High Holiday Webinar for Rabbis: Authority, Agency, and Powerlessness

Authority, Agency, and Powerlessness: Malkhuyot and the Challenges of 2020 

Wednesday, July 22, 1:00 p.m.–2:15 p.m. ET

Join JTS for a series of free webinars for rabbis designed to inspire you in your preparation of derashot and teaching for this year’s very unusual High Holiday season.

This webinar is presented by Rabbi Jan Uhrbach. This program is offered in collaboration with the Rabbinical Assembly.

The central theme of Rosh Hashanah—“crowning God as Sovereign”—can be difficult for many contemporary Jews. But it’s also integrally intertwined with the most challenging aspects of 2020: the feelings of powerlessness and questions of personal freedom wrought by Covid-19, and the nature and legitimacy of authority in a society in turmoil. Through a close look at the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, we’ll reexamine the concept of malkhuyot to see how it might open important discussions for our time.

Register For This Year’s Holiday Webinars

Rabbi Jan Uhrbach is director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts at JTS. Rabbi Uhrbach also serves as the founding rabbi of the Conservative Synagogue of the Hamptons in Bridgehampton, Long Island, enabling her to mentor many of JTS’s rabbinical and cantorial students in a congregational setting. She served as associate editor of Siddur Lev Shalem, and on the editorial committee for Mahzor Lev Shalem. Rabbi Uhrbach is a member of the Wexner Heritage faculty and has taught and served as scholar-in-residence in many synagogues. She was ordained at JTS and is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Yale University. She was previously a partner in the law firm of Satterlee Stephens Burke & Burke, where she specialized in media litigation.

For more information, please contact Rabbi Tim Bernard, JTS director of digital learning and engagement: communitylearning@jtsa.edu.