Our scholar in residence program this year is as exciting as ever.  Each scholar will teach three times over the course of a Shabbat.  On Friday night, the scholars speak in a more intimate setting at a the home of one of our community members, allowing for much interaction and participation from the community.  The scholar addresses the entire shul from the pulpit on Shabbat morning, and returns to shul for a special Seudah Shlisheet shiur with more time for questions and answers.

Rabbi Avi Weiss is Founder and President of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah – the Modern and Open Orthodox Rabbinical School. He is the Senior Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, a Modern and Open Orthodox congregation of 850 families. He is also National President of AMCHA – the Coalition for Jewish Concerns, a grassroots organization that speaks out for Jewish causes and Israel.  Rabbi Weiss was recently named by Newsweek magazine as one of the fifty most influential rabbis in America, describing him as “Orthodox’s leading activist and leader of the Modern Orthodox community.”  Rabbi Weiss has authored three books: Women at Prayer, a halakhik analysis of women’s prayer groups, Spiritual Activism: A Jewish Guide to Leadership and Repairing the World, and Haggadah for the Yom HaShoah Seder.  He has also had numerous papers, articles and editorials published in journals and newspapers around the world.