Last week, we welcomed three esteemed Rabbis; Rabbi Ninio (Progressive Judaism), Rabbi Elton (Orthodox Judaism) and Rabbi Cohen (Conservative Judaism) to participate in a Q&A Panel for the Shavuot session of our Year 11 Speaker Series.

We selected 10 or so of the most pressing issues from over 40 deep and challenging questions sent by our students asking, “Rabbi, I was wondering…?” that were then posed to the Rabbis via our moderator, Rabbi Danny Siegel. Following the set questions – for which the Rabbis kept their responses admirably close to the two-minute time limit – students were able to voice additional questions, which continued to show their contemplation and care about Judaism and living Jewishly in today’s world.

In their online Reshet Discussion Forum following the event, students were asked to share their thoughts on the panel as a whole, before delving more deeply into one of the topics discussed.

Here are some of the students’ overviews:

The panel was interesting as the many opinions about important topics were discussed in a way that each Rabbi could put forward their own unique perspective. The responses given opened my eyes to the different sects of Judaism and how to accept people’s differing views and opinions. Luca Calderon-Havas

As a whole, I enjoyed the panel as each perspective gave me something different to think about, a different idea to consider. It made me question my own beliefs on the different questions asked and encouraged me to think in different ways. For example, hearing Rabbi Elton’s perspective and thinking I agreed with some parts and then thought something different after hearing Rabbi Ninio’s perspective. Furthermore, it also made me realise how different people can interpret and believe different things yet still be a part of Judaism. Talia Kleviansky

I thought that the panel session was extremely engaging as it was so interesting to hear both the conflicting and the shared opinions from the Rabbis of different denominations and beliefs. Further comparing and contrasting the three Rabbis’ opinions with my own was insightful in helping me gain a deeper and clearer understanding of my own beliefs. Justin Faul

Overall, I really enjoyed the panel session. It was fascinating to hear from different perspectives and denominations and the different ways that the Rabbis perceive certain pressing issues at the forefront of our modern society. I particularly liked when the Rabbis drew points from each other and bounced ideas between one another. Isabella Filipczyk

It was extremely interesting to hear each of the different perspectives from Rabbis of completely different denominations of Judaism on a range of questions. It was particularly interesting when I thought the Rabbis would disagree with each other in response to a question, but didn’t, and when they gave answers that I did not expect. Jayda Sacks