Scholar in Residence Weekend 2024
Men’s Club’s Annual Scholar in Residence
In April 2024, Men’s Club proudly sponsored Temple Etz Chaim’s 24th Annual Scholar in Residence Weekend Event, featuring Shira Telushkin.
The weekend was spent looking at some of the most powerful stories in the Jewish tradition that tell our human story, and we explored together what it can tell us about being a Jew in Today’s Modern World.
Click HERE for a welcome video introduction from Shira.
Our Schedule of Events included
Friday Night (delivered during Services):
Should Moral Differences Ever End a Friendship?
- A Jewish Perspective – Stories that can help us unpack friendships that go awry.
Saturday Morning (delivered during Services):
Being Holy Does Not Mean Being Good
- A look back at strange stories about the power of holiness and seeking divine devotion among our saints, mystics and heroes in a world where being useful and serving others all the time can seem like the only way to live a meaningful life.
- What is the value of holiness in a world of need: when sainthood seems selfish, and how to justify self-pursuit when others need you?
Saturday Evening (Havdalah with refreshments and Q&A):
Why do Jews believe in Demons?
- How do we understand superstitions, angels, and fantastical stories that don’t make sense in our modern world?
- Can we bring the Enchanted World of Jewish Spirits of Demons and Magic into a Disenchanted Age?
Sunday Morning Brunch (Roundtable and Q&A) :
God, intermarriage, antisemitism. What 1920’s Jewish advice columns can teach us today!
- Join us for a fun look at historical ways that stories from the 1920’s through advice columns and cries for help really resonate with who we are.
- We’ll learn from Bintel Briefs: Stories from Jewish advice columns in the 1920’s, and what they teach us about social justice, doubt and faith, parents and children, intermarriage and friendship, and how braving the modern world can help us understand ourselves today.
Shira writes for the Jewish press. For three years, she produced “Unorthodox,” the podcast of Tablet Magazine, and she has written Jewish advice columns for Tablet and The Forward. Shira teaches Religion Reporting at The City University of New York and holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Yale University, and MDiv from The Harvard Divinity School.
Your continued commitment and generosity allow us to bring this informative and thought-provoking Scholar-in-Residence programing to our temple community. We once again ask and humbly appreciate your becoming a 2024 Scholar-in-Residence Program Sponsor at the Scholar Benefactor, Family of Scholarship, or Friends of SIR Levels.
RSVP’s are appreciated. To become a Program Sponsor at any level, please visit the TEC website (Click Here), call the TEC office or complete the sponsorship form below and return it in the enclosed envelope.
- Friends of SIR ($36, or other amount): Your contribution will help ensure a legacy of meaningful Scholar-in-Residence programming into the future here at Temple Etz Chaim and enable the entire congregation to enjoy the full weekend of events. All sponsors will be recognized in the program booklet and ETZETERA.
- Family of Scholarship ($136): The above plus invitations for you and a Guest to an exclusive Friday evening Shabbat dinner with Shira Telushkin, the Saturday evening event, and our Sunday brunch.
- Scholar Benefactors ($360+): Additional benefits include an invitation for you and a guest to dine at Shira table at the Friday evening Shabbat dinner and help defer costs to enable the entire congregation to enjoy the entire weekend of events.
TEC Men’s Club thanks you for your continued support and participation in our activities.
Please contact us at 805-497-6891 or email us here if you have any questions or suggestions.
Thank you for your support!
B’Shalom,
Irwin Barney
President, TEC Men’s Club
Mark Zucherman
TEC Men’s Club SIR Chair