Nosh & Drash

Naomi Gurt Lind

Beginning June 2023, Naomi will step in to assist Rabbi Michael during our Shabbat services throughout the summer while Cantor Sarah is on her maternity leave.

We welcome Naomi Gurt Lind as this year’s Rabbinic intern. Naomi will lead Traditional Shacharit Minyan on Shabbat mornings at 9 am and then Nosh & Drash on the Saturdays listed below. Naomi Gurt Lind (she/her) is in her third year of Rabbinical School at Hebrew College, where she is an Innovation Lab grant recipient, editor (and occasional writer) for the 70 Faces of Torah blog, and a member of the inaugural cohort of Mayyim Rabbim Fellows at Mayyim Hayyim Community Mikveh. Naomi has completed study programs with Hadar, Drisha, and Aleph Jewish Renewal and has previously served as Rabbinic Intern at Temple Israel of Boston and Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, MA and as Student Rabbi at Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor, MI (her hometown). This year she is serving as the Student Rabbi of Congregation Betenu in Amherst, NH.

In addition to her congregational work, Naomi is a sought-after educator, with successful courses to her credit through Open Circle Jewish Learning (Hebrew College), Temple Israel of Boston, Brookline Community Tikkun Leyl Shavuot, and Temple Shalom of Newton, among others. She cultivates a lively classroom with plenty of space for questioning, discovery, and connection.

In her free time, she reads, writes divrei Torah on her blog Jewish Themes, solves crossword puzzles (in pencil!), and bakes a legendary challah. Naomi lives with her husband, Bill, and their two sons, Akiva and Gideon, in the Boston area.

Janis Knight

Janis Knight will present a special series of sessions for the Nosh & Drash based on the Mahloket Matters curriculum. “A mahloket is a dispute and they can be ‘for the sake of heaven’ or not, and figuring out which they are can be difficult to determine,” Knight said. She was trained in this curricular material during this past summer in Jerusalem, and she is very excited to share it with the congregation in more than one way. (Watch for a teen series coming up!)

It is not necessary to attend every session. Find out  how relevant ancient text can be right now!

Janis will lead Nosh & Drash on the following dates:

  • Session 1 – November 12, 2022
  • Session 2 – November 26, 2022
  • Session 3 – January 14, 2023
  • Session 4 – February 18, 2023
  • Session 5 – February 28, 2023
  • Session 6 – April 15, 2023
  • Session 7 – May 27, 2023

Nosh & Drash is available in-person and online via the Shabbat in the Chapel link

Janis Knight has been our Director of the Center for Jewish Education (CJE) since 2016.  She has a BA degree in Judaic Studies and an MA in Communal Service from Brandeis University.  Her approach to teaching Torah is designed to make text as accessible and relevant to the student’s life as possible.  With humor and insight, she brings you into conversation with an ancient text and with one another.

Natan Margalit

Natan Margalit, rabbi, scholar and author joined us for 3 sessions of his Nosh & Drash series The Torah of Nature and the Nature of Torah. Recordings of second and third session will be available shortly. Copies of Natan’s book The Pearl and the Flame: A Journey into Jewish Wisdom and Ecological Thinking are available for purchase at CSH ($18 paperback/$36 hard copy)

We explored the nature of Torah – its very core is organic and alive: much like an eco-system. So, the true nature of Torah is really the Torah of nature. Based on Rabbi Margalit’s new book The Pearl and the Flame: A Journey into Jewish Wisdom and Ecological Thinking this text study and discussion offered pathways toward healing our most critical issues of climate change, addiction and social and political fragmentation.