We are extremely excited to host Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom for the Shabbat of March 3 & 4. We will have the opportunity to hear from him a number of times over the weekend including Friday night at a special Friday night dinner at the Young Israel, after minyan Shabbat morning and in a special session Sunday morning with the Federation at the JCC. See below for a full schedule and topics! 

Please join us! For more information, please contact Lauren at admin@youngisraelwh.org. 

Schedule

Friday, 3/3, Shabbat Dinner & Oneg

Israeli Society: Does Fear Trump Love?

5:30 PM Candle lighting and Kabbalat Shabbat services at Young Israel of West Hartford

6:45 PM Shabbat Dinner (by reservation only)

$22/adult, $15/child, children under 3 are free; space is limited  To register, please complete this form. 

Dessert and Community Oneg with Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom: ~8:00 pm

Shabbat, 3/4, Morning Sermon 

An Insider Look At The Israeli Rabbinate: Challenges & Opportunities

Sermon by Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom after services at 11:00am (approx.) followed by Kiddush.

Sunday, 3/5 

From a Dream to Reality: Ethiopian Aliya In Israel

Community Program with Ethiopian-Israeli Rabbi Sharon Z. Shalom, Ph.D.: 10:30am

RSVP to Stacy Jennings at sjennings@jewishhartford.org or 860.727.6130

Bio: Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom

Born Zaude Tesfai in a small village in the Tigre region of Ethiopia, Rabbi Sharon Z. Shalom was nine years old in 1984, when he embarked on a 1,500 trek without his family, to the Sudan, a journey that was to bring him to Israel, during the airlift mission, Operation Moses.

Given a new Hebrew name and grieving for his family whom, as he was told, had died on the way to Sudan, Sharon Shalom went to live at the Emunah Children’s Centre in Afula, a residential home for immigrant and at-risk children. Emunah Afula was his home and haven for the next four years. His family, by the way, had miraculously survived, although Sharon would not hear this incredible news for more than two years after making Aliyah.

In coming years Sharon Shalom, would complete high school, study at Yehivat Har Etzion, serve in the army in the infantry officer, prior to gaining his BA, MA and PhD from the Bar Ilan University. The title of his doctoral dissertation is “Judaism of Faith? A case study on Theology of the Ethiopian Jewish Community Beta Yisrael”. Rabbi Sharon Shalom was only the second Ethiopian immigrant to receive semicha (ordination) from the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yisrael Meir Lau.

Rabbi Shalom was 37 years old when appointed as the rabbi of the Kdoshei Yisrael Synagogue in Kiryat Gat, then made up of mainly holocaust survivors. Under his leadership Kdoshei Yisrael has become a vibrant community with members originating from Russia, Ethiopia, Morocco, Tunisia and of course, Israel.

Rabbi Sharon currently works as a faculty lecturer at both the Bar Ilan and Tel Aviv Universities. In addition, he is an inspirational lecturer and sought after speaker in Israel and around the world, and the author of numerous published articles.

In 2012 Rabbi Sharon Shalom published his original book From Sinai To Ethiopia: The Halachic World and Ethiopian Jewish Thought. The book includes “Shulchan HaOrit”, the table of light, a halachic guide for Beta Yisrael. This groundbreaking book, has generated much discussion, controversy and expansion of knowledge, and was republished in English in 2015. Rabbi Sharon is currently under contract with a leading Israeli publisher for an additional book, soon to be published.

Rabbi Sharon Z. Shalom is married to Swiss-born Avital, a social worker and art therapist. The couple live in the Southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat with their 5 wonderful children - Roi, Nadav, Ziv, Gil and Tohar.