Baltimore’s Reform congregations are teaming up to entertain a special guest the weekend of March 15.
Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation and Bolton Street Synagogue will be hosting Shaul Kelner, associate professor of Jewish studies and sociology at Vanderbilt University and author of nonfiction texts such as “A Cold War Exodus” and “Tours That Bind: Diaspora, Pilgrimage and Israeli Birthright Tourism.”
Kelner’s work focuses on the sociology of the American Jewish community, though he also dabbles in the history of the Soviet Jewry movement. One of the planned events for this weekend will focus on Soviet Jewry and how it compares to the challenges Jewish people face in a post-Oct. 7 world.
In addition to his work at Vanderbilt University, Kelner is a fellow of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute for Advanced Studies and the University of Michigan’s Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies, a visiting scholar in Tel Aviv University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and a winner of the Association for Jewish Studies’ 2010 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award in social science for “Tours That Bind.”
Kelner will be speaking at two events: a special Shabbat service and oneg at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation on Friday, March 15, and a Shabbat Lunch and Learn at Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation on Saturday, March 16. Bolton Street synagogue will not be hosting an event, but is an equal sponsor of the weekend.
