In addition to participating in the UJR-AmLat Regional Conference 2026 as Scholar-in-Residence, Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx visited Reform communities in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, as well as other Jewish institutions, during her time in Brazil.
Rabbi Marx, a professor at Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem) and the Abraham Geiger Kolleg (Berlin), offered a diverse program of learning and community gatherings. Her activities included lectures on the evolution of Jewish liturgy, classes on the Jewish calendar and the period of teshuvah as we approach the Yamim Noraim, a moving sermon on the Haftarah of Parashat Ki Tetsê, and chavruta study of the Ben Sorer u’Morê midrash, which appears in the parashah.
In addition to sharing her Torah with our congregants, Rabbi Dalia Marx had the opportunity to reconnect and engage with colleagues, some of whom had previously been her students, including Rabbis Uri Lam (Temple Beth El) and David Leo Eisencraft (Kehilat Neshamá). Conversations were also held with Rabbis Sergio Margulies (ARI), Kelita Cohen (Academia Judaica and UJR-AmLat), and Roberto Graetz (CIP).
Author of the new Israeli siddur Tefilat haAdam and several other works, Marx also presented her book BaZman, dedicated to the Jewish calendar, during her visit to Brazil. The book already has a Spanish edition published in Buenos Aires, and a Portuguese edition is being prepared by UJR-AmLat.
Program
August 17 – “How Does Jewish Liturgy (Trans)form Without Losing the Thread?” — CIP and Academia Judaica.
Recording available on the Academia Judaica platform.
August 18 – Visit to Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein and an Introduction to Judaism class with Kehilat Neshamá.
August 19 – “How Does Jewish Liturgy (Trans)form Without Losing the Thread?” — ARI.
August 20 – Parashah study with the Thursday minyan at ARI and the study session “The Time in Which We Live: Jewish Cycles and the Meaning of Elul”, with the Tamar Rio Beit Midrash.
August 21 – Recording of JCast with Academia Judaica and a sermon during CIP’s Kabbalat Shabbat.
August 22 – Lunch & Learn at CIP and “After All, Who Invented Yom Kippur?”, with Kehilat Neshamá.
August 23 – Visit to the Jewish Museum of São Paulo and Hebraica, followed by the lecture “The Cycle of Forgiveness”, with Temple Beth El.
Rabbi Dalia Marx’s visit to Brazil provided an opportunity to expand spaces for learning, exchange, and connection among communities, strengthening ties between different Reform and Progressive Jewish institutions and bringing new perspectives to Jewish life in our region.
