HADAR CHICAGO YOM IYYUN: BETWEEN PRAISE AND PROTEST

Throughout the millennia, Jewish prayer has been a conduit between humans and God. It contains and expresses the passions, emotions, ideas, and spiritual yearnings of people longing for a connection with the divine. Exploring prayer is a unique way to understand our ancestors’ relationship with God and to probe our tradition for guidance in our own spiritual journeys.

At Hadar Chicago’s Yom Iyyun, we will uncover language for gratitude and challenges, praise and protest, and the multitude of ways our tradition offers us to connect to God. Join us for a day of meaningful learning and deep conversation with Hadar faculty, including Rabbi Shai Held, Rabbi Goldie Guy, and Rabbi Micha’el Rosenberg.

We are excited to offer childcare throughout the day, based on sufficient registration.

Schedule:

• 12:30-1:00 PM: Registration, Shmoozing and Snacks
• 1:00-1:45 PM: Faculty Panel: Praying From the Heart
       R. Micha’el Rosenberg, R. Goldie Guy, R. Ari Hart- moderated by R. Shai Held 
• 1:45- 1:50 PM: Break
• 1:55-3:25 PM: Shuir Klali: “Awake, Why Do You Sleep, O Lord?!”; Encountering the Angriest Chapter in Tanakh”
       R. Shai Held in conversation with R. Ari Hart
• 3:25-3:35 PM: Break
• 3:35- 4:35 PM: Breakout Learning Sessions:
  Can Heresy Improve Your Prayer Experience?
  R. Micha’el Rosenberg
  One of the most widely known tenets of Judaism is that God has no body. But this “truism” has not always been so obvious to Jewish thinkers. In this lecture, we’ll study a passage from Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira, the Piaseczno Rebbe, in which he argues that, at least in some circumstances, you should picture God when praying. What are the benefits–and as important, costs–of looking at God?Prayer and the Power to Reconnect and Rebuild: The Story of Rabbi Yose in the Ruin (Berahot 3a)
  R. Goldie Guy
  As individuals and as a collective, we experience periods of intense connection to God, and also times of distance from God. How can we connect to God in times of transition or disruption? Explore this question and more  as we study the story of Rabbi Yose in the ruins of Jerusalem.

  Avraham’s Denial – The Beginnings of Prayer
  R. Ari Hart
  What is the foundation of Jewish prayer? Join us as we examine the rabbi’s sourcing of Shaharit, the daily morning prayer, in a most unexpected place.

• 4:35-5:00: Closing Session and Singing