The Richmond community gathered on Sunday, November 5th for its annual Global Day of Jewish Learning (GDJL), an International Day of Study bringing together Jews of all beliefs and backgrounds on the same day each year.
GDJL is a project of Limmud North America that started back in 2010 and since then has inspired communities, both large and small, to participate in one day of Jewish-focused learning.
On this day, Jews across the country and from many other parts of the world, were united in their shared focus. Together they explored the theme, The Values We Hold Dear.
The program kicked off with an opening presentation by writer and Jewish educator, Mark Oppenheimer.
Mark wrote the “Beliefs” column, about religion, for “The New York Times,” and created “Unorthodox,” the world’s most popular podcast about Jewish life and culture, with over 7 million downloads to date. He spoke about his latest book, “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood.” Although a tragic event that took place more than 4 years ago, the observations and lessons learned were still quite relevant to today.
Most importantly, GDJL could not have been successful without the commitment and dedication of the local Richmond pulpit Rabbis.
Thank you to Rabbi Dovid Asher of Keneseth Beth Israel, Rabbi Patrick Beaulier of Kehillah, Rabbi Sherry Grinsteiner of Congregation Or Atid, Rabbi Yossel Kranz of Chabad of Virginia, and Rabbi Ahuva Zaches of Congregation Or Ami, for sharing their wisdom through both their learning session topics.
Thank you to Rabbi Don Cantor who joined the Rabbis for the “Ask the Rabbis” panel discussion.
The Weinstein JCC was pleased to host this year’s program and was grateful for the supported by Jewish Community Federation of Richmond and all the local synagogues in town who helped to promote the event.
