Adult Study and Learning
It is taught that “the study of Torah equals in value all the other commandments” (Peah 1:1). Maimonides teaches that one is “required to study Torah, whether poor or rich…young or old…” and that one “must set aside definite times to study by day and by night…”
We at Town & Village we are dedicated to providing a variety of learning opportunities, at all levels of knowledge and at many times of day. We hope that you will find something here that you wish to study with us. If there is something you would like to see us offer in the future, please let us know.
Town & Village Synagogue is dedicated to making adult Jewish learning accessible to all of its members and to the community at large. If you are interested in a class we offer and the cost is a concern, we invite you to contact Nina Lehman or Rabbi Sebert privately to make arrangements that are affordable for you. We look forward to seeing you soon.
The coming year promises to be very exciting as we continue some programs and begin some new ones. Please check out our offerings listed below.
Sincerely,
Sharon Keller and Nina Lehman
Co-chairs, Adult Education Committee
Town & Village Synagogue
ADULT EDUCATION CLASSES
5779
2018-2019
BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP
LED BY DR. STEFANIE HALPERN
10 Thursdays, 10:30AM – Noon
Fee: Free for T&V members, $250 for non-members
| Date | Title | Author |
|---|---|---|
| September 13, 2018 | Sadness is a White Bird | Moriel Rothman-Zecher |
| October 18 | The Polish Boxer | Eduardo Halfon |
| November 15 | An Egyptian Novel | Orly Castel-Bloom |
| December 13 | The House in Smyrna | Tatiana Salem Levy |
| January 17, 2019 | The Coincidence Makers | Yoav Blum |
| February 14 | Barren Island | Carol Zoref |
| March 21 | The Ruined House | Ruby Namdar |
| April 25 | Eternal Life | Dara Horn |
| May 9 | The Man Who Never Stopped Sleeping | Aharon Appelfeld |
| June 13 | The Immortalists | Chloe Benjamin |
LIMITED TO 15 PARTICIPANTS. This group is intended for readers who are committed to reading the entire book before the discussion and are prepared to come to the discussions with open minds and respect for the opinions of others. Priority will be given those who have previously participated in this group.
Stefanie Halpern received her PhD from the department of Jewish Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2017. Her dissertation, Crossing Over from the Yiddish Rialto to the American Stage, explores the ways the Yiddish theater intersected with and ultimately became part and parcel of the mainstream American theatrical institution. Stefanie was the curatorial associate for the current “New York’s Yiddish Theater: from the Bowery to Broadway” exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York and is currently an archivist at YIVO.
If you have any questions, or to enroll, email adulted@tandv.org
CONTINUING OUR JEWISH JOURNEY: A Two-Year Adventure*
TAUGHT BY RABBI LARRY SEBERT
Fee: Free for T & V members, $500 per year for non-members
Some book purchases will be required
2018-2019 30 Monday evenings, 7:30PM- 9PM
2018: Oct. 15, 22, 29, Nov. 12, 19, 26, Dec. 3, 10, 17
2019: Jan 14, 21, 28, Feb. 4, 11, 25, March 4, 11, 18
May 6, 13, 20, June 3, 17, 24, July 1
Basic Idea: If you would like to deepen your personal commitment to Judaism, join our Jewish Journey class, which will culminate in a communal (adult Bat/Bar Mitzvah) celebration. Together, through study, we will strive to deepen our connection to Judaism.
Some details (subject to change): Our learning (Year 1, 2018-19) will begin with an examination of the entire span of Jewish history. We will be work our way through Mark Rosenstein’s Turning Points in Jewish History (purchase required) which presents thirty pivotal moments in the Jewish people’s experience. Along the way we will discuss various controversies and schisms arising from Judaism’s encounters with power, powerlessness, exile, messianism, rationalism, mysticism, catastrophe, madernity, nationalism, feminism and more.
In Year 2, (2019-2020) we will explore in great depth the concept of mitzvah, Shabbat, the annual cycle of holy days and holidays and the important theological concepts that are the underpinnings of our rituals and holidays.
Throughout both years, we will also connect to the broader Jewish world by making a commitment to learn more Hebrew.
The decision about whether to culminate one’s learning with participation in a group ceremony is an individual one. There are additional requirements for an Adult Bar or Bat Mitzvah.
