Learners’ Services
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 and 19
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.
