Finding Connections: A Conversation with Rabbi Ed Feinstein and Ron Wolfson

Finding Connections: A Conversation with Rabbi Ed Feinstein and Ron Wolfson

9am PDT

The great Harvard biologist, Lewis Thomas, once observed that in nature, there is no such thing as "an ant." Ants come in colonies, in masses. Jews are much the same. There is really no such thing as "a Jew." Jews live in families, in communities. Jewish life is collective. But America is a land of individualism and independence. How can these be reconciled? Can we build true communities in America? What has the Coronavirus crisis taught us about the meaning of relationship, and relationships of meaning? Join AJU Professor Ron Wolfson and Rabbi Ed Feinstein for a spirited discussion of the significance of relationships for contemporary Judaism.

Ron Wolfson is the Fingerhut Professor of Education at American Jewish University. He is the author of numerous books including: “Relational Judaism: Using the Power of Relationships to Transform the Jewish Community” and co-author of "The Relational Judaism Handbook: How to Create a Relational Engagement Campaign to Build and Deepen Relationships in Your Community". 

Rabbi Ed Feinstein is senior rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California. He has served on the faculty of the Ziegler Rabbinical School of Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University since 1990 and is an instructor for the Wexner Heritage Program, lecturing widely across the United States. In 1982, Rabbi Feinstein became the founding director of the Solomon Schechter Academy of Dallas, Texas, building the school’s enrollment from 40 to over 500 in eight years, and winning national recognition as center of educational excellence. In 1990, he assumed the position of executive director of Camp Ramah in California, the largest Jewish camp and conference center in the western United States. He came to Valley Beth Shalom in 1993 at the invitation of the renowned Rabbi Harold Schulweis, whom he succeeded as the congregation’s senior rabbi in 2005. Rabbi Feinstein is a member of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, a member of the school board of Milken Community High School and an active member of AIPAC. A survivor of two bouts of colon cancer, he speaks frequently to cancer support groups all over Southern California.