Pam is talking about hope with Rabbi Lauren Berkun
On the new one-on-one conversations with inspirational thought leaders, Pam talking about hope with Rabbi Lauren Berkun, she loved the spiritual message of hope that Lauren delivered at the Democratic National Convention on 8/20/20. Take a listen.
Rabbi Lauren Berkun is a Vice President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she directs Rabbinic Initiatives and is a member of the senior executive team. She also oversees staff education, training and curriculum development for Hartman’s iEngage project. She is a summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, graduate of Princeton University with a BA in Religion and was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Lauren was a Wexner Graduate Fellow, a CLAL Rabbinic Intern, and a Rabbinic Fellow in the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Rabbinic Leadership Initiative. She has also served as the JTS Midwest KOLLOT Rabbinic Scholar, Director of Lifelong Learning at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, and frequent scholar-in-residence for leadership seminars at Jewish Federations across North America. Lauren has written and taught extensively on the topics of mikveh, sexual ethics, and body image. She is also a certified Sivananda yoga instructor. She lives in Aventura, Florida, with her husband, Rabbi Jonathan Berkun of Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, and their three children.
—The Talking Joy Podcast Interview with host Pam Rotelle Robertson
“For me, presenting a prayer at the DNC gave me an opportunity to share with a national audience a message of hope from the Jewish tradition. I tried to be careful not to use that prayerful moment as a moment of political endorsement,” Rabbi Berkun wrote in a blog post.
“As people of faith, we can contribute to a healthier society and a healthier political discourse if we embrace a religious humility that acknowledges that no single human being, school of thought, or political party can have a monopoly on divine Truth.”
“For me, one of the most powerful images of the High Holidays is God as Judge. I try to remind myself each year that God alone is Judge. My job is not to judge other people. My job is to repent, to grow, to improve, and to live up to my obligations. We can have deep convictions and strong commitments without partisan antipathy and without self-righteous judgmentalism. The rabbis created a model of how to do that, 2,000 years ago in the beit midrash. Perhaps, as we embrace that model, we Jews can serve as role models in American society today for a passionate commitment to actualize our values within a framework of openness and tolerance.”
~Rabbi Lauren Burken
DNC Benediction
Rabbi Lauren Berkun
Vice President, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America
Miami, FL
“Good evening. I’m Rabbi Lauren Berkun. Please pray with me:
God, You have been a refuge for us in every generation. As we conclude this convention from the safety of our homes, we pray for a national home where security, dignity, and prosperity abound for all its inhabitants. O Lord, our Guardian who neither slumbers nor sleeps, awaken us to the tireless task of perfecting our home in this great land, built on foundations of freedom, justice, and equality. Teach us to number our days that we may attain a heart of wisdom. Strengthen us each day in our sacred duty to promote leaders who will transform crisis into hope, challenge into opportunity, cruelty into compassion, and hate into love.
So may it be Your will, and let us say: Amen”