Tickets £8-£40
(In order to be able to welcome everyone to learn from Rabbi Hoffman, we are asking you to select a ticket price that feels right to you.)
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We are honoured to welcome Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman to teach at FRS. 

Dr. Lawrence A. Hoffman was ordained as a rabbi in 1969, received his Ph.D. in 1973, and is now Professor Emeritus at the New York campus of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, where he served for almost half a century. His teaching and research interests include liturgy, ritual, and worship; spirituality and theology; evolving American religion; and synagogue transformation and leadership.

For over half a century, he has combined research, classroom teaching, and a passion for the spiritual renewal of North American Judaism. He is known internationally for his lectures to popular audiences and his spiritual approach to synagogue consultation.

The afternoon will be in two parts (with a break for tea and cake):

1.    Authentic Jewish Spirituality – Even For Sceptics Who Think There Isn’t Any

Jewish spirituality is more than fluff. Ordinary Jewish practices like visiting Israel, Torah study, reciting blessings over food, and even visiting the sick, have spiritual implications that generally go unnoticed. They are like tips of an iceberg that we see all the time and, therefore, take for granted. The iceberg itself, however, the part that we miss but the part that matters, is the connecting spiritual tissue that runs deeply beneath those practices and constitutes a distinctively Jewish way of being in the world. This thoughtful Jewish spirituality connects the dots in our lives and connects us to a larger picture.

2.    Workshop: These Lights Are Holy: Holiness and Chanukah; What is Holiness and Why Does It Matter?

A seminar on the Jewish idea of the sacred. Leadership theory increasingly emphasizes branding, having a clear idea of what we represent at our finest. What, then, do synagogues represent at our finest? It turns out that Judaism associates our best with access to “the holy,” but what is “the holy”? Does it really exist? Interestingly enough, it is Chanukah itself that gives us our best clue. Our workshop will compare insights from Jewish tradition and the human sciences (sociology, philosophy, and the History of Religion), along with evidence from our own experience, as we think about “What is holy?” and “Why Does It Matter?” 

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