Over light dinner and dessert, we’ll learn about Sources of Hope with visiting scholar Rabbi Jan Katzew. 

Sources of Hope: HaTikvah (The Hope) is not only the national anthem of the State of Israel. HaTikvah is also an essential disposition of the children of Israel, i.e., the Jewish people. On Shavuot, we rededicate ourselves to choosing life, love, and hope. The way it is is not the way it will be. Hope is the belief that we can and will make the world better, more whole, and more holy. Together we will focus on sources of hope in our texts and in our lives.

Rabbi Jan Katzew, PhD is Associate Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought and Education and Senior Educator of the Executive MA Program at HUC-JIR, where he had been ordained in 1983. After serving for six years as rabbi/educator at The Community Synagogue in Port Washington, NY, Jan became a Jerusalem Fellow and earned a doctorate at the Hebrew University in Jewish Thought and Education. He has devoted himself to learning, teaching, loving, and living Torah. For fifteen years Jan led a team of educators at the Union for Reform Judaism that was responsible for designing, developing, and implementing curricular resources for early childhood centers, congregational schools, day schools and adult learning communities throughout the world. Since its inception in 2008, Jan has been a senior consultant to the iCenter for Israel Education, mentoring students from multiple graduate schools and seminaries to become Israel educators, a task made even more important after October 7, 2023. Jan is the author of popular and scholarly articles in multiple fields that include Interfaith dialogue, Mussar,Medieval Hebrew Poetry, Israel Education, Moral Development, and educational philosophy and practice.Jan’s spouse is Cantor Alane Katzew, and together they are the parents of two children and three grandchildren, who enrich their lives beyond measure.