Kavod’s most extraordinary Mitzvah Heroes. We want to share great Jewish values and great Jewish teachers. We look forward to learning and celebrating with you!

October 15: Torah study with Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback and our mentor and teacher Danny Siegel, and a discussion with Rabbi Susan E. Lippe and Kris Wade of The Other Ones Foundation, doing extraordinary work with unhoused people in Austin, TX.

October 22: Torah study with Rabbi Jacqueline Ellenson, and a discussion with Rabbi Jay Moses and Dr. Beth Weinstock of BirdieLight, working to save the lives of young people with education and action around the dangers of Fentanyl, the #1 cause of death among 18-45 year-olds in the US.

October 29: Torah study with Rabbi David Ellenson and Rabbi Sydney Mintz, and a discussion with Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback and Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of JCC KRAKOW, on the frontlines of work and rescue of Ukrainian refugees.

I hope you can join us for these 3 opportunities for learning and inspiration about the art and skill of Tzedakah [just giving] and Tikkun Olam [repairing what is broken in our world].

What is the Kavod Tzedakah Collective? 30 years ago, a group of rabbinical students in Jerusalem established the KAVOD Tzedakah Fund with the intention of seeking out, supporting, and promoting individuals and organizations that do the work of justice, caring, and peacemaking. 

This was the brainchild of my friend R. Yoshi Zweiback who named our group KAVOD, since human dignity is the common denominator of all our projects and donations.

Three decades later, the Kavod Tzedakah Fund has distributed over $1.7 million in the United States, Israel, Ukraine, and around the world. We continue to be dedicated to the art of grassroots, no-overhead giving.

Special thanks to R. Neal Gold and A Tree with Roots for hosting our classes online!

To learn more about Kavod’s work, please check out the most recent Annual Report here. There is no cost for these events, and we encourage participants to make a contribution of any amount (nothing too big or small) to our Kavod Tzedakah Fund at www.kavod.org.

Thank you!

A Nechemta – just a bit of comfort

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Today is Shavuot, not usually a day I’d spend on the computer. BUT the news today has been terrible: Last night someone shot a number of people in a LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida. So, I wanted to share my comforting news. This blog post won’t heal injuries. It can’t undo any murders. BUT I need something positive/productive to focus on, and I thought I might not be the only one.

Last night, I was honored to teach at Congregation Agudas Achim, the congregation who generously hosts a Community-Wide Shavuot Celebration every year. (Thanks for the cheesecake and the warm welcome, as always, y’all.)

I study Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School, at Texas Christian University. I’ve been working on my ThM Thesis since November 2015. I’m struggling with staying “focused & disciplined” as wisely instructed by my advisor. I’m working on my “scholarly voice.” I’m slow, BUT I’m grateful that this lengthy process has given me the opportunity to learn so much. Of course, I want to share what I’ve been learning. So, when my friend Dr. Harvey Raben asked me my topic, I quickly answered: “The Mother of Moses in the Quran and the Hebrew Bible.”

Last night at 10:30pm (!) I welcomed about 25 lovely people who came to learn more about Yocheved/Um Musa. During the course of our discussion, I had occasion to ask some questions.

Q: How many of you have read a little of the Quran before?

A: Many raised hands.

Q: How many of you want to study more Quran?

A: More raised hands.

Q: How many of you want to learn more about the Quran because you think it will make the world a little better?

A: Almost all the hands raised.

I want to say thank you to these folks. Thank you for studying with me. Thank you for choosing a class without a very sexy title or blurb. Thank you for staying up until 11:30pm discussing some challenging texts. Thank you for pushing yourself to try something new.

Today, I take comfort in having met a nice group of people who want to make the world better by breaking down walls and opening doors. Many of our neighbors don’t want to move out of their comfort zones to learn new things and meet new people. You and I both know people who paint Islam, the Quran, and Muslim people with one broad brush. Those folks are not going to be the ones who repair what is broken in our world.

So, here are a few closing words:

  1. If you want to learn more Quran, you should check these out –The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary AND/OR The Message of the Qur’an.
  2. If you want to meet some cool Muslims, look on line for Open Houses and various learning opportunities at Muslim Community Centers in your neighborhood. This year I attended the Pre-Ramadan Open House at the North Austin Muslim Community Center and it was uplifting, welcoming, interesting, and delicious.
  3. Dr. Raben and I talked briefly about experimenting with an interfaith text-study class next semester at Agudas Achim. If you are interested, please reach out to us. Even if we only study briefly, casually, I believe that we can learn more together and maybe even attract some Muslim friends to study with us.
  4. Check out the Interfaith Ramadan Blog curated by Sarah Ager. Reading this blog is a super easy way to enter into interfaith relationship. You can read it in the comfort of your own home, in your own time. Reading these authors/teachers is a fun way to learn more about being Muslim from the Muslim writers and about interfaith opportunities from the non-Muslim writers. (I’m not just saying this because Sarah invited me to write this year. I promise.)
  5. Please share your interfaith success stories. People around us need to hear about the positive, productive results of connecting with people who aren’t exactly like us. Thank you.