At Society Hill Synagogue, our Scholar-in-Residence program is a cornerstone of our commitment to lifelong learning and spiritual growth. These weekends provide our community with the unique opportunity to engage deeply with thought leaders, rabbis, and scholars who are shaping Jewish life today. Through thought-provoking lectures, dynamic conversations, and immersive Shabbat experiences, we explore timeless Jewish wisdom while grappling with contemporary issues.
Our Scholar-in-Residence weekends enrich our congregation, inspire meaningful connections, and spark fresh perspectives on what it means to live a Jewish life in the modern world. Whether delving into spiritual practices, tackling social justice challenges, or rediscovering ancient traditions, these moments remind us of the beauty and vitality of learning together as a community.
Check out our list of upcoming and past Scholars-In-Residence:
Spring 2027 — Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
Can American Jews Pray Again?
Scholar-in-Residence Shabbat with Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
Friday, March 5 and Saturday, March 6
Prayer, when taken seriously, is miraculous. It has the power to elevate us, to bring us closer to God, and focus our priorities on what matters. And yet, we are often so far from that experience of prayer. In this lecture, we will explore strategies to infuse prayer with meaning. We will ask: Can doubters pray? What do you do when you disagree with the prayer’s content? Does God really need our praise?
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer is President and CEO of the Hadar Institute, a center of Jewish life, learning, and practice that builds vibrant egalitarian communities in North America and Israel. A graduate of Harvard College, he completed his doctorate in liturgy at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was also ordained. A Wexner Graduate Fellow and Dorot Fellow, Elie is a co-founder of the independent minyan Kehilat Hadar and has been named multiple times to Newsweek’s list of the top 50 rabbis in America. He was selected as an inaugural AVI CHAI Fellow, and is the author of Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us About Building Vibrant Jewish Communities (Jewish Lights, 2010). Elie has previously worked as a journalist, banker, and corporate fraud investigator.
Register here
Fall 2026 — Rabbi Josh Feigelson
Finding Home in an Unsettled World
Scholar-in-Residence Shabbat with Rabbi Josh Feigelson
Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31
What does it mean to feel at home when the world feels anything but? At a moment of political turmoil in the United States and Israel, many of us are struggling to find a sense of stability, belonging, and spiritual grounding. Drawing on Jewish wisdom and spiritual practice, Rabbi Josh Feigelson will explore the ancient Jewish tension between home and exile — and what it can teach us about living with uncertainty today. How can we cultivate a genuine sense of at-homeness even when the world around us feels unsettled? And how might Jewish spiritual practice help us remain grounded, connected, and openhearted in turbulent times?
Rabbi Josh Feigelson is President & CEO of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), a sacred haven for nurturing the mind, body, soul, and spirit. He was appointed Executive Director of IJS in January 2020 and became President & CEO in April 2022. He received ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in 2005, and served for six years as the Hillel Rabbi at Northwestern University, where he also earned a PhD in Religious Studies. In 2011, Josh helped found and served as Executive Director of Ask Big Questions, an initiative of Hillel International, which won the inaugural Lippman-Kanfer Prize for Applied Jewish Wisdom. Prior to joining IJS he served as Dean of Students at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is the author of Eternal Questions: Reflections, Conversations, and Jewish Mindfulness Practices for the Weekly Torah Portion (Ben Yehuda Press, 2022). Josh lives with his wife Natalie and their three sons in Skokie, IL.
Register here
Spring 2026 — Rabbi Michael Cohen
Overcoming the Asymmetry of the Sensational: A Better Future for Israelis and Palestinians
Scholar-in-Residence Shabbat with Rabbi Michael Cohen on February 20-21
Rabbi Michael Cohen is the Director of Community Relations for the Friends of Arava Institute. He has been a part of the Arava Institute since its doors opened in 1996, dividing his time between Vermont and the Kibbutz Ketura campus of the Institute. He is a faculty member of Bennington College, teaching conflict resolution, the Bible, and the environment.
