We invite you to listen, learn, and explore together at our upcoming Scholar in Residence weekend with world renowned theologian and pioneer of Jewish mystical studies, Dr. Melila Hellner-Eshed.

Melila Hellner-Eshed, Ph.D., is a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. She is a professor of Jewish mysticism and Zohar in the department of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She received her degree from Hebrew University under the tutelage of Professor Yehuda Liebes.

For the past two decades, Melila has been a central figure in the Israeli renaissance of study of Jewish texts by Israeli adults of all paths of life in various frameworks. She initiated and directs the Rabbinic Students Seminar, a program for rabbinic students from all denominations spending a year in Israel. She is also the co-director of the Institute’s Beit Midrash program.She has been teaching and working with Jewish communities in North America, Europe and the former Soviet Union for many years.

Her book: “And a River Flows from Eden” – On the Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar,” was published by Stanford University Press in 2009.

Melila is on the faculty of the Institute of Jewish Spirituality and is active in the ‘Sulha’ – a reconciliation project that brings together Israelis and Palestinians.

Schedule:

Friday, January 11, 2019

• 6:15 p.m. Erev Shabbat service with sermon by Melila Hellner-Eshed: “Shekhinah – The Sabbath Queen, Shekhinah – Mother of Israel, Immanent divinity, Her story in Jewish Religious Imagination”. Enhanced hearty oneg following services.
• 7:45 p.m. [No Fee] Post Oneg Presentation with our guest speaker “Tu Bishvat – Festival of the Trees – on the different meanings given to this special day in our Jewish calendar” 

Saturday, January 12, 2019

• 8:30 a.m. Torah Study [No Fee]: Parshat Bo
• 12:15 p.m. Catered lunch and study session: “The Mystery of Torah and the Parable of the Beloved in the Castle”
  ($15 members, $25 nonmembers)

*This program is made possible in part by the Bonnie Graff Scholar-in-Residence Fund Presented by Adult Education Committee