מָה־אָהַבְתִּי תוֹרָתֶךָ
How I love your Torah (Ps. 119:97)
For four decades, Rabbi Roly Matalon has helped nurture a deep and expansive love of Torah at BJ—affirming learning as a spiritual practice that shapes how we live, pray, and show up in the world.
In celebration of Roly’s 40 years of service, we are excited to present a seven-week learning series featuring beloved teachers, colleagues, and friends who have walked alongside him on the path of Torah. Together, they offer teachings that reflect the depth, curiosity, and spiritual seriousness that have animated Roly’s rabbinate and shaped Torah learning at BJ.
This week, we will welcome Rabbis Joy Levitt and Michael Strassfeld.
Rabbi Joy Levitt is the CEO of the Jerusalem Foundation, Inc. In December, 2021, she stepped down as the CEO of the JCC after twenty-five years, helping to build into one of the most prominent centers for Jewish life and community in the United States. Prior to coming to the JCC, Rabbi Levitt served Congregation B’nei Keshet in Montclair, NJ, and the Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore in Plandome, New York. She was the editor of the Reconstructionist Magazine and is the co-author of A Night of Questions: A Passover Haggadah. Ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, she received a masters from New York University and a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College. She serves on the boards of the Trinity School, the Shefa School, Dayenu: A Jewish call to Climate Action, Israel Story, and the Jewish Book Council. She is married to Rabbi Michael Strassfeld, and together, they have five children and four grandchildren.
Michael Strassfeld is the author/editor of ten books, from The Jewish Catalog (1973) to Judaism Disrupted (2023). Together with his wife Rabbi Joy Levitt, they edited A Night of Questions: A Passover Haggadah. He is the rabbi emeritus of the SAJ (Society for the Advancement of Judaism).
Across the series, distinguished teachers and friends of Roly – including Rabbi Marcelo Bronstein, Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, Rabbi Irwin Kula, Rabbi Michael Paley, Dr. Nathaniel Berman, and Rabbi Arthur Green – offer Torah in celebration of Roly’s 40 years of service and the vibrant culture of learning he has helped cultivate at BJ.
The series culminates on Tikkun Leil Shavuot, when our community gathers for a night of learning dedicated to Roly’s 40 years of service, featuring Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, followed by learning with the BJ rabbis and rabbinic fellows.