* Each year counts as two(2) classes towards our Adult Bar or Bat Mitzvah requirements
For more information, or to enroll, email adulted@tandv.org
“PRAYER FOR THE PEOPLE” — 5779
TAUGHT BY RABBI BRONWEN MULLIN
Fee: Free for T & V members, $250 per semester for non-members
Thursday evenings, 6-7:30PM
Semester 1: November 15 and 29, December 13 and 27, January 10 and 24, February 7 and 21, and March 7 and 21
Semester 2: April 4 and 18, May 2, 16 and 30, June 13 and 27, July 11 and 25
Come learn and pray with us!
Rabbi Bronwen Mullin is a playwright, composer, educator and T & V’s Rabbinic Artist-In-Residence. She earned her B.A. at Sarah Lawrence College (2006) in Theater and Religious Studies and was an Arts Fellow from 2008-2011 in Musical Theater Composition at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. Rabbi Mullin was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2017. Bronwen is the co-founder of MetaPhys-Ed, a gymnasium for the multi-media exegesis of Jewish texts with performance artist/director Jesse Freedman.
LEARN TO READ HEBREW
TAUGHT BY CAROL GREEN
Monday evenings, 7-7:30PM
November 19, Dec 3, 17, Jan 7, 14, 21 (MLK Day), 28, Feb 4, 11, 18 (President’s Day), Mar 4, 11, 18,
April 1, 8, 15, 22 (Chol HaMoed Pesach), 29, May 6, 13 and June 3, 24
Free for T&V members, CCJ and Jewish Journey enrollees, $200 for non-members
AFTER THE WALLS CAME A-TUMBLING DOWN*
TAUGHT BY DR. SHARON KELLER
Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:30PM
February 19, 26, March 5, 12, 26, April 2, 30 and May 7 and 14
Fee: Free for T & V members, $250 for non-members
Joshua led the routing of Jericho, and the “walls came a-tumbling down” but that is not the end of the story — in fact that is just the beginning and accounts for less than one-quarter of the Book of Joshua. The promises of the Torah have yet to be fulfilled and the people need to finish conquering and dividing up the land. In our close reading of the text we will not shy away from events and issues that may have once seemed glorious but now cause us discomfort.
Please join us for our 6 week session that will take us from the rubble of the walls of Jericho to the reaffirmed covenant and the brink of the “second” conquest in the Book of Judges.
We will do a close reading of the biblical text with an eye toward the narrative structure, the historical retrojection, and the material culture that illuminates the narrative.
Sharon Keller, a popular teacher at T & V and in the Tri-State area, earned her doctorate at NYU in the Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies in the area of Bible and the Ancient Near East. Prior to that, she earned Masters degrees in Hebrew Education (NYU), Jewish Communal Service (JTS), and Social Work (Columbia). Dr. Keller is currently on the faculty at Hofstra University, and has held faculty positions at HUC, JTS, NYU among others, and has written numerous articles and edited several academic books, most of which relate to the interplay between biblical Israel and ancient Egypt. Her most popular book, Jews: A Treasury of Art and Literature, was awarded the National Jewish Book Award.
*Counts as one (1) class towards our Adult Bar or Bat Mitzvah requirements
TALMUDIC STORIES*
TAUGHT BY DR. JEFFREY L. RUBENSTEIN
7 Wednesday evenings, 7-8:30PM
October 23 and 30, November 6. 13 and 20 and December 4 and 11
In this course we will explore “sages-stories,” the stories of the lives and deeds of the sages that are found throughout the Talmud and rabbinic literature. The scholarly understanding of these stories has shifted from a historical-biographical approach that sought to write history and biography (e.g. “The Life of Rabbi Akiva”) on the basis of rabbinic stories to a literary approach that sees stories as didactic fictions. We will analyze the stories with tools of literary criticism, attempting to appreciate their narrative art and the meanings the storytellers tried to convey, as well as to understand their relationship to Talmudic law and functions within the Talmudic context.
Jeffrey L. Rubenstein is the Skirball Professor of Talmud and Rabbinic Literature in the Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies of New York University. He received his B.A. in Religion from Oberlin College, his M.A. in Talmud from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he also received rabbinic ordination, and his Ph.D. from the Department of Religion of Columbia University. His scholarship focuses on Talmudic stories, Jewish ethics and the history of rabbinic law. His books include, The History of Sukkot in the Second Temple and Rabbinic Periods (1995); Talmudic Stories: Narrative Art, Composition and Culture (1999), The Culture of the Babylonian Talmud (2003), Stories of the Babylonian Talmud (2010), and The Land of Truth: Talmud Tales, Timeless Teachings (2018).
*Counts as one (1) class towards our Adult Bar or Bat Mitzvah requirements
To enroll, email adulted@tandv.org
For an archive of past classes 2011-19, click here