This evening, part of the four-event "Scholar in Residence Weekend" at Northern Hills Synagogue, featured Rabbi Marc Rosenteing, Ph.D., who spoke about his experiences working with the Galillee Circus in Israel. From trapeze to tightrope, the world of the circus takes trust to new levels. But in Israel's Galilee Circus, the stakes were even higher. Working together, Jewish and Arab teenage acrobats formed bonds that allowed them to inspire and amaze, both under the big tent and in their shared Israeli society. Rabbi Rosenstein shared his reflections in this program, taking Arab-Israeli cooperation to new heights, with hopes for a stronger shared future.
This Saturday evening program was co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. The Scholar in Residence Weekend was made possible through funding by individual donors and the Robert V. Goldstein Memorial Fund of Northern Hills Synagogue.
Marc Rosenstein grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, and received a BA in biochemistry from Harvard College. He was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1975 and received an MA in Jewish History from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in the same year; later, he earned a PhD from the Hebrew University as a Mandel Jerusalem Fellow. He made aliyah with his wife Tami and three children, to Moshav Shorashim in the Galilee, in 1990.
After working as a pulpit rabbi in Port Washington, N.Y., and later as a principal – first at the Solomon Schechter Secondary School outside of Chicago and then at Akiba Hebrew Academy in Philadelphia – he became director of the Galilee Foundation for Value Education at Shorashim. The foundation has carried out educational projects on behalf of Partnership 2000, the Mandel School for Educational and Social Leadership, the Melton Centre for Jewish Education, MAKOM Israel Engagement Network, the Union for Reform Judaism, the TALI schools network, and the ORT network of schools in Israel. Among the Foundation's other projects are a Jewish-Arab youth circus, a Hebrew-Arabic web newspaper, and a variety of educational programs at Zippori and other historical sites in the Galilee.
Rabbi Rosenstein wrote the original “Dilemmas of Jewish Life” curriculum for the Florence Melton Adult Minischool in 1993, and in recent years has been involved, with other members of the Foundation staff, in curriculum development and teaching in the Gandel Institute – the Israeli version of the Melton Minischool.
Rabbi Rosenstein retired from the directorship of the Galilee Foundation for Value Education in 2013. Meanwhile, in 2009 he was named director of the Israel Rabbinical Program at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.
Photography by Gayna Bassin.
Northern Hills Synagogue members in the lobby (left to right):
Dr. David and Barbara Goldstein, Jeri and Myron Fish, Julie and Steven Pentelnik. |
Brian Freedman, Executive Director of Northern Hills Synagogue, and
Maia Morag, Cincinnati Shlichah, welcomed everyone.
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Brian Freedman and Maia Morag.
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Rabbi Marc Rosenstein. |
Rabbi Marc Rosenstein gave a PowerPoint presentation as part of his lecture. |
Henry Fenichel and Sarah Weiss. |
Joe Lazear, Don Hordes, and Karyn Lazear. |
Jeffrey Bassin and Marv Mandelbaum. |
Alex Gellen at the reception after the presentation. |
Rabbi Marc Rosenstein and Sonia Milrod, SIR Chair. |
Steven Pentelnik, Maia Morag, Matt Lee, President of NHS. |
Jewish Federation of Cincinnati attendees. |
Brian Freedman, Matt Lee, Rabbi George and Sarah Barnard. |
The dessert reception. |
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The desserts were all kosher parve. |
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Marv Mandelbaum discussed some fine points with Rabbi Rosenstein. |
Rabbi Rosenstein, Brian Freedman and Jeff Bassin. |
Cecilia and Sterling Euster, SIR Committee Members, with Matt Lee, President.
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