Tradition and Technology Unite Jews Around the Globe in Learning

On the Global Day of Jewish Learning,
“24×24” will Convene via Google Hangouts on Air

Scholars, artists, rabbis and authors from around the world will participate in the world’s first global Jewish learning webcast event – 24×24 – Sunday, November 16. The Global Day of Jewish Learning will broadcast this live video event free of charge via Google Hangouts On Air.

Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, world-renowned scholar, will open the event at 00:00 GMT (7pm EST on Saturday, November 15). Member of Knesset Dr. Ruth Calderon, an electrifying teacher of Jewish texts, will teach at 19:00 GMT (2pm EST, 9pm Israel).

The Global Day of Jewish Learning will unite over 500 communities in 40 countries through the study of Jewish texts. It is sponsored by the Aleph Society, under the aegis of Rabbi Steinsaltz.

MK Dr. Ruth Calderon said that she is excited to participate in the Global Day of Jewish Learning because “I believe that learning is what unites us.”

Speakers will engage with this year’s Global Day theme, “Heroes and Villains, Saint and Fools: The People in the Book”, an exploration of biblical personalities.

• Rabbi Asher Lopatin (New York), President of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan (San Francisco), Senior Educator of Lehrhaus Judaica, will co-teach “The Entrapments of Balaam, Balak and the Ass.”
• Dr. Daniel Fainstein (Panama), Dean and Professor of Jewish Studies and Education at the Hebraica University in Mexico City, will address “Noah vs. Abraham: Two Solitudes, Two Heroes, Two Ways of Speaking to God.”
• Judy Klitsner, scholar, author and senior lecturer at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, will challenge viewers with her talk: “Would You Murder and Also Inherit? A Biblical Story of Crimes, Misdemeanors, and Other Addictions.”

Other sessions will focus on the arts and multimedia. Alicia Jo Rabins (Portland), poet and multi-instrumentalist of Girls in Trouble, will perform and teach, “Miriam: The Complicated Life of a Biblical Woman.” This session will be moderated by Dr. Judith Rosenbaum (Boston), Executive Director of the Jewish Women’s Archive. Sarah Lefton (San Francisco), Executive Director and Producer of G-dcast, will illuminate viewers with her talk, “Drawing Meaning Out of Judges (Literally).” Join Accidental Talmudist Salvador Litvak (in Israel) and writer/consultant Esther Kustanowitz (Los Angeles) for a discussion about cautious speech, responsible media practices and the power of the written word: “Esther, Mordecai, and What Happens When Jews Really Do Control the Media.”

24×24 begins at 00:00 Greenwich Mean Time on Sunday, November 16 (7pm EST on Saturday, November 15).

24×24 is a free resource open to everyone – participants can watch the videos live at theglobalday.org on November 16. Viewers around the world will be able to sit in on classes broadcast from in-person community events worldwide and form virtual communities. Viewers can ask questions of the speakers and engage with their fellow far-flung viewers. Questions can be asked live on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ and the 24×24 live chat. These videos will also be available on YouTube after broadcast.

“We have a list of commandments in our prayerbook singled out for being so special that each brings a reward in both this world and the world to come. If Torah study is equivalent to doing all of them, as our prayerbook says, then 24 hours of global Torah study makes 24×24 one of the most important days in the history of mankind!” – Salvador Litvak, The Accidental Talmudist, and a 24×24 speaker.