Rabbi Haber's Torah Tours

27/10/2024

Looking forward to my upcoming trip to the States in a few weeks, b'ezrat Hashem!

I still have a few speaking slots available - in Maryland on Sunday Nov 17, and in New York/New Jersey from Nov 18-21.

In addition to "standard" talks about Tanakh, Jewish philosophy, the land of Israel, and other such topics, I'm currently preparing a few topics particularly relevant to the current situation, including:

**Understanding Akedat Yitzhak in light of our current struggles against fanatical Islamists
**Antisemitism - what it means and what to do about it
**The concept of "Jewish Unity" and the question of whether it can ever be anything other than an empty slogan

Please be in touch if you'd like me to speak to your group!

10/10/2024

Tiyul to Nabi Samuel with the students in my Tanakh class at Midreshet Torah V'Avodah - learning Yehoshua chapter 10 on location!

10/10/2024

Difficult yet uplifting tour of the Gaza Envelope area with Ruach HaNegev - רוח הנגב - an amazing innovative gap year program for English-speaking boys. We visited sites such as the location of the destroyed police station in Sderot and the site of the Nova festival. Had a tour of Kibbutz Alumim, heard tragic and inspiring stories and met a few inspiring contemporary heroes as well!

24/09/2024

I'm pleased to announce the first details of my upcoming speaking tour in the USA, in about two months b'ezrat Hashem.

I'm currently scheduled to spend the Shabbat of Parashat VaEra (Nov 15-16) at the University of Maryland, and the following Shabbat (Parashat Chayye Sarah, November 22-23) at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn, NJ.

I'm available for speaking engagements in the Silver Spring/Baltimore area on Sunday, Nov 16, and in the New York/New Jersey area the rest of that week. Would you like to arrange for me to speak at your community/school/campus? I would love to discuss the possibilities!

Please be in touch if you're interested!

14/07/2024

Lots of fun guiding my old friend and chavruta Rabbi Etan Tokayer and his family today! We learned a lot of Tanach while enjoying the beautiful scenery of Israel - starting at "Nabi Samuel" (which - I proved to them - can't be the grave of the prophet Shmuel even though many people seem to think it is), and followed in the footsteps of Yehoshua's army all the way to Tel Azeka near Bet Shemesh, where we met (future) King David as he defeated the giant Goliat (we watched the battle from box seats)!

08/07/2024

It was a great privilege to guide the extended Feiler family on their trip to Israel. First time for all of the children and one of the adults, and for several others, first time in decades! We saw ancient Caeserea, modern Haifa and medieval Akko, and talked about what all this means to us as Jews in the 21st century! Also had time for a fun horse-and-buggy ride, cable car in Haifa and ended with a delicious dinner!

28/06/2024

This is the second part of my blog post on antisemitism. Luckily, I had written most of it before my daughter went into labor!

Comments welcome, of course!

From the blog of Alan Haber at The Times of Israel

20/06/2024

Earlier in the war, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel is fighting simultaneously on seven different fronts. It’s now becoming increasingly clear that there is an eighth front, quickly becoming one of the most threatening: the explosively virulent hatred directed against Israel and Jews all over the world.

I hate to admit it, but I was wrong about this. I predicted the exact opposite, almost six years ago.

From the blog of Alan Haber at The Times of Israel

09/06/2024

Would you like to invite me to speak in your shul, campus, school, organization (or anywhere else)?

I'm currently beginning to plan my next speaking trip to North America, tentatively scheduled for November.

As of now it appears I'll be available as Scholar-in-Residence for the Shabbatot of Parshiot Vayera and Chayye Sarah (November 16-23), and for speaking engagements during the week in between.

If you're interested, please be in touch - I'd love to discuss it!

03/05/2024

First day back from Pesach vacation at Midreshet Torah V'Avodah - we took the girls to Hebron. Great way to begin "Summer Zman" and get into the mood for the upcoming observances of Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, Yom HaAtzmaut, Yom Yerushalayim. As I explained to the girls before we started: these days are about our deep connection with the land of Israel, and the difficult struggles we have gone through to be here. It all starts in Hebron.

22/02/2024

The slogan is posted everywhere in Israel: ביחד ננצח - Together, we will win. Over the past months, we have seen how true this is - we were hit when we were divided and now, thankfully, we're united and winning.

The big challenge, though, is how to maintain this going forward. In this 42-minute shiur I discuss a revolutionary essay written by Rav Kook almost 120 years ago that I think contains the seeds of an answer

After 4.5 months of war in Gaza and much contemplation about the "Achdut" (Unity) we are experiencing and how to preserve it, I was drawn to revisit a classi...

19/02/2024

For some reason Facebook keeps removing this post as spam (it isn't) - so I'll post without the link.

I'm very excited about my online self-guided mini-course at Herzog College Global, which starts next week. Although designed for limudei kodesh teachers, it can also be of interest to any person interested in Torah study, the land of Israel, and the relationship between the two!

As I said I can't post the link here but if you are interested in registering or getting more info, PM me and I will send you the link! Hope to see you online!

05/02/2024

I'm excited to announce that I'll be giving an online mini-course this spring under the auspices of Herzog College, called "Bringing Eretz Yisrael into Your Classroom". Although it's designed for teachers, it could also be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the land of Israel and its relevance to Torah study.

In this six-unit self-guided online mini course, we will explore different ways to incorporate maps, videos, and photos from Eretz Yisrael, as well as introducing knowledge of topography, roads, and archeology into your classroom, empowering students to explore the insights these tools can yield.

The course costs opens on February 25, and costs only $40. For more information and to register, click the photo.

In this short course, Rabbi Alan Haber will explain how to bring the subject of Eretz Yisrael into your Judaic Studies classroom.