Kesher Israel is pleased to announce that Rabbi Menachem Leibtag of Yeshivat Har Etzion and Founder of the Tanach Study Center (www.tanach.org/) will be joining us on Shabbat, February 6–7.

Rabbi Leibtag, an internationally acclaimed bible scholar and pioneer of Jewish Education on the internet, is well known in the Jewish community for his essays on the weekly Bible portion.  His vibrant thematic-analytical approach blends the methods of modern academic scholarship with traditional Jewish approaches to the Biblical text. He is best known for his ability to teach students how to study rather than simply read Biblical passages. As his essays focus on meta-themes in the Bible, his readership has expanded to students of the Bible from all religions and walks of life.

He also routinely lectures around the globe, primarily as a Scholar in Residence in communities in North America; and is a regular guest lecturer for students at universities such as Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, NYU, Penn, and Brandeis.

Rabbi Leibtag will be teaching throughout Shabbat on the following topics:

- Dinner in the Social Hall, “How the Torah was ‘written’ vs. How the Torah was ‘given.’”

- Shabbat morning services, “What's so special about the ‘Ten Commandments?’”

- Before mincha services at 4:10 p.m., “The meaning of the word ‘torah’ in the Torah.”

- Seudah shlishit, “The Land of Israel—a ‘value’ or a ‘vehicle’: What Parshat Mishpatim would say re: the Israeli politics.”