Dr. Ron Wolfson is Gaynor Lecture Keynote

Dr. Ron Wolfson will be the keynote speaker at this year's Gaynor Lecture on Monday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the JCC. The Fingerhut Professor of Education at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and co-founder of Synagogue 3000, he is author of Hanukkah, Passover, and Shabbat, all family guides to spiritual celebrations; The Spirituality of Welcoming: How to Transform Your Congregation into a Sacred Community; A Time to Mourn, a Time to Comfort: A Guide to Jewish Bereavement and Comfort; and, with Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, What You Will See Inside a Synagogue.

Following the lecture, he will be available to sign copies of his books, multiple titles of which also will be on sale in the lobby. A dessert reception also will be held.

According to event coordinator Melanie Butter, Dr. Wolfson's current book, G-d's To Do List, is written for middle school students and up. "The book and the lecture will appeal to families, youth preparing for Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, young adults...really community members of all ages," she said.

He currently serves as President of Synagogue 3000, a catalyst for excellence, empowering congregations and communities to create synagogues that are sacred and vital centers of Jewish life. Dr. Wolfson also has served as Dean of the Fingerhut School of Education, Vice President and Founding Director of the Whizin Center for the Jewish Future and the Whizin Institute for Jewish Family Life. The book, First Fruit: A Whizin Anthology of Jewish Family Education, which he co-edited with Adrianne Bank, won the 1999 Jewish Book Award.

The Gaynor Lecture is an annual community Jewish educational program held at the JCC, and is made possible through the Rabbi Nathan and Sylvia Gaynor Memorial Fund, established by their children, Jeremy and Moses Gaynor, Rachel Temple and Rena Vesler. "Our mother, Sylvia Gaynor, started the Gaynor Lecture in memory of her late husband, our father, Rabbi Nathan Gaynor, who passed away in 1972," said Moses Gaynor. "He had been the Hillel Director at Ohio State and held several other Hillel and rabbinic posts prior to our moving to Columbus. After our mother passed away in 1992, we four Gaynor children, Rachel Temple, Rena Vesler, Jeremy Gaynor, and myself, expanded the fund that supports the lecture, and we have hosted many well-attended and stimulating programs. We have deliberately chosen speakers to address a wide range of topics and we encourage dialogue across all denominations and sub-groups, and it is for this reason, I think, that my mother established the Gaynor Lecture at the Jewish Community Center."

"Over the years our list of speakers has included rabbis, other scholars, journalists, story tellers, and teachers, among others, who have spoken on a wide variety of topics - from the Righteous Gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews during the Nazi era to the Halachic Organ Donor Society, from Israel and the Middle East to the Catholic-Jewish interfaith dialogue," he said.

"This is in part a reflection of our parents' avid interest in all things Jewish. Although my father had a very religious upbringing, he used to say that he felt equally comfortable in all synagogues - although he once told me that the most moving service he ever attended was a Quaker service, during which no one said anything! Something to think about. So we strive for programs that are inclusive with the sole caveat that we deliver a positive Jewish message," he said.

The event is free and open to the public; however, reservations are required. To make a reservation, contact Butter at mbutter@columbusjcc.org.