Can Judaism Be Saved? The Jewish Thought of Rabbi Avraham (Arthur) Yitzchak Green

Friday, July 25, 2025

Dear Readers and Friends of Shabbat with Friends,

Since I emerged from mourning my mother’s passing, I have been very busy reengaging Shabbat with Friends and planning for a robust fall schedule of activity. The big news for us and for the community is that Shabbat with Friends is bringing Rabbi Arthur Green to New Mexico as a Community Scholar-in-Residence from Wednesday, October 22-Sunday, October 26^th  2025.  

Not only will he be joining our Shabbat retreat in Truchas on Friday-Sunday, October 24-26^th, but he will also give community lectures in Santa Fe and Albuquerque before and after the retreat. Art has been my mentor since my college days and has deeply influenced my rabbinate.  I have the great fortune of currently studying his Torah with him as part of a cohort of rabbis from around the world. 

It is a great, great honor for me to bring him to New Mexico to teach his powerful and unique reinterpretation of Judaism. Art Green is one of the preeminent Jewish scholars and educators of this generation. He is Abraham Joshua’s top student and disciple. He is a renowned scholar of East European Hasidism and Jewish mysticism. He has greatly influenced the Renewal, Reconstructionist, Reform, and Conservative Movements with his views of the role of mysticism in Jewish life and his conception of rabbinic leadership.  He is a brilliant critic and builder of American Jewish life, teaching a Judaism of depth, complexity, and illumination for thousands of his students.  He is the founder of the Hebrew College Rabbinical School in Boston, MA which is highly respected for the quality of its rabbis and educators who study there.  

Shabbat with Friends will be inviting communities in New Mexico to participate in Rabbi Green’s teaching. The whole community is invited to learn from this gifted teacher and creative thinker. The details of his scholar-in-residence will be announced over the next few days in this blog and on the Shabbat with Friends website. We are looking for partners and supporters in the community to support bring this caliber of Jewish teacher to the Southwest.  

To prepare for Rabbi Green’s visit, my colleague, Rabbi Judith Halevy and I are offering a mini course on his thought leading up to the High Holidays. The course will be announced on Sunday, July 26^th.  

 The course will focus on excerpts from his work, Judaism for the World: Reflections on God, Life, and Love, the winner of the National Jewish Book Award in 2020. We will also sample his translations and interpretations of early Hasidic texts which is the foundation of his original theology.  The course will meet 5 Tuesday evenings from 7-8:30pm from August 19^th to September 16^th. Everyone who enrolls in the course will be invited to a special study session and reception with Art as part of his visit to New Mexico. This mini-course is free for those who register to attend the Shabbaton in Truchas, NM on October 24-26^th.  See the link to the retreat HERE. The course will be available online and in-person with the physical location to be announced imminently.   

Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg