SCROLL DOWN FOR DETAILS ON:
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"WOW! I Didn't Know Judaism Said That!" - Rabbi Olshansky
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Judaism & Modern Ethical Challenges - Dr. Dan Rynhold
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Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Classes - Cantor Mamber
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Introduction to Judaism - Rabbi Olshansky
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Food for Thought: A Distinguished Speaker Series
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Nosh & Drash with Rabbi Olshansky
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The Florence Melton Adult Mini School
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Reader's Circle - A monthly book discussion group
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| WOW! I Didn't Know Judaism Said That! |
Adult Education Full of Surprises
with Rabbi Sandy Olshansky
Learn some amazing stuff in a discussion group format.
Bible: Session 1 -- Tuesday, Jan. 10, 8 pm - 9pm
Visitors from Space – “fallen ones” who mated with humans in Genesis 6
God's "Chariot" – the vision of hybrid flying creatures in Ezekiel 1
How do traditional and modern commentators understand these fantastic claims?
Talmud: Session 2 -- Tuesday, Jan. 17, 7 pm - 8 pm
Powerful Dreams, Miracles on Command
How our early rabbis cautioned against humiliating people
using examples from their own community about what not to do
Kabbalah: Session 3 -- Tuesday, Jan 24, 8 pm - 9 pm
The "Big Bang" Theory – Did medieval Jewish mystics anticipate one of our greatest scientific discoveries or did they know about it from some other source?
How can we reconcile it with the creation story in Chapter 1 of Genesis in the Torah?
All reading and discussion will be in English. No prior experience necessary.
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| Judaism and Modern Ethical Challenges |
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A New Adult Education Class with Dr. Dan Rynhold, PhD
Nine Thursday Evenings from 8 to 9 pm, starting on January 5
What can Judaism contribute to our ethical understanding of the world around us? What might it have to say about contemporary prisoner exchanges in Israel? Or about Occupy Wall Street? Can there even be such a thing as Jewish Ethics? In this course we'll look at practical and philosophical ethical questions through the prism of Jewish texts ancient and modern.
Dr. Rynhold is Associate Professor of Modern Jewish Philosophy at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University. He arrived in the US from London, England in 2007 and has taught for the past 3 years at the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Education at Temple Emanuel in Manhattan. TBR members have become acquainted with Dr. Dan through his work with our own Hebrew High School students.
Dr. Dan, as our teenagers call him, was Professor of Judaism in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College, London from 2001 to 2007and taught for two years at Jew’s College of London. He has published two books: Two Models of Jewish Philosophy: Justifying One’s Own Practices (2005) and An Introduction to Medieval Jewish Philosophy (2009), and articles on The Problem of Evil, Nietzsche and Jewish Philosophy and the thought of Moses Maimonides and Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
There is no charge for this course. All reading and discussion will be in English.
NOTE: There will be no class on February 23.
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| Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Classes |
ADULT BAR/BAT MITZVAH V
Curriculum for Course will include
a) The Synagogue, The Service, The Prayers
b) The Jewish Calendar and Festivals
c) Jewish Values and Ethics
d) Hebrew Reading (For those who need it)
e) Bar and Bat Mitzvah: A Jewish Life Cycle Event
f) Hebrew Names: Meaning and Exploration
g) Torah and Haftarah Study
h) Leading and Participating in the Shabbat Morning Services
i) Beginning Hebrew Class
Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Coordinator:
Hazzan Ilan Mamber
Instructors: Rabbi Kenneth Emert, Hazzan Ilan Mamber,
Judy Ackerman, Rabbi Sandy Olshansky,
Cantor Annelise Ocanto.
Cost: Members: $360. Non-Members: $500
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A New Adult Education Course with Rabbi Sandy Olshansky
12 Tuesday Evenings from 7 to 8 pm, starting on February 7
This course is specifically intended for the many non-Jewish spouses in our congregational family – to increase your familiarity with Jewish beliefs, traditions and practices. Of course, we also welcome people who were born Jewish but feel that you missed a lot of what you would like to have learned in your childhood or would like a “refresher.”
This is not a conversion class, nor is it intended to “sell” anyone on converting. Our goal is to meet you “where you are” and increase your understanding of the heritage and ways of the people with whom you live.
