Adult Study and Learning
Dear Learners,
It is taught that “the study of Torah equals in value all the other commandments” (Peah 1:1). Maimonides teaches that one is “required to study Torah, whether poor or rich…young or old…” and that one “must set aside definite times to study by day and by night…”
Here at Town and Village we are dedicated to providing a variety of learning opportunities, at all levels of knowledge and at many times of day. We hope that you will find something here that you wish to study with us. If there is something you would like to see us offer in the future, please let us know.
Town & Village Synagogue is dedicated to making adult Jewish learning available to all of its members. If you are interested in a class we offer and the cost is a concern, we invite you to contact Nina Lehman or Rabbi Sebert privately to make arrangements that are affordable for you. We look forward to your participation.
The coming year promises to be very exciting as we continue some programs and begin some new ones.
Sincerely,
Milton Adesnik and Nina Lehman
Co-chairs, Adult Education Committee
1. Town & Village Synagogue Adult Choir and Junior Singers
2. Introduction to Judaism/Conversion to Judaism
3. High Holiday Trop Review Session
4. Interfaith Teaching on Healing
5. Learners Minyan
6. Greatest Hits of the High Holidays
7. Introduction to the New Machzor Lev Shalem
8. Brunch and Lit
9. Israel: A Passionate View from a Troubled Insider
10. Learn to Read Hebrew
11. Helping Children Develop a Jewish Identity
12. Making the Leap of Action
13. Emerging Scholar on Philosophical Commentary in Jewish Intellectual Tradition
14. The Jewish Art of (Short) Storytelling
15. How is Social Justice Jewish
16. How to Lead a Shivah Minyan
17. Canon/Curriculum Controversies Concerning the Talmud
18, Introduction to ASL and Deaf Culture
19. The Hebrew Republic: A Shabbaton
20. Passover Lessons for the Entire Year
21. Jews and “Others” in Rabbinic Literature
22. Greatest Hits of the Passover Seder
23. Haftarah Trop Classes
TOWN & VILLAGE SYNAGOGUE
ADULT EDUCATION CLASSES
5772
2011-2012
TOWN & VILLAGE SYNAGOGUE ADULT CHOIR AND JUNIOR SINGERS
LED BY CANTOR SHAYNA POSTMAN
Rehearsals
Rehearsals for our adult choir take place on Tuesday evenings (unless otherwise indicated below), at 7 PM in the Kleiman classroom on the second floor of the Synagogue building.
See below for the 2011-12 rehearsal and performance dates.
If you love to sing beautiful Jewish music, please join the Town and Village Synagogue Choir!
If you are have a child in 2nd grade or older, please invite them to our Junior Singers!
In expressing Jewish identity through beautiful music, participants in our choirs help strengthen our community’s connections to each other.
Made up of volunteers, each year our choirs look forward to welcoming new members.
Singing together a great way to stay connected to the community in a way that is both fun for participants and functional to our Synagogue. Choir members form strong bonds to one another and their participation enhances the quality of our services on the High Holidays, at our annual Cantor Louis Moss Memorial Concert, on Shabbat Shirah, and throughout the year at such events as T&V’s Musical Purim Spiel, and the Downtown Kehillah’s Holocaust commemoration.
While singing in the choir is a lot of fun, since our repertoire includes a range of music from more simple to more elaborate pieces, members of the choir take rehearsal attendance seriously. They are expected to really learn the music (with the help of the cantor and other choir members), to come prepared to work hard at rehearsals (with a little bit of time to shmooze), to arrive on time and with a smile.
Veteran choir members are invited to sing with us on Shabbat Shirah, and are asked to attend the two rehearsals prior to Shabbat Shirah. They are also welcome to sing with us during services when choir members sing informally with the cantor.
Since are always looking for new choir members with whom to share this experience, please invite any talented Sopranos, Altos, Tenors or Basses to join us. August is the best time of year to join the choir. Please note that only synagogue members (or paying guests) can sing in the High Holiday services.
