On Sunday January 22, 2023, beginning at 10 a.m., we will have the second in our series of Sunday Speakers. (Bagels and Coffee served at 9:30 a.m.) This will be an in-person event in the Temple Emanu-El “Temple House” (1010 University Avenue; San Jose). Please join us for a fascinating presentation by Rabbi Shelly Lewis when he talks about his service as a chaplain in Vietnam, during that war, and his subsequent reconciliation work inspired by his experience. And of course, assorted bagels, cream cheeses and coffee will be served at 9:30 a.m. preceding Rabbi Lewis’ presentation.  

PLEASE REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT. The event is open to both members and non-members.

A prolific author and scholar, until retirement, Rabbi Lewis was the long-serving Senior Rabbi at Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto. We are honored to have him join us for this event. “Rabbi Lewis was deployed to Vietnam as an Army chaplain from 1970 to 1971 to be present with Jewish personnel in the Central Highlands. Serving men and women drafted into a morally fraught war with increasing protest back home, he tried to bring a listening ear and the comfort of Jewish tradition to lonely and conflicted people. Fifty years later, from letters sent home, he retells and relives the dram an agony of serving in that era.” -excerpted from Letters Home: A Chaplain’s Vietnam Memoir. Rabbi Lewis will be happy to sign a copy of his book, Letter’s Home: A Chaplains Vietnam Memoir, for attendees. If interested, you can either purchase a copy beforehand from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or any bookseller, or Rabbi Lewis will also bring with him some copies for sale and inscription. Rabbi Lewis is also the author of a book titled Torah of Reconciliation, a book that is the result of Rabbi Lewis’ personal, passionate search for wisdom on peacemaking recorded in Jewish tradition.

Schedule: Sunday January 22, 2023, in the “Temple House” at Temple Emanu-El (1010 University Avenue; San Jose)
9:30 a.m. - 10a.m.  Bagels and Coffee
10 a.m. - 11a.m.     Presentation by Rabbi Lewis
11 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.  Question and Answer Session
11:15 a.m.   Book Signing