Minyan Midbar Kiddush Brunch & Learn Sessions Including a Session on the History of Persian Jewry

The inaugural gathering of Minyan Midbar occurs on April 25th. One of Minyan Minbar's distinctive features is the Kiddush Brunch & Learn, AKA Torah in the Middle. The Shabbat morning service pauses before the Torah reading for time chant Kiddush and to learn with outstanding teachers and while enjoying light brunch. This unique approach intergrates Jewish learning within a beautiful experience of prayer and also allows people to attend the segments that are most interesting to them.

Minyan Midbar Segment Schedule

• Shacharit –Shabbat morning service: 9:30–10:15 AM
• Kiddush Brunch and Learn: 10:15-11:00 AM
• Torah Service/Reading and Mourner’s Kaddish: 11:00-12:00 PM
• Desserts and Connecting: 12:00-12:30

Below is a summary of the Kiddush Brunch and Learn Sessions and their Teachers. You can choose to go to either session.

Option 1

A Glimpse into the History of Iranian Jews in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Fellowship Hall, UU Santa Fe

On the eve of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Iran was home to approximately 100,000 Jews. Over the course of less than four decades, this community experienced remarkable social mobility—rising from the margins of society in the early 1940s to the middle and upper‑middle classes. This process included increasing social and political integration, which shaped diverse Jewish responses to the revolutionary movement.

This Kiddush Brunch & Learn session will explore the historical developments among Iranian Jews leading up to the revolution, as well as their experiences under the Islamic Republic of Iran. Lior Sternfeld

Teacher: Dr. Lior Sternfeld is Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Penn State University. A social historian of Iran and the modern Middle East, his work focuses on Jewish communities in the region. He is the author of Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth‑Century Iran (Stanford University Press, 2018) and co‑author of Jews of Iran: A Photographic Chronicle (Penn State University Press, 2022). His most recent book, Iran: Life Itself (Ivrit Publishing, 2025), is the first general history of Iran published in Hebrew in over three decades.

Dr. Sternfeld will present to us remotely and will be moderated by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg

Torah in the Middle: Option 2

"Fast (pun intended) Forward to September 21:

A Discussion About Yom Kippur Then and Now"

Library, UU Santa Fe

My Kiddush Brunch and Learn will focus on this week's Torah portion, Aharei-Mot/Kedoshim. We will focus on chapter 16 of Leviticus which includes an extended description of the Yom Kippur ritual as exercised by Aaron, the High Priest, and the Israelites. In this description of the ancient Yom Kippur rite, a lot of sacrifices are performed. What relevance does this ritual have for us today? What verses provide rabbinic support for current practice of the modern Day of Atonement? Join me as we munch on nosh and reflect on the purpose of fasting.

Rabbi Jack, aka “the physics rabbi,” was ordained by Rabbi Gershon Winkler in 1995. With a Ph.D. in physics, Rabbi Jack spent much of his career at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In addition to teaching and leading services regularly both at the Los Alamos Jewish Center and at HaMakom, Jack has provided itinerant rabbinic support to far-flung Jewish communities, including those in Vienna, Beijing, Warsaw, Bangkok, and Guatemala City.