July 27, 2021, 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Modeled on the Daf Yomi program of reading a page of Talmud every day, this class discusses several brief readings from the Talmud each week. All texts are in English, with explanatory text by Rabbi Aden Steinsaltz. Prospective students meet with Rabbi Jennifer prior to joining, and are asked to make a commitment to participate regularly. The texts for each week are emailed the night before class.
To sign up for these ongoing classes, please click here!
July 28, 2021, 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Each week we will discuss the Torah portion for the following Shabbat. This class is designed for those who are new to Torah study, although more advanced students are welcome. All text and conversation will be in English. Students can use any copy of the Jewish Bible, with or without commentary.
To sign up for these ongoing classes, please click here!
July 28, 2021, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Psalms of the Bible speak to us in ways that no other poetry does. These prayer-poems are timeless cries from the soul. And for millennia, Jews and Christians alike have turned to them for solace and comfort, seeking guidance, meaning, and hope. Our Jewish liturgy uses psalms to enhance our prayers in every service, weekdays, Shabbat, and holidays. “From sorrow to joy, despair to ecstasy, fear to wonder, awe and amazement; the psalms included in the Jewish liturgy span an immense emotional and spiritual terrain,” wrote Miriyam Glazer. This class will take us through the 150 poems that make up the psalms, looking at their structure, their moods and messages, and their relationship to our own lives. No knowledge of Hebrew is necessary – all readings are in English, and participants may use any translation of the psalms that they wish.
To sign up for these ongoing classes, please click here!
September 29, 2021, 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Each week we will discuss the Torah portion for the following Shabbat. This class is designed for those who are new to Torah study, although more advanced students are welcome. All text and conversation will be in English. Students can use any copy of the Jewish Bible, with or without commentary.
To sign up for these ongoing classes, please click here!
October 4, 2021, 10:00 am - 11:30 am
October 4: 1. The Patriarchs, the Exodus, and Israelite Origins – Archaeology Clashes with Myth Destroying “Useful History”
October 11: 2. Jacob Neusner an American Enigma: Flawed Dynamic Pioneer in Jewish Studies
October 18: 3. A general introductory talk on the Dead Sea Scrolls
David Steinberg has written 2 major pieces on the history of the Hebrew language as well as shorter pieces on the influence of Hellenistic culture on Judaism and on Josephus. All of these are available on his web site http://www.houseofdavid.ca/.
November 1, 2021, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
This course will give students the basic information that a student would gain from a Jewish Studies class at a university. No prior knowledge is needed. From close readings of selected texts, the class will demonstrate how the Torah was composed long after the events narrated in it, by a variety of authors with differing points of view. In four classes, we will explore these points of view and what was of concern to each. The final week of the class will look at strategies for how we can continue to find value in the Torah as a book of wisdom that speaks across the generations to us as contemporary Jews.
Herb Levine loves teaching Jewish Studies to adults. He was trained as a Ph.D. in English and American Literature and taught courses in the Bible as literature and its impact on later literature. He previously taught Mussar as a KH adult education offering.
December 3, 2021, 10:00 am - 11:15 am
Course Description: The course textbook presents a comprehensive overview of diverse views of Jewish theologians, rabbis, academics, feminists and other experts. The book contains 79 selections from 70 authors and it is organized into seven sections. We will discuss one section each week as follows:
1) December 3, 2021: God
2) December 10, 2021: Revelation and Commandment
3) December 17, 202: Spirituality
4) December 24, 2021: Hermeneutics and Politics
5) January 7, 2022: The Holocaust and Israel
6) January 14, 2022: Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality
7) January 21, 2022: Peoplehood
The editors are professors at the reform movement’s Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, but the views presented are diverse and include all streams of Jewish practice and beliefs.
Please read each section before class: American Jewish Thought Since 1934: Writings on Identity, Engagement, and Belief, edited by Michael Marmur and David Ellenson, 2020, Brandeis University Press, 300 pp. The book is available on Amazon: Paperback $26/Kindle: $24.70
Discussion Leader: Marcel Infeld
Marcel has been involved in adult Jewish education for many years. He has led classes in Tanach, Hebrew reading, and Torah cantillation (trup), among others. Marcel was raised in an ultra-orthodox environment, attended Yeshivas in Brooklyn and Israel, and studied briefly for the rabbinate. More recently, he was president of a Reconstructionist congregation in Arlington, Virginia. Professionally Marcel has degrees in science and public health, and served as an HMO director and health care consultant.
St. Wilfred’s Episcopal Church Campus, Kol HaNeshama Sanctuary
3773 Wilkinson Road, Sarasota, FL 34233
