Adult Education
Temple B’nai Chaim
Jewish Life and Learning 5768
This catalogue outlines some of the classes and opportunities coordinated by TBC’s Adult Education Committee for 2007-2008. Please check for updates on the TBC Website and in the various mailings and emails from TBC.
One Heart, Two Homes: A Discussion
Of Our Relationship With Israel
Wed., April 23, 2008
Wed., April 30, 2008
Wed., May 7, 2008
Rabbi Cohen
WHY should I, as an American Jew, have a relationship with Israel?
WHAT might such a relationship look like?
WHERE might Israel “live” in my Jewishness?
The way we grapple with defining our relationship to Israel is a reflection of where American Jewish life is in the early part of the twenty-first century. Our deep comfort with our “American-ness,” and our complete acceptance by the broadest spectrum of American society (not to mention our reciprocal acceptance of American society, culture, and identity) have brought these questions to the fore. Many American Jews are not at all sure why and how they should relate to Israel. Most of us are not “ethnically Israeli.” Hebrew is not our grandparents’ native tongue. Israeli food did not appear on their holiday tables. Nor did the songs they sang come from the Middle East. This makes it impossible for us to model a relationship with Israel on that of other “hyphenated Americans” (e.g., Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, etc.) who have particular ethnic and cultural ties to their families’ countries of origin. Rather, the relationship between the Jewish people and Israel is in a different category. The discussion is further complicated by the fact that the word “Israel” can have a variety of meanings. It can refer to the people, the land, the state, or, by imaginative interpretation of its etymology, to the process of wrestling with God (see Genesis 32:29). Figuring this out will not be easy, but the attempt is an integral part of being an American Jew.
We share a clear belief that Israel must be a core element of American Jewish life and identity. The challenge for all of us is to engage in the difficult process of thinking through how Israel might be meaningful. We readily admit that there is no one single reason that will appeal to all. This series will explore our individual and collective American relationship with Israel. The course will be closely based on the “One Heart, Two Homes” curriculum recently developed by ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists of America). We hope you will find that these discussions enhance and enrich what it means for you to be an American Jew.
This class will meet on three successive Wednesday evenings. It is not essential to attend all sessions.
Torah Study
Most Saturdays,
generally at 9:00am
Rabbi Cohen,
Cantor Sobel,
Rabbi Price and others
Torah Study is held most Saturday mornings. Rabbi Cohen shares leadership of these discussions with Cantor Sobel, Rabbi Price and members of our own Congregation. Each Saturday we look at aspects of the week’s Torah portion through the lens of our own modern experience, as well as the wisdom and insights of our heritage. Participants bring a wide range of prior knowledge, and those with little experience (or none) are warmly encouraged to join the discussion.
Bringing Order To Your Seder
Wed., April 9, 2008
7:30pm
Cantor Sobel
So . . . it's your turn to host the Seder this year. Or maybe you've been doing it for a while now and want to enhance your family's Seder tradition? Studies show that the Passover Seder is the most-observed Jewish ritual by American Jews, so it is a good idea to make sure it's a great experience for all involved! This class will focus on everything you need to know to lead your Seder with confidence and creativity.
An Introduction to Judaism - An Overview
Wed., November 14, 2007
Wed., December 19, 2007
Wed., January 16, 2008
Wed., February 6, 2008
Wed., March 12, 2008
Rabbi Price
This course is intended to fill in the gaps of Judaic knowledge, whether one grew up Jewish and attended a religious school or not. Material will be presented in a fresh and concise manner enabling the Congregant to understand information from both a traditional and Reform Jewish perspective. Additional sources will be provided to enable further study on one’s own. The course will consist of five one hour and fifteen minute classes. Attend one, some or all.
1. A Historical Overview of Judaism from Abraham to Abe Ribacoff and beyond. This is an opportunity to understand the differences in Judaism before and after the destruction of the Second Temple, from sacrificial cult to Rabbinic Judaism. November 14, 2007, 7:30pm.
2. The Rubrics of Prayer -- An opportunity to understand the what, when, why and how of Jewish prayer. No longer will one think of a service as one that starts on page 65 and ends on page 155. A chance to understand why we pray the
way we do, how Jewish prayer is structured, and how it changes from day to night, weekday to Shabbat, an ordinary day to a festival day. December 19, 2007, 7:30pm.
