Torah from New Mexico: Tikun Leil Shavuot

5784/2024 Community Lail Tikun Shavuot and Festival Services

Tuesday, June 11, 2024, 10pm to Wednesday, June 12th, 5:30AM or 

HaMakom Shavuot Morning Services on Wednesday, June 12th at 10am

We mark the festival of Shavuot with the commemoration of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. The tradition of the Tikun consists of an all night program of Torah study, In our case we share with you 4 local teachers: Rabbi Dov Gartenberg, Rabbi Jack Shlachter, Professor Michael Nutkiewicz, and Sarah Arrowsmith. The topics are rich and varied and will feature some of the best Torah in New Mexico.  

Feel free to come to parts of the evening or stay for the whole thing, whether you attend in person or view online. This Tikun is free and open to the community.  

You are welcome to participate in person by coming to the physical Tikun in Santa Fe hosted by Len Goodman and Deborah Avren of Santa Fe. We will send their address to all registrants on Monday.  You are welcome to bring dairy nosh to the Tikun including Cheesecake, Ice Cream, Blintzes, and Bages to share with fellow participants.  In-Person Location: The Home of Deborah Avren and Len Goodman in Santa Fe

If you would like to participate virtually, please register for the Zoom link below. 

Register for Zoom Access to the Shavuot Tikun on June 11th. 

To Attend in person, register on this site.  

Register below to participate online.  

Sponsored by HaMakom Santa Fe, Shabbat with Friends New Mexico.

10 pm Michael Nutkiewicz:

War and Peace in Rabbinic Literature. Under what conditions is a Jewish state allowed to wage war? Can war be preemptive? Is a siege permitted? How should civilians be treated? What about hostages? Should there be peace at costs? Learn what the classical Jewish sources tell us about these difficult topics.

11pm Rabbi Dov Gartenberg

Has Israel Displaced God?  Understanding the Controversial Role of Israel in this Moment of Jewish History. Based on the book, To Be a Jew Today, by Noah Feldman.

12pm Rabbi Jack Shlachter

Role playing the medieval commentators: An introduction and mini-play featuring five Torah masters

1am Sarah Arrowsmith

Who Receives the Torah: Women and Torah Across Time. Come learn about women from the Torah to today who have helped shape (and are continuing to shape) Judaism in new and radical ways within the traditional framework.

2am. Rabbi Jack Shlachter

The Ten Commandments and Their Structure - It's not necessarily what you saw in the movie!

3am. Rabbi Dov Gartenberg

Sources on the Giving of the Torah from Shai Agnon’s (Nobel Prize in Literature) Present at Sinai: Commentaries from the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, and Zohar

4:15-5:30am  Dawn Festival Service led by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg or

10am HaMakom Shavuot Morning Service at HaMakom. .

Leil Tikun Teacher Bios

Sarah Arrowsmith is a Jew on the fringes of Orthodoxy. She is passionate about balancing halacha (Jewish law) with feminism and queer theory to ensure that anybody who wishes has access to the nuances of Jewish tradition to whatever extent is most comfortable to them.

Rabbi Dov Gartenberg is the Convener of Shabbat with Friends NM. He received rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He has served as a pulpit rabbi, an executive director of nonprofit organizations, and as a Jewish communal innovator.

Michael Nutkiewicz' earned his BA and MA in Philosophy, and his Ph.D. in History. He taught Jewish history and thought at the University of Missouri and the University of New Mexico. In addition to his university teaching, he has held leadership positions in organizations dedicated to social services for victims of political violence and refugees.

Rabbi Jack Shlachter is the rabbi for two small congregations in northern New Mexico, viz., the Los Alamos Jewish Center (which is celebrating its 70th anniversary) and HaMakom, a Santa Fe-based group which blends renewal and tradition. He is also a physicist who worked for much of his career at Los Alamos National Laboratory.