Torah Study

Saturdays beginning September 12, 2009 - 10:30 - 11:30 AM  
After Sharing Shabbat Services conclude, we encounter the Torah portion of the week with one of our in-house professional or clergy staff. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet and interact with your clergy, professional staff, and fellow congregants.        
Shivim Panim Credits:20 for each year of study completed

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah

Led by Rabbi Richard Jacobs, Sponsored by Women of Reform Judaism
Select Tuesday mornings, 9:30-11:00 am
October 27 • November 10, 24 • December 1, 15 • January 12, 26 • February 2, 23 • March 2, 23 • April 13, 27 • May 25

You don’t need any background to join the class, just an interest in learning about the Bible and a desire to deepen your personal religious connection to it! This year, the class will explore Ezra and Nehemiah, two of the latest books in the Hebrew Bible which catalogue the return of many of our ancestors from captivity in Babylon. But in many ways, the reality of the return to Zion did not measure up to the returnees' expectations. The temple they rebuilt was smaller and far less glorious than Solomon’s had been, and religious challenges such as intermarriage and resistance to Shabbat observance vexed their leaders. Many of the issues addressed in these books are very modern challenges, though our responses are quite different.

The Talmud asserts that Ezra would have been worthy of having the Torah given through him to Israel had Moses not preceded him. Ezra inaugurated a new element in Jewish life whereby the Torah was read and explicated on regular occasions in public. This public reading also led to the democratization of knowledge of the Torah among Jews, since prior to this event most parts of the Torah were under the exclusive provenance of the priests.
Shivim Panim credits:2 per session

Hebrew is an important gateway to a deeper understanding of and appreciation for Jewish values, texts, and traditions. Through the process of acquiring Hebrew reading and language skills, you will build a deeper connection to Judaism and to Jewish living. Participants will acquire fluent Hebrew decoding skills, a vocabulary of important Hebrew root words and important Jewish holiday and value terms as well as a basic understanding of the structure of the Hebrew language. You will be introduced to the rubrics of the liturgy for synagogue and home celebration, enabling you to be comfortable participants in Shabbat and holiday services, as well as leaders of Shabbat and holiday rituals at home. These skills will enable students at advanced levels to pursue to the study of Jewish texts (Torah, Bible, Pirkei Avot, etc.) in Hebrew.
The full Hebrew curriculum is based on four levels of difficulty, designated “ALEF” through “DALET,” offered over a cycle of three years. 
For more information...

Rosh Chodesh: Monthly Study, Prayer, Togetherness

"Day to Day Lives: The Multiple Faces of Jewish Women in Israel"
Eight Tuesday Mornings: 9:45 am
October 20 • November 17 • December 8 • January 19 • February 9 • March 16 • April 20 • May 11
A popular bumper sticker in Israel declares “There is more than one way to be Jewish.”  Meant to raise consciousness among Israelis about movements other than state-sanctioned Orthodoxy, we are reminded that cultivating acceptance of progressive religious identities has been an ongoing challenge to men and women living in Israel. But what does this challenge look like specifically for our Israeli sisters? How do women’s “lived lives” in Israel differ along the spectrum of religious practice? What does dating look like in a secular Israeli upbringing as compared to an Ultra-Orthodox framework? Together we will investigate the day-to-day lives of Ultra-Orthodox, Progressive/Reform, Secular, Masorti (Conservative), Modern Orthodox and other groups of women who live in Israel.

Through a variety of source material, we will explore how women negotiate the public and private spheres, with particular attention to tradition, motherhood, work (both inside and outside the home), the military, and their sense of peoplehood. With an approach of deep respect, we will delve specifically into the diverse world of Orthodox practice, exploring the wide range of belief and observance.

Women in the Bible  (Study Group)

This year we are excited to employ the new work published by WRJ, The Torah - A Women's Commentary to  study sections  of the Book of Numbers and discover how women's scholarship impacts the way we read and understand Torah. According to Dr. Tamara Cohn Ezkenazi, the Editor of  the Commentary, “while women do not appear prominently in the Book of Numbers, the text includes both laws and narratives in which women play a significant role.” Join us as Sorel Loeb helps us to grapple with a biblical book we  don't often get an opportunity to study using the first comprehensive commentary on the Torah written entirely by women.