As we approach the Jewish New Year and prepare to complete the annual cycle of Torah reading, we are invited to revisit an ancient question with fresh eyes: What is the Torah, really? While traditionally understood as a sacred text combining narrative and law, the Kabbalistic tradition offers a radically different lens, seeing the Torah not just as words on parchment, but as a living, dynamic force, a divine emanation that reveals the mysteries of God and the boundless potential within each soul. In this two-part series, renowned Kabbalah scholar and translator Prof. Daniel Matt will guide us into this mystical understanding, illuminating key Kabbalistic texts that challenge us to rethink the nature of Torah itself. Drawing on decades of scholarship, including his monumental nine-volume translation and commentary of the Zohar, as well as accessible works like The Essential Kabbalah and God and the Big Bang, Prof. Matt will open new spiritual pathways for encountering Torah at this season of renewal and reflection.
Prof. Daniel Matt is a scholar and teacher of Kabbalah. Some years ago, he completed an eighteen-year project of translating the Zohar, the masterpiece of Kabbalah. His nine-volume annotated work, The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (published by Stanford University Press), has been hailed as “a monumental contribution to the history of Jewish thought.” His other books include: God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony between Science and Spirituality (2nd edition, 2016), The Essential Kabbalah (translated into eight languages), and Zohar: Annotated and Explained (a short paperback). Recently his biography of Elijah, Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation, was published by Yale University Press in their series Jewish Lives. Daniel received his Ph.D. from Brandeis University and for twenty years served as professor at the Center for Jewish Studies, within the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He has also taught at Stanford and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Part 1 – Program video
Part 2 – Program video

 Jonah Meets Moby Dick – Facing the Deep on the Day of Awe

Join Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum for a study of the literary meanings of the second chapter of the book of Jonah from the Midrash and New Testament to Michelangelo, Herbert Melville, Jules Verne all the way to Captain Jack Sparrow. Transform your Yom Kippur experience by diving with Jonah into the belly of the beast.
Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum is Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS) where he holds the Rabbi Sacks Chair of Modern Jewish Thought, established by the Zandan family. He lectures in Jewish philosophy and education, and trains teachers and rabbis. Rabbi Zarum has a PhD in Theoretical Physics from King’s College London and an MA in Adult Education from University College London. His rabbinic ordination was awarded by the Montefiore Kollel and Rabbi Sacks, and he is also a graduate of the Mandel Leadership School in Jerusalem. Rabbi Zarum regularly writes articles for the Jewish press and essays for journals. His recent book, Questioning Belief: Torah and Tradition in an Age of Doubt, published by Koren, was the finalist in the Rabbi Sacks Book Prize, awarded by Yeshiva University.
Program video

HINNENI – Soldiers’ Poems for the Days of Awe

Midst the holidays of Tishrei, a time of reflection, judgment, and renewal, we turn to voices that have emerged from the most difficult of days. The Hinneni collection gathers poems written by soldiers, both in regular and reserve duty, in the wake of October 7th. A joint project of Mashiv Haruach publishing house and the IDF Education and Youth Corps, the collection spans Israel’s diverse ideological landscape. Some poems may feel immediately familiar, while others challenge us to encounter perspectives beyond our own. Just as the High Holidays invite us to face ourselves and our community with honesty and courage, these poems open a raw and intimate window into the fractured, searching discourse of Israeli society today.
Rachel Korazim is a Jewish education consultant specializing in curriculum development for Israel and Holocaust education. Over the past four years, in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Rachel created an online global community of hundreds of people who meet to study Israeli poetry. Through her teaching, she has opened a window into Israeli society through literature, stories, poems, and songs. Since October 7th, 2023, Rachel has been collecting and sharing poems by Israelis who are grappling with the recent tragedy, offering a profound insight into the nation’s collective grief, resilience, and hope.
Program video