Rio de Janeiro, the second-largest city in Brazil, is often called “Cidade Maravilhosa”, the “Marvelous City”. Squeezed by the Atlantic Ocean and the verdant hills of Brazil, Rio’s dramatic natural setting has impressed visitors for decades. The energy of its residents is legendary. No one dances more exquisitely or parties longer than the cariocas (residents of Rio). Even within Brazil, cariocas are known as fun, sensual, and easygoing. Their main playgrounds are the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, names that easily roll off the tongue. Yet, Rio is a great city of extremes, often cruel in its indifference to the poor. Next to five-star hotels, the poorest cariocas live in cardboard houses. The great favelas, shantytowns, reach high into the hills, where many residents are lost to poverty, drug abuse, and a life of crime. Rio contains Brazil’s second largest Jewish community, after São Paulo. The Jewish population is estimated to be between 25,000 and 30,000, approximately 0.34 percent of the city’s total population, and is made up of Jews from both Ashkenazi and Sefardi descent.  During the mid-1800s, Jews came to Rio from Morocco and organized a community alongside their Ashkenazi neighbors. The vast majority of Rio’s Jewish population lives in the central neighborhoods of Leblon, Botafogo, Ipanema, and Copacabana. Join us on Monday March 14, 2022 for a conversation between Rabbi Elie Spitz and Rabbi Nilton Bonderr about the joys and challenges of living a Jewish life in Rio.

Rabbi Nilton Bonder. Born in Brazil and trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, Rabbi Bonder is a best selling author of eighteen books in Latin America. He leads one of Brazil’s most influential Jewish congregations and is also active in civil rights and ecological causes. Some of his books have been translated in Europe and Asia and twelve of them in the US. His book Our Immoral Soul was turned into a play in 2006 and won as the best play and best actress of 2007. This play is also being staged in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A second play on his book Heaven’s Criminal Code is in the making in Brazil as well as a movie under the title Our Immoral Soul by director Silvio Tendler. He has led workshops for many corporations, including IBM, MCI, ABN-Amro, Globo Network Television and Brazilian Oil Company, and has delivered lectures at Boston University, New York Central Library, American Academy of Psychoanalysis, Blanton Peale Counseling Center, Open Center, San Francisco and New York, Nationaal Vakbodsmuseum, Amsterdam, Leiden University, Omega Institute, The Learning Anex, San Francisco, Libreria L’Ancora, Milão, State of the World Forum, Brandeis University, Jewish Museum, Praga, and United Nations Peace Conference.

Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz approaches the familiar in unfamiliar ways. A spiritual leader and scholar specializing in topics of spirituality and Judaism, he teaches, writes and speaks to a wide range of audiences. He served as the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin, California, for over three decades and served as member of the Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Law and Standards for twenty years. Rabbi Spitz is author of Healing from Despair: Choosing Wholeness in a Broken World; Does the Soul Survive? A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives & Living with Purpose and Increasing Wholeness: Jewish Wisdom and Guided Meditations to Strengthen and Calm Body, Heart, Mind and Spirit (all Jewish Lights) and many articles dealing with spirituality and Jewish law. Rabbi Spitz spent the past 17 months teaching the Psalms with half-hour presentations for each Psalm (recently completing all 150 Psalms!).  To enjoy all or some of the 150 Psalm sessions, visit this LINK.

There is no fee, but please RSVP for planning purposes. This event is held virtually on Zoom. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the event. For more information, contact Program Director Ilene Tatro at itatro@cbisd.org.

CSP Partners: Beth Israel (San Diego, CA), Brotherhood Synagogue (Gramercy Park, NYC), Congregation Beth Shalom (Seattle, WA), Congregation B’nai Tzedek (Fountain Valley, CA), Congregation B’nai Israel (Tustin, CA), Jewish Collaborative of Orange County, CA, Shomrei Torah Synagogue (San Fernando Valley, CA), Temple Bat Yahm (Newport Beach, CA), Temple Beth El of South Orange County (Aliso Viejo, CA), Temple Beth Emet (Anaheim, CA), Temple Beth Ohr (La Mirada, CA), Temple Beth Tikvah (Fullerton, CA), Temple Beth Shalom (Needham, MA), Temple Beth Sholom (Santa Ana, CA), Temple Emanuel (Newton, MA), Town & Village Synagogue (NYC, NY), University Synagogue (Irvine, CA), Valley Beth Shalom (Encino, CA) & Walnut Street Synagogue (Chelsea, MA)