For more information about the Town and Village Synagogue Adult choir or Junior Singers, please contact Cantor Shayna Postman at cantor@tandv.org or call her at 212-677-8090 ext 25.
Town and Village Synagogue Adult Choir Season 2011-12
Dates for Rehearsals, Performances, High Holiday Service Participation & Shabbat Shirah
August rehearsals 16, 23, 30
September rehearsals 6, 13, 20, 27
September 24 Selichot Services – Saturday night
September 29 and 30 Rosh Hashanah – Thursday and Friday
October rehearsals 4, 11, 18, 25
October 7 and 8 Yom Kippur-Friday evening and Saturday
November rehearsals 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
December rehearsals 6, 13, 14, 15
December 17 Cantor Moss Memorial Concert – Saturday Night
January rehearsals 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
January 6 2nd Annual Choir Dinner – Following Friday Evening Services
February 3&4 Shabbat Shirah – Friday evening and Saturday morning
Purim Spiel rehearsal dates (Afternoon rehearsal time TBA)
January 23, 29
February 5, 12
March 4, 6
March 7 Purim Spiel – Thursday evening
Special Rehearsal for Yom HaShoah Program
April 17
April 19 Downtown Kehillah Yom HaShoah Program – Time and Location TBA
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INTRODUCTION/CONVERSION TO JUDAISM
TAUGHT BY RABBI STEPHEN C. LERNER, Director of The Center for Conversion to Judaism
Monday evenings
Through individualized and small group programs, in 35 sessions over a one-year period, students are introduced to the basic beliefs and values of Judaism, Jewish practices in home and synagogue, the rites of the life and year cycles, Jewish history and enough Hebrew to be able to read a prayer book with other congregants. In this personalized setting, students are encouraged to raise questions. and discuss doubts and concerns as they explore, in a warm and open atmosphere, Judaism’s possible meaning for their lives.
TO ENROLL PLEASE CONTACT RABBI LERNER DIRECTLY -212-877-8640 OR 201-837-7552 OR ravsteve@earthlink.net
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HIGH HOLIDAY TROP REVIEW SESSION
TAUGHT BY CANTOR SHAYNA POSTMAN
Thursday, September 1
7 PM
This is a review for those who already know High Holiday Torah Trop (more or less).
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INTERFAITH TEACHING ON HEALING
1 PM
Saturday September, 10, 2011
Topic: How each of our traditions approach loss and tragedy.
Our different rituals of death and dying. Helping us back to life.
Panel Participants:
- Rabbi Laurence Sebert, Town and Village Synagogue (Host)
- Father Arthur Wendel, Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church
- Father Michael Suvak, Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection
- Imam Abu Sufian, Madina Masjid Mosque
- Chris Fici, Hindu monk,Bhakti Center
- Jane Sammon, Mary House (Dorothy Dayʼs Catholic Worker)
- Reverend Winnie Varghese,St. Markʼs in the Bowery
- Father David Kossey,St. Maryʼs American Orthodox Church
- A few other possible faith leaders to be announced.
- Anthony Donovan,Moderator, Local Faith Communities
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LEARNERS MINYAN
LED BY GADI CAPELA, T & V’S RABBINIC INTERN
All Welcome!! No background, Hebrew, or prior knowledge necessary.
Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the Siddur (prayer book)?
Do you want to feel more comfortable at services?
Join us, on Shabbat, from 10:00 am to Noon
Learners Minyan will meet twice a month (usually) and in just a few months, you will feel like a Shabbat morning regular.
We will meet on the following Shabbat mornings:
September 17 and 24
October 29
November 12
December 3 and 17
January 21
February 4 and 25
March 10 and 24
April 14 and 28
May 12 and 26
Topics will include: Introduction to Prayer, the Shema and the Amidah
In Learners Minyan, the concepts of prayer and ritual will be explored, the structure and flow of the Shabbat services will be broken down, you will learn the meaning and importance of some of the Hebrew words, and become familiar with the music and tunes. Learners Minyan will emphasize the spiritual impact of prayer for the individual and the community.
