Fall 2014 Courses - Temple Israel - Natick

12 Pages·2014·0.63 MB·English

TEMPLE ISRAEL OF NATICK
FALL, 2014
ADULT EDUCATION

Temple Israel of Natick inspires an enthusiasm and love for
Judaism. Jewish learning at Temple Israel is limitless, ageless,
and stretches beyond our classroom walls.
We recognize and appreciate that each member has a unique
Jewish educational journey. Our clergy, educators, lay leaders,
and members form a community of learners who
accompany each other on paths of lifelong learning.

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TEMPLE ISRAEL ADULT EDUCATION

FALL 2014

F-1 MEAH: One Hundred Hours of Jewish Learning

Me'ah — Hebrew for 100 — is an intensive Jewish educational
experience designed for busy adult learners of all
backgrounds. Participants are immersed in reading core Jewish
texts, grappling with concepts representing cultural and
political movements from four historical periods — biblical,
rabbinic, medieval and modern.

DATES: October 22, 2014 through May 20, 2015
TIME: 7:00 – 9:30 p.m.
TUITION: $650.00 per year
COORDINATOR: Marjory Arons
Call OFFICE for an application

F-2 ISRAELI DANCING – “JEWISH AEROBICS”
Drawing upon folk dance steps from around the world, Israeli
dance choreographers have fashioned a unique and energetic
style that expresses Israel’s multi-ethnic contemporary
culture. All levels are welcome to this enjoyable and
invigorating class.

DATES: Every Thursday evening starting October 23, 2014
TIME: 8:00-9:00 PM
INSTRUCTORS: Sherrie Barlas and Rabbi Daniel Liben
FEE: Temple Israel Members: Free; Non-members: $25
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F-3 GETTING “UNSTUCK” IN MY DAILY LIFE

Feel like you’re in a rut? Sometimes, we can become
desensitized to the depth and beauty concealed within our daily
experience. Some moments we live mindlessly, as if sleep-
walking. Other moments we live attentively, appreciating their
beauty and depth. How is it possible to live our lives more
profoundly, with a greater sense of God and our spiritual
natures?

Through classical texts, discussion, and personal reflection, we
may “wake up” to the spiritual dimension just under the surface
of such every-day activities as: Getting Up, Getting Dressed,
Eating, Working, Going to Sleep, and more.

AYEKA – “Where are you?”- is the first question in the Torah,
which God poses to Adam in the Garden of Eden. The goal of
AYEKA is to provide a venue where we can begin to explore our
own answers to that question, by exploring our relationship
with God. This is the second in a series of modules that Rabbi
Liben is bringing to Temple Israel from AYEKA, the Center for
Soulful Education. Whether you participated in last year’s
highly popular Getting “Unstuck” in Prayer module, or are new
to AYEKA, we invite you to get “unstuck,” in your daily life!

DATES: 7 Wednesday evenings,
October 29-November 19; December 3-17
TIME: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
INSTRUCTOR: Rabbi Liben
FEE: Temple Israel Members: $25., Non-members: $50.

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F-4 SAFE AND AFRAID: THE AMERICAN JEWISH
EXPERIENCE
Today, when Jews are being attacked in France, synagogues
defaced and angry crowds yelling anti-Semitic chants,
memories of the past easily surface. However, there are
marked differences between now and then and between
American Jews and European Jews. It is illustrative to go back
in time to see just how we confronted adversity. Nervous Jews
in 1789 were not sure where they stood with George
Washington. In the nineteenth century American Jews faced
down discrimination. When the Nazis came to power in
Germany, Jews in the United States reacted with horror. In
this class we will look back through three centuries of
challenges to American Jews in the light of current growing
worldwide anti-Semitism.

DATES: Thursdays October 23, 30, November 6, 2014
TIME: 7:00 – 9:00 pm
INSTRUCTOR: Norm Finklestein
FEES: Temple Israel Members: $36;Non-members: $54.
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F-5 TALMUD IN TRANSLATION
Join us for Shabbat afternoon Talmud study. We read the text
in English with modern commentary. Whether you have
studied Talmud before, or you are a newcomer to its language
and logic, all are welcome.
DATE: Shabbat afternoons, beginning October 25, 2014
TIME: 4:45-5:30 PM before Minyan
FEE: None
FACILITATOR: Dr. Alan Avery-Peck

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F-6 PARENTING THROUGH A JEWISH LENS
What does Judaism have to teach us about raising kids? About
core values at home, at school, on the playground? Formerly
called Ikkarim (Core Values), this curriculum has been
enthusiastically received by hundreds of parents around
Boston, and here at Temple Israel. Join Rabbi Liben and
Cantor Richmond in an exploration of basic Jewish values that
will enrich your life and your family relationships.
Temple Israel acts as a CJP site for the program
Register through Hebrew College
Tuition: $145 per person, $240 per couple
• Free on-site babysitting
• Scholarships available - contact Marcy Leiman at
[email protected]
- See more at: http://www.hebrewcollege.edu/parenting

DATES: November 2, 9, and 23; December 14; January
25; February 8; March 1, 15, and 29; April 12

TIME: Sundays at 10:00-11:30 AM
Instructors: Rabbi Daniel Liben and Cantor Ken
FEE: Through Hebrew College. Special Reduced fees for
members and Judy Gordon School

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JUDAISM AT THE CROSSROADS
Temple Israel of Natick celebrating 70 years in the community
and the Adult Education Committee invite you to:

F-7 BREAKFAST HONORING RABBI HAROLD S. KUSHNER
Lifetime Achievement Award; Guest Speaker: Barry Shrage of
CJP “Future of American Judaism”
DATE: Sunday, October 26, 2014, 9:45 am
FEE: TBA

F-8 JEWS IN THE PEWS: A PANEL DISCUSSION
Pew Research "A Portrait of Jewish Americans"
Rabbi Daniel Lehmann; Rabbi Arthur Green
MODERATOR: Rabbi Dan Liben (Audience Questions)
DATE: Sunday, November 9, 2014, 7:00 pm
FEE: Free and Open to Community

American Jews overwhelmingly say they are proud to be
Jewish and have a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish
people, according to a major new survey by the Pew Research
Center. But the survey also suggests that Jewish identity is
changing in America:

 one-in-five Jews (22%) now describe themselves as having
no religion.
 sixty-eight percent answered a person can be Jewish and
not believe in God.
 Thirty-four percent answered a person can be Jewish and
believe Jesus was the Messiah.
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Rabbi Daniel Lehmann, President of Hebrew
College is a Jewish innovator who has devoted
his career to pluralistic Jewish education. On
July 1, 2008, he became the eighth president
of Hebrew College, one of the leading
institutions of Jewish learning in the United
States. He also serves as professor of
pluralism and Jewish education.

A frequent lecturer on Jewish education, religious pluralism,
and interfaith learning, Lehmann has published numerous
journal articles and contributed several chapters in books on
religious education and interfaith learning.

Rabbi Arthur Green, Ph.D., Professor and
Rector of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew
College.
Rabbi Arthur Green is the Irving Brudnick
Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Religion at
Hebrew College and the founding dean and
current rector of its rabbinical school. He is
professor emeritus at Brandeis University, where he occupied
the distinguished Philip W. Lown Professorship of Jewish
Thought. Green is both a historian of Jewish religion and a
theologian; his work seeks to form a bridge between these
two distinct fields of endeavor.

Rabbi Green has taught and lectured widely throughout the
Jewish community of North America as well as in Israel, where
he visits frequently.

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F-9 BASIC HEBREW READING for BEGINNERS
Description: Program of the National Jewish Outreach
Program/NJOP
Participants in the Hebrew Reading Crash Course will learn to
read Hebrew in ten, 2 hour weekly sessions. Designed for
those with little or no background in Hebrew, it concentrates
on teaching the Hebrew alphabet and reading skills.
Knowledge of Hebrew is not required. No prerequisites. Some
required homework; practicing each day is recommended.

 “Great for the newcomer who is dipping his foot into
the waters of Hebrew for the first time.”
 “Feel more comfortable when you open up a prayer
book in Temple.”
 “Great preparation if you are interested in becoming
an adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah”
 “Terrific refresher if you learned Hebrew as a child,
but don’t remember it.”

DATES:
Level 1:
November 13, 20 December 4, 11, 18
Level 2:
Jan. 8, 15, 22, 29, Feb. 5, 2015

TIME: 7:00 – 8:30 pm
INSTRUCTOR: Carolyn Goodman
SUGGESTED REFRESHMENT FEE:
$12 per LEVEL
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LUNCH AND LEARN SERIES:
F-10 “CHASSIDISM: MYSTICAL OR PRACTICAL”
Rabbi Fogelman will explore how the dynamics of Hassidic
energy meets the challenges of the modern world.

DATE: Monday, Nov. 10, 2014
TIME: 12:00 noon – 1:30pm
INSTRUCTOR: Rabbi Levi Fogelman
FEE: Temple Israel Members: $12.; Non-members $18.
F-11 JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF METROWEST
“Benefits of Meditation” with Sheila Wolfson, M.Ed., C.N.S.,
L.D.N., Consulting Nutritionist and Health Counselor
DATE: Monday, November 17, 2014
TIME: 12:00 noon - 1:30pm
FACILITATOR: Nancy Fried-Tanzer
FEE: All RSVPs and payments will be directed to JFS.
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F-12 SACRED AND PROFANE DOUBT
In Genesis 3:1 in the Garden of Eden there is a talking serpent
that introduces for the very first time in Torah the experience
of doubt. Thus begins a long conversation in Torah and in our
whole tradition about doubt. We will study selected passages
to better understand the nature and varieties of doubt as we
find it in our tradition. Also we will explore how doubt can
lead us away from the sacred and also how doubt can lead us
to a deeper relationship with God.

DATES: Mondays, November 24, December 1, 8
TIME: 12:00 noon – 1:30pm
INSTRUCTOR: Rabbi Alan Ullman
FEE: Temple Israel Members: $36.; Non-members: $54.
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UPCOMING COURSES

F-13 JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF METROWEST

“Hearing Loss and Aging” with Leslie McCowan, M.S. CCC-A,
Director of the Audiology Clinic at the Learning Center for the
Deaf in Framingham
DATE: Wednesday, March 18, 2015
TIME: 12:00 noon - 1:30pm
FACILITATOR: Nancy Fried-Tanzer
FEE: All RSVP's and payments will be directed to JFS

F-14 WHAT IS FAITH?
Faith is one of those words which has come to mean so many
things over the centuries that it is hard to come to clarity
about the meaning of this word.
We will be studying the first usage of the word in Torah
and it's usage in several other early passages in Torah to
better understand what faith might have originally meant in
our tradition and to understand faith in our own lives today.
DATES: Mondays, March 23, 30, April 6, 2015
TIME: 12:00 – 1:30pm
INSTRUCTOR: Rabbi Alan Ullman
FEE: Temple Israel Members: $36.; non-members: $54.

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