Rabbi Cohen has been a Policy Advisor to the Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, U.S. Department of State, and a Speechwriting Advisor to the Office of the White House Speechwriters. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Middle East Peace Partnership (MEPPA) of USAID. Rabbi Cohen is also rabbi emeritus of the Israel Congregation in Manchester Center, Vermont and an ongoing columnist for the Jerusalem Post. He is the author of Einstein’s Rabbi: A Tale of Science and the Soul and a recipient of the Eliav Sartawi Award for Middle East Journalism from the Search for Common Ground.
Summer 2025 — Yiscah Smith
Shabbat Lunch ‘n’ Learn with Yiscah Smith: Planting Seeds of the Divine
Saturday, June 21, following Shabbat services
Join us for a special Shabbat Lunch ‘n’ Learn featuring Yiscah Smith, renowned teacher of Jewish contemplative practice at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Yiscah will share teachings from her newly published book, Planting Seeds of the Divine, which reclaims a contemplative, experiential-theological approach to Torah.
Through an integration of intellectual, emotional, spiritual, psychological, and embodied dimensions, Yiscah offers a deeply personal and profound guide to encountering the Divine Presence within. Her presentation will include a teaching and guided spiritual practice, followed by Q&A.
Discover how Torah study can become a transformational journey of self-discovery, spirituality, and mindfulness — engaging readers from all backgrounds in a whole-person approach to sacred text.
Yiscah’s book is available for you to purchase from the synagogue office, and a portion of the proceeds from the specially discounted book price ($20) will benefit our synagogue.
To purchase your signed copy, please pay $20 at this link and note “Planting Seeds” in the memo line. Advance purchase only.
Spring 2025 — Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, who joined us for the Shabbat of March 28-29, is the President of Hebrew College, a pluralistic institution housing the largest non-Orthodox rabbinical school in the country, also offering programs leading to rabbinic ordination, and master’s degrees in Jewish education and Jewish studies, and providing community adult, youth, and professional development study opportunities.
Prior to her 20-plus years serving as faculty member, then Dean, and now President of Hebrew College, she spent 15 years working in pluralistic settings as a Hillel rabbi at Tufts, Yale, and Harvard universities. She is the co-editor of two volumes of women’s writings on Passover, The Women’s Seder Sourcebook, and The Women’s Passover Companion, and is a brilliant writer, speaker, and thinker on issues confronting the Jewish world.
Shouts and Whispers: On Saying “We Jews” in Today’s World
Over a hundred years ago, in an essay entitled “Renaissance of Jewish Learning and Living,” Franz Rosenzweig wrote about the subtle act of commitment and transformation that takes place “when in the confusion of the world we once quietly say, ‘we Jews.’” What does it mean to say ‘We Jews’ in today’s turbulent world? Why does it matter, what gets in the way, and what possibilities emerge when we shout it, when we sing it, and when we whisper it – to ourselves and to each other?
On Friday evening during the Oneg dinner following TGIShabbat services, Rabbi Anisfeld led a teaching on Jewish resilience during Shabbat dinner, offering reflections on what it means to say “We Jews” in today’s world.
During Saturday morning’s Kiddush lunch following Shabbat services, Rabbi Nathan Kamesar of Society Hill Synagogue conducted a special conversation with Rabbi Anisfeld on issues confronting the Jewish world and how our Jewishness calls on us to respond to this moment of political turbulence.
Rabbi Michael Strassfeld has been a transformative figure in American Judaism for over 50 years. He is best known as a co-editor of The Jewish Catalog, a groundbreaking DIY guide to Jewish living that redefined engagement with Jewish tradition for a generation. He has served as a rabbi at Congregation Ansche Chesed and the Society for the Advancement of Judaism (SAJ) in New York City, and he was a founding leader of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, which integrates mindfulness with Jewish practice.