Gadi Capela is a fourth year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in Manhattan. He was born and raised in Israel and moved to New York in 1995 after completing a four-year army service in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) as a lieutenant in a search-and-rescue unit. In 2001 he graduated from Yeshiva University (YU), where he studied Business Management and Jewish Studies. He then worked as a business analyst in the banking and consulting industries for eight years. During that time Gadi also pursued a Master degree in Jewish Philosophy from YU. In 2008 Gadi decided to “take his passion and make it happen” and become a full time rabbinical student. During his studies at JTS Gadi served as a rabbinical assistant at Temple Beth Sholom in Sarasota, Florida, taught Judaism at Camp Ramah in the Poconos, was a fellow of CLAL’s Rabbis Without Borders (RWB), and volunteered as a chaplain at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. In the past year, Gadi spent the High Holidays as the spiritual leader at Adath Shalom Congregation in Ottawa, Canada, studied at the Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem in the fall semester, worked for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) in Chicago as the summer rabbinic intern for its Or Tzedek social justice teen program, and was a Tikvah Institute fellow in Washington, DC. Gadi is looking forward to sharing these themes and his experiences with the Learners Minyan in his teachings, sermons, and beyond.
To sign up, or for questions about enrollment, please email Nina at nina.lehman@gmail.com. For information about content please email Gadi at capelag@gmail.com.
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GREATEST HITS OF THE HIGH HOLIDAYS
TAUGHT BY CANTOR SHAYNA POSTMAN
Thursday, September 15
7 -9PM
We’ll be examining and singing some of our favorite melodies from the High Holidays with copies of the New Machzor Lev Shalem.
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INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW MACHZOR LEV SHALEM
TAUGHT BY RABBI LARRY SEBERT
3 Mondays, September 19, 26 and October 3
7-9PM
Whether this is your 1st High Holidays or your 91st, the new Machzor has lots to teach all of us.
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BRUNCH AND LIT
LED BY SAUL NOAM ZARITT
10 Wednesdays, 10:30AM – Noon
Fee: $150 for T & V members, $200 for non-members
1. Sept. 14, 2011 Enemies, A Love Story Isaac Bashevis Singer
2. CHANGE OF DATE! Oct. 5 The Way to the Cats Yehoshua Kenaz
3. Nov. 16 The Glatstein Chronicles Jacob Glatstein
4. CHANGE OF DATE! Dec. 21 In Dreams Begin Responsibilities Delmore Schwartz
5. Jan. 11, 2012 The End of Everything David Bergelson
6. Feb. 15 To the End of the Land David Grossman
7. March 14 Khirbet Khizeh S. Yizhar
8. April 18 Beware of Pity Stefan Zweig
9. May 16 The Free World David Bezmogis
10. June 13 Heatwave and Crazy Birds Gabriela Avigur-Rotem
Saul Noam Zaritt is a PhD student in Jewish Literature at The Jewish Theological Seminary, where he focuses on Hebrew and Yiddish fiction of the early 20th century. After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago, Saul received a Fulbright grant to study and translate Hebrew literature in Israel, in particular contemporary Israeli poetry. That same year, on a whim, Saul started studying Yiddish and soon began a Masters degree at Hebrew University in Jerusalem in both Hebrew and Yiddish literatures. While completing this degree Saul also worked at the Nesiya Institute, a non-profit leadership program for Israeli and American young people. Saul is the recipient of several fellowships and awards including a Fulbright grant, scholarships from Beit Sholem Aleichem and the Hebrew University, and a fellowship at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Saul hails from Worcester, MA.
