Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, an internationally acclaimed Bible scholar and a pioneer in Jewish education, will be speaking at Congregation Agudath Sholom on Sunday night, December 4 at 8:30 p.m. His topic will be “Stories in Sefer Bereishit That Explain How and Why We Pray.”

Rabbi Leibtag is a crowd favorite in Stamford, and this is the first time he is teaching in the Stamford community since the COVID outbreak. He is well known for his essays on the weekly Torah portion, and his ability to teach his students how to study biblical passages rather than just read them. He lives in Israel and teaches at Yeshivat Har Etzion, Matan, Yeshivat Sha’alvim and Midreshet Lindenbaum.

In addition, Rabbi Chaim Jachter, an instructor at the Torah Academy of Bergen County and the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Orah in Teaneck, will be the scholar in residence at Congregation Agudath Sholom on Shabbat, December 9-10.

Rabbi Jachter will be speaking four times:

On Friday night, at a dinner sponsored by the shul, his topic will be “The Spilled Slurpee: Raising a Generation of Mensches and Menschettes.” Later that evening, at an oneg Shabbat, Rabbi Jachter will be speaking about “An Ashkenazic Rabbi at a Sephardic Synagogue? An Ongoing Journey.”

He will deliver a sermon in the sanctuary on Shabbat morning, “The Role of a Beit Din: A Case of Business Ethics and More.” At seudah shlishit, he will discuss “The Most Exciting Stories From Supervising Eruvin Across North America for 30 Years.”

Rabbi Jachter is a dayan for the beit din in Elizabeth. He advises more than 60 communities on their eruvin, and has written nine books, including his latest book on the laws of eruv.

Both programs are free and open to the entire community.