A Weekend with Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Benjamin Segal

Shavuot is May 19-21 this year, and we are pleased to have Rabbi Benjamin Segal as our Scholar-in-Residence that weekend, sponsored by Adath Chesed Shel Emes Cemetery and Chevra Kavod Hamet Burial Society.

So, what is Shavuot? Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Tradition has it that all of us stood together at Sinai, and prepared ourselves for the gift of the Torah. Shavuot is a joyous holiday in which we reaffirm our commitment to Judaism and to the spiritual journey of Jewish learning.

Today, Shavuot is marked with special prayers, foods, the reading of Megillat Rut (the biblical Book of Ruth) and most importantly, the unique custom of Tikkun Leil Shavuot (an all-night Torah study session). 

We hope you'll join us for a weekend of learning. Below is the full schedule of services and special events, as well as information on our Scholar-in-Residence, Rabbi Benjamin Segal.

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Saturday Morning Service
May 19 • 9:30 am in the Chapel
Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal will give a D'var Torah on "Psalm 92: A Psalm for the Sabbath," followed by a congregational lunch and ice cream bar.
 
Torah for Tots Childcare
May 19 • 10 am-12 pm in Room Gimel in Gan Shelanu
Childcare for children 2 years-PreK

Shabbat Mincha and Seudah Shelishit
May 19 • 6:30 pm in the Chapel
 
Tikkun Lail Shavuot, Night of Study
May 19 • 7:30 pm in the Chapel
Study the book of Psalms "Psalms of Life and Death" with Rabbi Segal

Festival Ma'ariv service and dessert reception
May 19 • 9:15 pm in the Chapel

Sunday Morning Shavuot Festival Service
May 20 • 9:30 am in the Chapel
Read the Megillat Rut (the biblical Book of Ruth) with Rabbi Segal. Followed by Congregational Kiddush Lunch.
 
Torah for Tots Childcare
May 20 • 10 am-12 pm in Room Gimel in Gan Shelanu
Childcare for children 2 years-PreK
 
Sunday Shavuot Festival & Confirmation Service
May 20 • 6 pm in the Chapel
Ma'ariv followed by the Confirmation ceremony where we will celebrate Adath's 10th graders, concluding with a dessert reception.
 
Monday Festival & Yizkor Service & Congregational Kiddush Lunch
May 21 • 9:30 am in the Sanctuary
Rabbi Kravitz will give D'var Torah

Monday Mincha Service
May 21 • 5:45 pm in the Chapel

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Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal is an author and lecturer, living in Jerusalem. He has most recently published Kohelet's Pursuit of Truth: A New Reading of Ecclesiastes. through the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies (www.schechter.edu).
 
He is past president both of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies—the academic and educational center of Masorti Judaism in Israel, and of Melitz, the Centers for Jewish and Zionist Education. Previously, he served as the Director of the Ramah Programs in Israel.
 
Among his past volunteer roles, he was Chairman of the Masorti Movement in Israel and a member of the Executive of the World Zionist Organization, and the chairperson the Directorate of the Meimad (political) party in Israel.
 
Rabbi Segal was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, in 1969, and served as a pulpit rabbi in Palo Alto, California. He made aliyah in 1973, and lives in Jerusalem with his wife Judy. The Segals have five children and twenty-one grandchildren.

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