TO ENROLL CALL THE OFFICE AT 212-677-8090
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION CALL NINA LEHMAN AT 212-242-8076
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ISRAEL: A PASSIONATE VIEW FROM A TROUBLED INSIDER
TAUGHT BY JULIAN RESNICK
9 Tuesday evenings, 7:30 – 9PM
October 18, 25, November 1, 8, 15, 29, December 6, 13, 19 and 20
Fee: $275 for T & V members, $325 for non-members
This nine-week course will look at the issues facing Israel and Israelis at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century. It will not attempt to be a dispassionate academic course, but rather a course taught by someone committed to the Zionist narrative, but pained by some of the implications for the Jewish People and for Judaism. The course will be enriched by written texts, film and poetry, and your participation in the discussions they generate.
Julian Resnick is the Central Shaliach to the Habonim Dror Youth Movement in North America. He was born in South Africa and made Aliya to Israel in 1976. Since 1987, the Resnick family- his wife Orly and their three children, Elad (25), Maya (22) and Daphne (19)- have been members of Kibbutz Tzora. Julian has a BA in Psychology and English Literature from the University of Cape Town. His professional career includes extensive experience as a guide in a several organizations such as JCCA, NFTY and Netzer Olami, where he also served as director. He has come on Shlichut twice before, first to the Progressive Zionist Caucus in the Bay area and San Francisco, and then as Shaliach to the British Reform Movement. He was a member of the senior team of Melitz and worked for 8 years as a Director of the Living Judaism Synagogue Transformation of the Movement for Reform Judaism in the UK. Prior to coming on Shlichut, he worked as an educational tour guide, focusing on Jewish groups from English speaking communities travelling in Europe, Morocco and Israel.
Syllabus available on request. Contact Nina Lehman 212-242-8076 or nvl@lehmans.org.
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LEARN TO READ HEBREW
TAUGHT BY CAROL GREEN
Sundays 10 – 11 AM
October 23, 30, November 6, 13, 20 and December 4
Cost: $36 for T & V members, $72 for non-members
Start from scratch or follow the Crash Course. Using the approach and book of the acclaimed National Jewish Outreach Program, attendees will learn to read Hebrew in six lessons. It’s completely phonetic and lots of fun.
TO ENROLL CALL THE OFFICE AT 212-677-8090
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION CALL CAROL GREEN AT 212-664-7726
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HELPING CHILDREN DEVELOP A JEWISH IDENTITY
CO-TAUGHT BY RABBI LARRY SEBERT AND SHANEE EPSTEIN
October 23, October 30 and November 6
3 Sunday mornings, 10 am-11 am
Fee: T & V members: Free, a contribution to the Rabbi’s Tzedakah Fund is strongly encouraged
Non-members: $36
Research has demonstrated that informal Jewish Educational experiences including rituals performed at home, summer camp and trips to Israel trips have a great impact on the development of Jewish identity. Are there important elements of spirituality that children crave and adults evade? Together we will examine research and explore options for children and parents of all ages. This is a unified series, please plan on attending all three sessions.
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MAKING THE LEAP OF ACTION
TAUGHT BY RABBI LARRY SEBERT
12 Monday evenings, 7-8:30 PM
10/24, 10/31, 11/7, 11/14, 11/21, 11/28, 12/5, 12/12, 1/16, 1/23, 1/30, 2/6
Fee: T & V members: Free, a contribution to the Rabbi’s Tzedakah Fund is strongly encouraged
Non-members: $250
The guiding question of this course is built on the debate of Rabbi Akiba and his peers at Lod: “What takes precedence, study or practice.” Rabbi Akiba holds that study takes precedence because it leads to practice. But, Rabbi Akiba’s premise does not always hold true. Each participant will be asked to try out a new mitzvah while engaging in study. We will take a deeper look at the thought of Heschel.
Familiarity with the Mitzvah Initiative is assumed, however this class is open to all. If you are not familiar with the Mitzvah Initiative learning, the Rabbi may ask you to do some pre-class preparation.
