What Do We Do Now?

The planet may become uninhabitable. Racism, misogyny, and homophobia are again normalized. Our politics are polarized. Authoritarianism is on the rise. We are suffering a long-COVID pandemic of loneliness. Universities, the incubator of Jewish success in North America, have become fraught. October 7 and its aftermath fractured our alliances, intensified antisemitism, deepened division in our own communities, and thrust our values into mortal combat.    While it may be tempting to turn inward, there is deep wisdom in the tradition that calls us back to the public square—wisdom that embraces uncertainty as opportunity, not merely as risk. How do we respond in this rapidly changing, sometimes hostile, often incomprehensible world?

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Please feel free to contact Ross Halfant, Director of Programming and Social Justice, at 210-733-9135(x110) or ross@beth-elsa.org with any questions about the event or registration.

About Rabbi Mikva

Rabbi Mikva currently serves as the Herman E. Schaalman Chair in Jewish Studies and Senior Faculty Fellow of the InterReligious Institute at Chicago Theological Seminary. During thirteen years as a congregational rabbi in Chicago and New York, Rabbi Mikva earned a reputation as an outspoken advocate for justice; she inspired her communities to reach deeply into the roots of Jewish learning and living as they strove together to repair the world. Rabbi Mikva is involved in public discourse on critical issues of the day, contributing to USA Today, CNN, Washington Post, LA Times, Sojourners and other online media outlets. An acclaimed speaker and teacher, Rabbi Mikva also chairs the American Academy of Religion’s Committee for the Public Understanding of Religion, and serves on the Board of Governors for Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Ethics Appeals Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the new CCAR Torah Commentary Advisory Board. 

Rabbi Stahl Lecture Registration

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