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. 1 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 2 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. 3 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. __________________________________________________ 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 4 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 5 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. 6 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. 7 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 ____________________________________________________ 8 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. ____________________________________________________ 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. 9 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. 10