Rabbi Sid Schwarz

Rabbi Sid Schwarz is the author of three groundbreaking books--Finding a Spiritual Home: How a New Generation of Jews Can Transform the American Synagogue (Jewish Lights, 2000), Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World (Jewish Lights, 2006) and Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the American Jewish Future (Jewish Lights, 2013). These books are available for purchase in the B'nai Amoona Rabbinic Suite. 

CLICK HERE TO READ RABBI SID SCHWARZ'S FULL BIO

Friday, March 22
Friday Evening Services - 6:00 pm
followed by a festive complimentary dinner - RESERVATIONS REQUIRED -> CLICK HERE

Presentation and Q&A following dinner with Rabbi Sid Schwarz - 8:00 pm
Re-Imagining the American Synagogue - Rabbi Sid’s 2000 book, Finding a Spiritual Home: How a New Generation of Jews can Transform the American Synagogue helped to shape the synagogue transformation efforts of the past two decades. In this presentation Rabbi Sid will share insights about how to re-think the paradigm of the American synagogue in a way that might help congregations do a better job of engaging the next generation of American Jews

Shabbat, March 23
Alternative Shabbat Experience with Rabbi Sid Schwarz - 10:00 am
Davening Out of the Box - You should attend this prayer experience if: a) you are often bored at services; b) you have no idea why anyone would willingly attend a worship service: c) you are a deeply spiritual person but services don’t always work for you; d) you want to go where prayerful Jews have never gone before.  Through discussions, song, movement and sharing, participants, from young to old, will walk away with a new appreciation for the Shabbat liturgy and the transformative power of prayer. This experience will not include a Torah service. Important note from Rabbi Sid Schwarz: If you want to participate in this experience, you must be in your seat by 10:00 am (start time). While people may leave whenever they choose, it will be impossible to appreciate or understand the experience if you are not there at the beginning.

Main Service-Mini Drash with Rabbi Sid Schwarz - 11:45 am
What is Prayer? - For most congregations, worship becomes a “sacred cow”. A certain constituency likes it “just the way it is” and everyone else, stays away. And yet the rabbis of the tradition warned us not to make our worship too rote. Rabbi Sid will share with the congregation what happened in the Davenning Out of the Box experience and offer an invitation to participate in a mind-expanding look at Rabbinic texts on prayer.

Post Kiddush with Rabbi Sid Schwarz - 12:45 pm
What is Prayer: Talk Back and Text Study - This will be a chance to reflect on the morning’s prayer experience with Rabbi Sid through the prism of classical Rabbinic texts on prayer. It will challenge your assumptions about what forms of worship are closer to the intentions of the Rabbinic tradition.

Minchah, Seudah Shlishit, Study Session with Rabbi Sid Schwarz, followed by Ma'ariv and Havdalah - 6:00 pm
Finding the Chosen People in Haiti - This was the topic of Rabbi Sid’s Jewish TED talk that went viral. Over the past few years Rabbi Sid has developed a relationship between his congregation and a struggling school in Haiti that has included five service missions to that community. This talk tells the story of how a commitment to the radical “other” helps Jews better understand their legacy and fulfill their destiny.

Sunday, March 24
Breakfast & Study Session with Rabbi Sid Schwarz - 10:15 am
The New Face(s) of American Jewish Life - In a pioneering new national project called Kenissa (entrance-way): Communities of Meaning Network, Rabbi Sid is uncovering an array of organizations across North America that are literally re-inventing conceptions of Jewish identity and Jewish life. Many of these organizations are operating under the radar screen of the organized Jewish community yet they are attracting the next generation of American Jews who are, for the most part, bypassing the legacy institutions of the organized Jewish community. This talk will provide some insight into the people and ideas that make these Jewish communities of meaning tick.

Rabbi Schwarz's visit to B'nai Amoona was made possible through the generous support of Paul & Diane Gallant