3. The Jewish Calendar -- Understand how the Jewish calendar works and how and when Holidays and lifecycle events fall. Understand the nuances of the calendar; learn about how time was calculated before and after the setting of the Jewish calendar by Hillel II. January 16, 2008, 7:30pm.
4. Jewish Texts -- Confused about the difference between Torah and Tanach, Mishnah and Gemarah, Babylonian Talmud and Jerusalem Talmud? Who are the Posekim and the Meforshim? Learn how these texts work in relation to one another and read from real texts! February 6, 2008, 7:30pm.
5. Reform Judaism -- What is Reform Judaism and how does it differ from traditional Judaism? Discuss the healthy and dynamic movement that we belong to and how it can reflect the times in which we live. March 12, 2008, 7:30pm.
Film Screenings
Ushpizin - Sat., October 13, 2008, 7:30 pm
Sat., January 19, 2008, 7:30 pm
The TBC Film Academy has chosen two evenings for this year’s Movie Nights. The Academy continues to review the numerous films nominated for our viewing pleasure, and will announce the selected titles shortly.
Erev St. Valentine’s Day: A Talmudic Inquiry.
Wed., February 13, 2008
7:30 pm
Rabbi Cohen
Talmud has something to teach us about everything . . . really. We will explore what our most ancient scholars have to say about romance and romantic relationships, and the extent to which those ideas remain relevant to today’s understandings. More generally, we will use this one theme to discuss how Talmud is structured; as a dialogue across the ages in which we are invited to participate.
A Discussion Series with the Rabbi
“Are the Jews Chosen?” Rabbi Cohen
Wed., November 7, 2007, 7:30 pm
“How do we Know G-d is Real?”
Wed., December 12, 2007, 7:30 pm
“Must We Observe All The
Commandments And Traditions?”
Wed., March 5, 2008, 7:30 pm
We have selected three of Dr. Eugene Borowtiz’s essays to discuss with Rabbi Cohen. These essays were originally published in Rabbi Borowitz’s Liberal Judaism, 1984, UAHC. Copies of the essays will be available at TBC, as well as on the TBC website.
Rabbi Borowitz serves as the Sigmund L. Falk Distinguished Professor of Education and Jewish Religious Thought at the New York School of Hebrew Union College--Jewish Institute of Religion where he has taught since 1962. In his thirteen books and numerous articles he has exhibited an intellectual boldness and creativity that has made him widely recognized as one of liberal Judaism’s leading theologians. Prior to his academic position he was National Director of Education for Reform Judaism at the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, editing its books, curricula and educational periodicals.
The TBC Book Group
Please join old friends and new at some or all of this year’s TBC Book Group Evenings, sponsored by the Adult Education Committee. Conversation, coffee, and wine will be served. We’ve selected the following very recent novels for this year’s readings. Three of these are debut novels, reflecting the quality and vibrance of emerging Jewish literature.
The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the
New World
by Lucette Lagnado, 352 pages (2007)
Tuesday, October 30, 7:30 pm. Location TBA.
In vivid and graceful prose, Lucette Lagnado re-creates the majesty and cosmopolitan glamour of Cairo in the years between World War II and Gamal Abdel Nasser's rise to power. Her father, Leon, was a boulevardier who conducted business on the elegant terrace of Shepheard's Hotel, and later, in the cozy, dark bar of the Nile Hilton, dressed in his signature white sharkskin suit. But with the fall of King Farouk and Nasser's nationalization of Egyptian industry, Leon and his family lose everything. As streets are renamed, neighborhoods of their fellow Jews disbanded, and the city purged of all foreign influence, the Lagnados, too, must make their escape. With all of their belongings packed into twenty-six suitcases, their jewels and gold coins hidden in sealed tins of marmalade, Leon and his family depart for any land that will take them. The poverty and hardships they encounter in their flight from Cairo to Paris to New York are strikingly juxtaposed against the beauty and comforts of the lives they left behind. An inversion of the American dream set against the stunning portraits of three world cities, Lucette Lagnado's memoir offers a grand and sweeping story of faith, tradition, tragedy, and triumph.
