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Shabbat Service with Guest Speaker
August 18 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Shabbat Service and Adult Ed Program
In-Person and Via Zoom – Contact Us for Zoom Link
Note Time Change – Service begins @ 7:00 pm
Join us for a Kabbalat Shabbat from 7:00-7:30 pm. At the conclusion of services, you will be invited to enjoy the oneg Shabbat and engage in the personal and fascinating presentation by our guest speaker Elaine Leeder, Dean Emerita/Professor Emerita, Sonoma State University, www.elaineleeder.com
“WHAT IS A NICE JEWISH GIRL LIKE YOU DOING IN A PLACE LIKE THIS: JEWS, PRISON AND SPIRITUALITY”
For the last twenty-eight years Elaine Leeder has been working in prisons, first at Elmira Correctional Facility, then San Quentin, and now in prisons all over the state of California. Her teaching, then running self-help groups and now doing Victim/Offender Dialogues, has shown her that there is redemption, remorse and contrition behind the walls. People can be transformed even in the most oppressive of circumstances.
Leeder will discuss the Jewish values like Teshuvah, Chesed and Tikkun Olam that deeply inform her work. She will describe the forgiveness she sees in victims (or victims’ families) for some of the most horrendous of crimes like murder, kidnapping, rape and robbery. Her presentation will focus on real situations that will inspire and touch you and you in profound ways. Her own growth has been deeply informed by these powerful stories.