Weekly Brief

Friday Plag Mincha Minyan
In response to recent demand, we have initiated a third Friday night (plag) mincha minyan this week.  The minyan will convene in the beit midrash and will hopefully run throughout the summer months. This week’s plag mincha minyan will begin promptly at 6:05pm.  Please join us if this fits into your schedule. In order to ensure participation in the initial weeks while the minyan gains traction, please confirm your expected attendance to gabbai@rinat.org . Candle lighting not before 6:22pm this week.

Rambam and Moreh Nevuchim: Innovation and Controversy - Shiurim l'zecher Rav Ozer Glickman, z"l
* Commemoration of Rav Glickman: Shabbat, April 28, 6:00pm
Rabbi Yosef Adler, Mara d’Atra Congregation Rinat Yisrael and Rosh Yeshiva, Torah Academy of Bergen County, will provide introductory remarks.
* Rambam, Maimonides or Both? The Perennial Controversy About Interpreting the Man: Shabbat, April 28, 6:00pm - Dr. David Shatz, Ronald P. Stanton University Professor of Philosophy, Ethics, and Religious Thought at Yeshiva University, editor of The Torah u-Madda Journal, and editor of the series MeOtzar HoRav.
* What is Perplexing About the Guide of the Perplexed? Continued (Shabbat, April 28) post-7:00 pm mincha - Dr. David Shatz.
* Providence, Evil and Human Suffering: Sunday, May 6, 8:00pm - Dr. Moshe Sokol, Dean, Lander College for Men, Professor of Philosophy and faculty member of the Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Rabbi of the Yavneh Minyan of Flatbush.

On Sunday, April 29, 8:00pm: we present  Lev Israel, Chief Data Officer, Sefaria, speaking on: "Old Wine in New Vessels - Torah, Sefaria, and New Media".  Mr. Israel is in charge of Sefaria's data pipeline - seeding the system with Torah texts most useful for students, teachers, and technologists.  Sponsored by Linda and Leib Koyfman in memory of Leib's brother Moshe Yaakov ben Aaron, z"l.

Sefaria is a non-profit organization creating a massive, interconnected, living library of Jewish texts, with a beautiful interface and parallel translations, all for free.  Lev Israel will describe the ongoing project to digitize the whole of Torah literature, make it available to teachers, students and the general public.   He will also describe the current technological moment in the light of history and Jewish sources - looking at the many technological changes Torah has weathered, from the writing down of the Oral Torah and onwards through time.  What kind of change results from the move of Torah on line? Which kinds of interactions does it encourage, and which does it make more difficult?

Nerot's Mahjong Night: Sunday May 6, 7:30-9:30pm
Players of all levels are welcome. $10 couvert. Register at www.rinat.org/mahjong Deadline for registration is May 1.

RINAT NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The Board of Trustees recently approved the 2018 Nominating Committee comprised of David Schiff, Bina Faber and Josh Zelig. The Committee is charged with preparing the 2018-2019 slate of candidates for the Board (maximum of 20 individuals) to be elected by the membership. If you are interested in serving on the Board, please inform one of the committee members. Ten percent (10%) of the membership may petition the Nominating Committee prior to May 6, 2018 to include a candidate on the slate. Elections and the annual membership meeting will be held in June. For further information, please contact any of the members of the Nominating Committee: David Schiff, dschiffx2@hotmail.com, Bina Faber, binafaber@yahoo.com   or Josh Zelig, joshuazelig@yahoo.com   .