Golden Country
by Jennifer Gilmore, 368 pages (2006)
Wednesday, December 12, 7:30 pm. Location TBA.
In a powerfully moving and ambitious debut, Gilmore follows the lives of three immigrant families, the Brodskys, the Verdoniks and the Blooms, who all begin their American journeys in shtetl-like Brooklyn and end up somewhere unexpected between the 1920s and the 1960s. Struggling door-to-door salesman Joseph Brodsky invents Essoil, the world's first two-in-one cleaner, and makes his childhood friend Frances Verdonik—whose husband, Vladimir, invents the television—its first TV spokesperson. Meanwhile, Joseph's brother, Solomon Brodsky, works his way up through New York's Prohibition-era underworld to become a powerful bootlegger known as the Terrier. When he marries Pauline Verdonik, Frances's sister, and draws Seymour Bloom, whose son eventually marries Joseph Brodsky's daughter, into organized crime, the lives of all three families are inextricably linked. Gilmore's large cast allows her to take a panoramic look at the period of intense change spurred by waves of immigration and the television, which brought celebrities and products into living rooms throughout America. She also delves into the daily goings-on in three generations of families as they are forged in the 20th-century crucible. Talented and compassionate, Gilmore is a writer to watch.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel
by Michael Chabon, 432 pages (2007)
Tuesday, March 25, 7:30 pm. Location TBA.
They are the "frozen Chosen," two million people living, dying and kvetching in Sitka, Alaska, the temporary homeland established for displaced World War II Jews in Chabon's ambitious and entertaining new novel. It is—deep breath now—a murder-mystery speculative-history Jewish-identity noir chess thriller. The novel begins—the same way that Philip Roth launched The Plot Against America—with a fascinating historical footnote: what if, as Franklin Roosevelt proposed on the eve of World War II, a temporary Jewish settlement had been established on the Alaska panhandle? Roosevelt's plan went nowhere, but Chabon runs the idea into the present, back-loading his tale with a haunting history. Israel failed to get a foothold in the Middle East, and since the Sitka solution was only temporary, Alaskan Jews are about to lose their cold homeland. The book's timeless refrain: "It's a strange time to be a Jew." Into this world arrives Chabon's Chandler-ready hero, Meyer Landsman, a drunken rogue cop who wakes in a flophouse to find that one of his neighbors has been murdered. With his half-Tlingit, half-Jewish partner and his sexy-tough boss, who happens also to be his ex-wife, Landsman investigates a fascinating underworld of Orthodox black-hat gangs and crime-lord rabbis. Chabon manipulates his bulging plot masterfully, but what makes the novel soar is its humor and humanity. Even without grasping all the Yiddish wordplay that seasons the delectable prose, readers will fall headlong into the alternate universe of Chabon's Sitka, where black humor is a kind of antifreeze necessary to support life.
The Genizah At The House Of Shepher
by Tamar Yellin 500 pages (2005)
Wednesday, May 14, 7:30 pm. Location TBA.
The history of the family Shepher is a "record of theft, domestic discord, mutual blame-laying and bad luck." Despite that--or perhaps because of it--this British author's debut novel is warm and engrossing, rich with historical detail and unmet yearning. The discovery of a mysterious, handwritten volume of the Bible, apparently the property of biblical scholar Shulamit Shepher's great-grandfather, brings Shulamit from her home in England back to her family's small bungalow in Jerusalem. There, in an attempt to unravel the book's origins, she recounts her family's troubled history, beginning with her great-grandfather Shalom, who disappeared for two years and returned addlebrained and clutching this strange book, known thereafter only as the Codex. Shulamit has inherited her great-grandfather's scholarly interests, but not his traditional Jewish practice. Still, she welcomes the attentions of a religious zealot--who seeks the Codex for reasons he won't reveal--even as she tries to decide whether the book is the key to reviving her academic career. More than anything, this wide-ranging novel is a meditation on the power of the Holy City, able to restore or shake the faith of whoever enters. As Shulamit notes, "Of all the cities of the world Jerusalem has one of the shabbiest gates of arrival, and coming or going one is greeted by graves."
TBC Adult Education Committee
Barbara Dobbin
Tom Dubin (Chair)
Allan Rolle
Katherine Reese Schechter
Sara Sobel
Judson Scruton
Michelle Scruton