Central Pennsylvania Small Congregations Learn About Jewish Ethics from Thought Leaders
The brunt of winter has yet to be felt in much of the United States, but on the Jewish calendar and in Israel, the 15th day of the month of Av—Tu B’shevat—has us looking towards spring.
Last year, several JCLP community cohorts gathered virtually to observe the holiday in varying ways. For the Central Pennsylvania Small Congregation Initiative, this year’s Tu B’Shevat observance is part of a Jewish Ethics Lecture Series launched in mid-December with a presentation by distinguished Professor Paul Root Wolpe, PhD., of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. Dr. Wolpe’s influence may be international and his base in Atlanta, but his formative years were spent in Harrisburg.
Harrisburg is one of 15 synagogues in the region with similar interests and concerns that JCLP, along with partner The Jewish Community Foundation of Central Pennsylvania, helped organize into a dynamic group. Virtual meetings have enhanced Jewish life and learning for participants during the past challenging two years.
The Jewish Ethics Lecture Series will continue via Zoom with holiday-adjacent presentations through spring, and hope for an in-person gathering when that is viable.
Dr. Wolpe’s dynamic presentation focusing on how people make ethical decisions and the basic thought that ethics is how we treat other people and things provided a platform for the three lectures in the series to follow.
On January 18, Rabbi Ellen Bernstein will present a Tu B’Shevat lecture, “Creation’s Holiday—Jewish Ethics and the Environment.”
Rabbi Bernstein is the founder of Shomrei Adamah, the first national Jewish environmental organization. Susan Schwartz of Beth Israel Congregation in Bloomsburg will moderate this session, which will also include Rabbi Nina Mandel of Congregation Beth El in Sunbury and Paul Washington of Lock Haven.
Part 3 of the series will continue on March 8 with Rabbi Michael Broyde, professor of law at Emory University School of Law leading a presentation for Purim: “Battlefield Ethics and Jewish Law.”
He will be joined by panelists Professor Michael S. Neiburg, Chair of War Studies at the US Army War College in Carlisle, and Rabbi Ilan Pardo of Sons of Israel Congregation in Chambersburg. Ethyl Carryer of Congregation Beth Tikvah in Carlisle will moderate.
The series will conclude on April 4 with “Yom HaShoah—Jewish Biomedical Ethics: Perspectives and Questions.” Jonathan K. Crane, Raymond F. Shinazi Scholar in Bioethics and Jewish Thought at Emory University will lead this provocation presentation. Panelists are Dr. Stephen Steven Burg Shippensburg University Professor of the History of Disease and Public Heath, and Dr. Steven Wassner, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Dr. Joe Levenstein of Adams County Jewish Community in Gettysburg will moderate the discussion.
January 13, 2022