Questions? Call Rabbi Sebert at 212-677-8090, ext. 23.
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EMERGING SCHOLAR: IGOR DE SOUZA on Philosophical Commentary in Jewish Intellectual Tradition
A Sunday morning lecture, 10am
November 13, 2011
Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed (Cairo, ca. 1190) is a complex, carefully constructed, and difficult book in which theology and philosophy are intertwined. Upon its translation into Hebrew in 1204, a tradition of commentaries on the book developed in Italy, the South of France and Spain. Igor contrasts these commentaries to philosophical commentary of the Bible. The commentaries on the Guide are unique in that they were the first to be written in Hebrew on a source that was not canonical (neither Bible nor Talmud). According to current scholarship, commentaries are generally written on authoritative and canonical works such as the Bible, but rarely on works such as the Guide, which was initially controversial and divisive. Igor describes this tradition of commentaries as it took shape in the 13th and 14th centuries, investigating the ways in which it transmits Maimonides’ ideas and its significance in the history of Jewish thought. More broadly, he raises the question: what constitutes a commentary, and what does it mean to write philosophy in the form of a commentary?
Igor de Souza was born in Brazil moved to the US at age 18. He received a Bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he wrote a thesis on the uses of figurative language in medieval Jewish parshanut (Biblical exegesis). He then began a doctoral program at the University of Chicago in the Committee on Jewish Studies, which is still ongoing. During his Ph.D. program he taught medieval Jewish philosophy to undergraduates, studied in Haifa and in Jerusalem, and conducted research into Portuguese-Jewish literature (Portuguese is his native language). In 2011 he was appointed as Visiting Research Fellow at Brown University where he is completing his dissertation and applying for academic jobs and post-doctoral fellowships.
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HANUKKAH!:Before there was a Macbook, there was the Book of Mac[cabees]!
TAUGHT BY RABBI SHMUEL SANDBERG
Shabbat, December 10, 17 & 24, after Kiddush(about 1:30 PM)
THE JEWISH ART OF (SHORT) STORYTELLING: FROM THE CLASSIC TO THE CONTEMPORARY
TAUGHT BY LIATI MAYK-HAI
8 Tuesday mornings, 10:30 – 12 pm
January 17 – May 1
Fee: $175 for T & V members, $225 for non-members
What is the relationship between the storyteller, the story and life, tradition, language and text? For over a century the short story has functioned as a key genre for Jewish writers across the globe, a genre that Isaac Bashevis Singer believed “constitutes the utmost challenge for the creative writer.” This 8 session course will focus on the evolution of the Yiddish, Hebrew and English short story (in translation) considering its usage as a Modernist medium, a snapshot of the immigration experience, an expression of mainstream American belonging, a feminist device, a post-Modernist mode and as a contemporary means to reconnect to traditional Jewish storytelling. We will consider the stylistic and thematic diversity as well as the historical and political context of this treasury of stories as we polish our skills as “crafty readers” of Jewish literature. We will read 2-4 stories for each session.
January 17: Yiddish Storytelling
IL Peretz & Sholem Aleichem
January 31: Hebrew Firsts
Dvora Baron & Y. H. Brenner
February 21: Nobel Laureates
S. Y. Agnon & I.B. Singer
March 6: Greenhorns and Real Americans
Abraham Cahan & Mary Antin
March 20: Postwar Fiction
Philip Roth & Saul Bellow
April 3: Riddles of Home
Tillie Olsen & Grace Paley
April 17: Contemporary Israeli Voices
Savyon Leibrecht & Etgar Keret
May 1: Contemporary American Voices
Steve Stern & Nathan Englander
Liati Mayk-Hai is a PhD candidate and adjunct instructor in Modern Jewish Literature at JTS. She is currently writing a dissertation on Jewish American creative expression during the Great Depression. In her spare time she also works as a visual artist and ketubah calligrapher.