The topics we will discuss include:
Overview of Jewish History The Jewish Calendar
Rabbinic vs. Biblical Judaism The Jewish Life Cycle
Origins of Modern Judaism Synagogue Rituals
Jewish Conceptions of God Home-based Rituals
Judaism and Christianity Our Relationship with Israel
There is no charge for this course. A detailed syllabus will be available in advance.
Some outside reading will be expected. All reading and discussion will be in English.
NOTE: No class on February 21 and April 10.
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| NOSH & DRASH with Rabbi Sandy Olshansky |
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Bible and bagels; coffee and commentary...
What better reason to roll out of bed on Shabbat morning?
Twice a month at 9 AM, we will explore the Torah portion together to build familiarity with our sacred text and to get acquainted with some of its most provocative commentators, ancient and modern. All reading and discussion will be in English (with a little Hebrew just for flavor.) No prior reading or experience is required.
December 17 |
Vayeshev |
Judah the Tragic Hero |
January 14 |
Sh'mot |
Moses Goes Back Home |
January 28 |
Bo |
Blood on the Doorposts |
February 4 |
Beshalach |
The Song at the Sea |
February 11 |
Yitro |
The Ten Commandments |
March 3 |
Shabbat Zachor |
The Trouble with Amalek |
March 17 |
Vayak'hel/Pekudei |
Bronze Age Building Fund |
March 31 |
Shabbat Ha-gadol |
Malachi - The End of Days |
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| FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A Distinguished Speaker Series |
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SAVE THE DATES
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Dr. Steven M. Cohen
Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy at Hebrew Union College;
Director of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at NYU Wagner
“American Jewry Today: Demographic Challenges and Cultural Opportunities”
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Sunday, May 6, 2012
Dr. Kenneth W. Stein
Professor of Middle Eastern History, Political Science
and Israeli Studies at Emory University
“American Foreign Policy Toward the Middle East:
Coping with the Changing Political Landscapes”
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Progam:
Sunday Breakfast Buffet served at 9:45 AM
Presentation followed by Q & A at 10:30 AM
Cost to Members: $12, Cost to Non-Members: $18
RSVP: Temple Office (201) 891-4466
We Welcome Patron Sponsorship:
Please contact Sharon Rubin at shar6on@aol.com for details
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| READER'S CIRCLE - Monthly Jewish Themed Book Club |
Our November meeting featured a review by Stan Cohen of The Brigade, by Howard Blum. What made this session even more fascinating were the contributions of some of our club members who were in Europe during this period.
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On December 1, we will be reviewing The Invisible Bridge, by Julie Orringer. This best seller is bound to elicit a great deal of dialogue among our group. This 600-page story immerses the reader in 1930's Budapest just as a young Hungarian Jew, Andras Levi, departs for architecture school in Paris. He meets Klara, a captivating Hungarian ballet dancer, nine years his senior with a painful past and a willful teenage daughter. The Invisible Bridge tells the story of a love tested by disaster, of brothers whose bonds cannot be broken, of a family shattered and remade in history's darkest hour, and the dangerous power of art in a time of war.
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To welcome the new year, on January 5, The Glass Room, by Simon Mawer will be the topic of our discussion. This NY Times Best-Seller takes place in central Europe in the 1920's. A young couple, Viktor and Liesel build a home designed by modernist architect Rainer von Abt, which becomes an instant masterpiece. Viktor is a rich Jewish mogul married to a thoughtful, modern gentile who fill their home with children, friends, artists, and modern thinkers eager to abandon old-world European style. The radiant honesty and idealism of 1930 quickly evaporate beneath the storm clouds of World War II. As Nazi troops enter the country, the family must leave their old life behind and attempt to escape to America before Viktor's Jewish roots draw Nazi attention, and before the family itself dissolves.
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Our meetings continue to be lively and participatory, with members giving insightful comments on the wonderful books we have been reviewing. We invite everyone to attend--you will be glad you did!
We meet on the first Thursday of each month at 7:30PM in Room 8 of the Andrew Friedland Preschool.
For more information, please contact Diane Gess: gessagain@gmail.com .
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| The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School |
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