The L'SHMA Lecture Series takes place every Wednesday night at the Bronfman Center. Come hear speakers and experts on topics such as Conversion, Biblical Criticism and Sexual Ethics.

L'SHMA is sponsored by the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus-Orthodox Union and Hillel Outstanding Student Initiative Grant

Recordings of past lectures are available below. To download, right-click the link and click 'save link as':

3/6/08 - Rabbi Saul Berman on What is holiness and should Modern Orthodox Jews care about it?
Rabbi Saul J. Berman is a leading Orthodox teacher and thinker. As a Rabbi, a scholar, and an educator, he has made extensive contributions to the intensification of women's Jewish education, to the role of social ethics in Synagogue life, and to the understanding of the applicability of Jewish Law to contemporary society.

3/5/08 - Dr. Micah Gottlieb on Is The Torah Historically Accurate And Should It Matter?
Dr. Micah Gottlieb is an Assistant Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Indiana University (2003)and his M.A. in Hebrew and Judaic Studies. His research interests include Faith versus reason in the medieval and modern periods, the relationship between the German and Jewish Enlightenments, philosophical approaches to Biblical interpretation.

2/13/08 - Rabbi Marc Angel on The Politics of Orthodox Conversion and Why it has to Change
Rabbi Marc Angel, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, the historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in New York City, has become a strong voice for a more inclusive approach to conversion among Orthodox rabbis. He is the founder and director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. A past president of the Rabbinical Council of America, he is the author of “Choosing to Be Jewish: The Orthodox Road to Conversion” (Ktav, 2005).

2/6/08 - Professor Lawrence Schiffman on Who was a Jew? An Exploration of Jewish Identity from Antiquity Until Present
Professor Lawrence Schiffman is a Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU and Chairman of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. He has a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and is an author of four books. He is an internationally known scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls. His other major research interests are; Jewish religious, political, and social history in late antiquity; the history of Jewish law and Talmudic literature.

1/30/08 - Rabbi Avi Weiss on Leadership What makes a good Jewish leader?
Rabbi Avi Weiss is the Founder and President of YCT Rabbinical School. He is Senior Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, a modern and Open Orthodox congregation of 850 families in Bronx, NY. Rabbi Weiss is the National President of the AMCHA – the Coalition for Jewish Concerns, a grassroots organization that speaks out for Jewish causes throughout the world. He has authored two books: Women at Prayer: A Halakhic Analysis of Women's Prayer Groups and Principles of Spiritual Activism