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HOW IS SOCIAL JUSTICE JEWISH?
TAUGHT BY RABBI ARI WEISS
4 Tuesday evenings, 7- 8:30 PM
January 24 and 31, February 7 and 14
Fee: $125 for T & V members, $150 for non-members
When one thinks of social justice, one thinks of Jews. But what exactly is Jewish about social justice other than the fact that many Jewish people are advocates for it? This four-week course will explore the affinities between Judaism and social justice from four different viewpoints. The first session will focus on how the Bible promotes not only justice but “empathic justice.” The second session will explore Talmudic narratives that look at justice from the lived experiences of the Rabbis. The next session will look at justice from a more philosophic perspective and focus on the thought of Maimonides and Emmanuel Levinas. The final session will move from theory to practice and detail current Jewish social justice initiatives and the ways in which they are grounded in Jewish wisdom.
Readings will be from the Tanach, the Talmud, Guide of the Perplexed by Maimonides and Emmanuel Levinas’ Nine Talmudic Readings and Difficult Freedoms.
Rabbi Ari Weiss is the Director of Uri L’Tzedek. A frequent scholar-in-residence, Rabbi Weiss has taught at foundations. synagogues, and on campuses nationwide. Prior to Uri L’Tzedek, he was Co-Director of the Meorot University Fellowship at YCT Rabbinical School, served as the Rabbinic Fellow at the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU, and taught as part of the Judaic Studies Faculty at the Heschel School. In the summer of 2006, Rabbi Weiss was a JCUA Rabbinical Student Fellow and interned at We The People Media, a Chicago-based public housing advocacy group. He has served as a Jewish educator for American Jewish World Service, Bnei Akiva, and the Lauder Foundation on missions to Nicaragua, Ghana, Israel, and Hungary. Rabbi Weiss received his rabbinical ordination from YCT Rabbinical School in June 2007. He has studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Beit Morasha of Jerusalem. In April 2010, Rabbi Ari Weiss was selected as a Joshua Venture Group fellow, a prestigious honor bestowed upon Jewish leaders that show particular promise for social change.
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HOW TO LEAD A SHIVAH MINYAN
TAUGHT BY CANTOR SHAYNA POSTMAN
Thursday, January 26
7 -9PM
This class is designed for people who are already somewhat familiar with weekday afternoon and evening services, and are interested in learning more about how to lead those services. There will also be an emphasis on the customs of mourning and how to lead the aforementioned services in the context of a mourner’s service.
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CANON/CURRICULUM CONTROVERSIES CONCERNING THE TALMUD
TAUGHT BY RICHARD CLAMAN
Shabbat afternoons after Kiddush
January 21, February 11 and 25
Beginning around 1000 C.E., in various places, during various periods – and continuing to our own day – the Talmud became virtually the exclusive subject of study, and was regarded as the sole source of halakha. These three sessions are intended to provide background to the current scholarly debate as to how and why this occurred, by trying to imagine ourselves in the position of various different commentators in Sepharad and Ashkenaz, at different times.
Background readings will be posted on the website in advance; the particular study texts for each session will be distributed at each session.
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INTRODUCTION TO ASL & DEAF CULTURE
TAUGHT BY CHRISTOPHER TESTER, CDI
10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Sunday, February 26
Cost: $20 for T & V members, $25 for non-members
Introduce yourself, your family, your friends, and even your colleagues to a
form of visual communication, and the culture that values it so highly!
