Scholar-in-Residence 2022

The Gersten-Hoisington Scholar-in-Residence Weekend: Heschel and the Intersection of Jewish Education, Civil Rights, and International Relations

December 9-11, 2022

Register here.

The TBS Adult Learning Committee is excited to present an educational weekend at TBS with Peter Geffen, an award winning educator and civil rights activist. Questions? Contact Adult Learning.

Friday, December 9 - 7:15 PM

Shabbat Evening Service - Gersten-Hoisington Speaker

An Introduction

We welcome Peter Geffen to our evening service, where he will introduce the topics for the weekend and preview an exclusive interview filmed with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Minyan and Shabbat Morning Lecture

Saturday, December 10 – 8:30 AM Minyan, 9:00 AM Lecture

Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Spiritual Humanism

This opening talk will include the viewing of a remarkable and rare half-hour interview with Heschel made just months before his untimely death in December 1972, a biographical review of his life and a review of key elements of Heschel’s thought drawn from his powerful lectures at Stanford University initially published as “Who is Man?” This session will include a review of Heschel’s involvement in the civil rights movement, which served as inspiration for Peter’s service as a civil rights worker (for Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in 1965 and 1966.

Saturday, December 10 – 7:00 PM Dinner, 8:00 PM Lecture (note new times)

Jews and the Kingdom of Morocco: Heschel’s Universalism and its Mandate in the International Arena

In this session Peter will speak of his creation of The KIVUNIM Institute, with a special emphasis on the historic relationship of the Jewish people and the Kingdom of Morocco. He will explain how KIVUNIM came into relationship with King Mohammed VI of Morocco and the direct line from Heschel’s teachings to KIVUNIM’s educational and experiential work on the international stage. This talk will take place within the context of a Moroccan-style dinner. Reserve your spot today! $25 per person

Lecture and Bagel and Lox Brunch

Sunday, December 11 - 9:30 AM

Jewish Education for the 21st Century: Applying Heschel’s Analysis and Direction

In this session Peter will demonstrate the application of Heschel’s thought to his founding of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in NYC in 1983. How can Jewish education be guided by Heschel’s powerful and independent philosophy? Rather than understand Jewish education in a narrow and expedient context we will understand the aspirations and implications of Heschel’s teachings to the universes of both our parenting and our formal classroom teaching: “Education” writ BIG.