By COLlive reporter
Almost a decade after Dan Brown‘s mystery-detective novel “The Da Vinci Code” sparked worldwide interest and a heated theological discussion over alternative religious history, a Chabad rabbi is taking a crack at it.
Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, spiritual leader of Chabad @ Flamingo in Thornhill, Ontario, will be giving a lecture at the National Jewish Retreat this month titled “The Da Vinci Con: A hard look at Christianity’s Jewish roots.”
The introduction to his provocative topic in the schedule booklet released last week by the organizers – the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) – reads:
“Although everyone agrees that Christianity has Jewish origins, controversies abound. Who was ‘Yoshke’ and is he mentioned in Jewish sources? Do 2000-year-old Talmud commentaries agree with conclusions drawn by modern historians? Most importantly, how does it make a difference to you as a Jew, and can history repeat itself?”
Other hot topics in the August 16-21 retreat might be educator Shaindy Jacobson exploring the connection between “Tiffany, Cartier and the Lubavitcher Rebbe,” comedian Marc Weiner‘s hilarious spoof on the world of Jewish dating and marriage and radio host and author Denis Prager on why happiness is a “serious problem.”
Learning from the misdeeds of Bill Clinton and Eliot Spitzer, former NBC producer Molly Resnick will provide an insider’s perspective on what makes famous people do foolish things and destroy their promising careers.
“The program promises to be the most exciting yet, featuring an unprecedented line up of over 50 speakers, with many presenters featured for the very first time,” Rabbi Boruch Cohen, the retreat’s director, told COLlive.com.
The 6th retreat is set to begin next week at Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Connecticut with a record turnout of over 750 participants who will gather to study and reflect on the intersection of Halacha in the 21st century among the over 140 sessions featured.
Retreat participants will gain a unique glimpse into the development and application of Jewish Law with sessions headed by leading Halachic authorities and academics exploring the most fascinating Halachic dilemmas of the past 100 years and the New Age moral revolution and Torah’s timeless response.
Seminars will be offered in a wide variety of subjects, highlighting the myths and misconceptions in Jewish law led by noted Chabad Posek, Rabbi Yosef Shusterman of Beverly Hills, CA alongside other Rabbonim, academics and Shluchim including British Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet, Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman, Rabbi Manis Friedman, and Mrs. Rivka Slonim.
“We are expecting a record turnout of close to 800 who will be educated and inspired to return home as ambassadors of Torah and Chasidus in their local communities,” said JLI Chairman, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky.
Mordechai Ben David (MBD), the “king of Jewish music,” will be this year’s entertainer.
Rabbi Hesh Epstein, the Retreat’s Chairman, said participants are arriving from over 28 states and 6 countries to take part in an amazing treat for the mind, soul and body in what promises to be JLI’s greatest retreat to date.
To view program online, visit www.jretreat.com/programguide
Registration is still open. For more information, visit JRetreat.com
great to see you as a big leader
your mishpagha
The New Age reference I know does not have anything to do with questionable morals, if that is what the article is implying. Perhaps there is another set of words, but the New Age I know of connotes holistic medicine, natural foods, green living, and overall positive endeavors toward a healthy society. One can be frum, moral, and a Chasid