TO REGISTER:
* Enroll via PayPal to townandvillage@aol.com (Please specify “ASL Workshop”)
* T&V Members may use Chaverware
* Send check payable to “Town & Village Synagogue”, money order or bring cash
to the T&V Office
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION CALL BRAM WEISER AT 212-677-0368
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THE HEBREW REPUBLIC: A SHABBATON
PRESENTED BY ERIC NELSON
Friday, March 2 – Saturday March 3
Friday PM: “The Hebrew Republic: Jewish Sources and the Transformation of European Political thought”
Saturday afternoon: “Hebraism and Religious Freedom”
MORE DETAILS TO COME SOON
Eric Nelson is Professor of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on the history of political thought in early-modern Europe and America, and on the implications of that history for debates in contemporary political theory. Particular interests include the history of republican political theory, the reception of classical political thought in early-modern Europe, theories of property, and the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. Nelson is the author of The Hebrew Republic: Jewish Sources and the Transformation of European Political Thought (Harvard/Belknap, 2010) and The Greek Tradition in Republican Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2004), as well as editor of Hobbes’s translations of the Iliad and Odyssey for the Clarendon Edition of the Works of Thomas Hobbes (The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2008). His essays have appeared in a wide range of scholarly journals and edited volumes. Nelson received his AB summa cum laude from Harvard University (1999) and his PhD from The University of Cambridge (2002). He has been awarded fellowships by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies. He has also been a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows, a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a British Marshall Scholar. He is currently at work on a study of the political thought of the American Revolution, as well as a long-term project on property rights and the theory of justice.
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PASSOVER LESSONS FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR
CO-TAUGHT BY RABBI LARRY SEBERT AND SHANEE EPSTEIN
March 11, 18 and 25
3 Sunday mornings, 10 am-11 am
Fee: T & V members: Free, a contribution to the Rabbi’s Tzedakah Fund is strongly encouraged
Non-members: $100
Based on material from the tradional Haggadah and Wendy Mogel’s book, Blessings of a Skinned Knee
- How to create an engaging Seder for all age children tot through teens.
- Setting healthy limits -Being free within a life of laws
- Freedom as a core Jewish value – what does that mean for parents?
- Talking about God
- Make your Passover relevant for your family.
- Have the core lessons last beyond 2 nights
Class will break into 3 separate groups young children ages 2-6, school age 7-12 and parents of teens
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JEWS AND “OTHERS” IN RABBINIC LITERATURE
TAUGHT BY RABBI NOAH BICKART
10 Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:30PM
March 14, 21, 28, April 4, 18, 25, May 2, 9, 16, 23
Fee: $300 for T & V members, $350 for non-members
Modern Jews often have a hard time entering the world of the Rabbis of the Talmud and Midrash. Yet in one respect we are very much like them; we too live as a minority religious community within a much larger marketplace of religious ideas. In this class, we will explore Rabbinic texts about other religions: Roman “Pagans” and Christians, Persian Zoroastrians, and non-Rabbinic Jews among others. Through these descriptions and polemics we will seek not only to understand the historical-cultural setting for these texts, but also to gain some kind of understanding of how our ancestors both participated in and stood apart from the broader religious aspects of the cultures in which they lived. We will attempt to glean answers both from the primary sources (Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, Midrash collections, etc) themselves as well as from contrmporary scholars like Richard Kalmin, Christine Hayes, Daniel Boyarin, Beth Berkowitz, Yaakov Elmann and others.
Rabbi Noah Bickart was born and raised in Washington D.C. He attended the University of Chicago where he majored in English Literature and booked rock and roll bands to liven up a notoriously serious bunch of students. He went on to study Bible and Talmud at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, before receiving a Masters Degree in Hebrew Bible from the Harvard Divinity School in 2003. He was ordained at Jewish Theological Seminary in 2008 and he remains at JTS, working on a PhD in the department of Talmud and rabbinics. He and his wife Nadia Kahn live in Washington Heights with their children Meir (4) and Rina (1).
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GREATEST HITS OF THE PASSOVER SEDER
TAUGHT BY CANTOR SHAYNA POSTMAN
Thursday, March 22
7 -9PM
We’ll be singing some of our favorite Seder melodies in preparation for Passover. Participants should feel free to share their own melodies as well.
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