Jewish Learning

**Torah Line By Line: The Journey Continues** Join us for the second half of the Book of Exodus as we continue to work our way, line by line, through the Torah. We resume as the Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah and to build their very first temple, the Mishkan, while briefly […]

**Ethical Wills: My Present And Future Jewish Story** As Jews, what is our legacy? How has your Judaism affected your life experiences and what values would you like passed on to the next generations of those you love? And mostly, how do you create a meaningful document that best defines these things? Join us to […]

**Chapter And Verse: The Second Temple** We have heard about the Babylonian exile and destruction of the First Temple, but what do we know about the building of the Second Temple and who rebuilt it? Did all of the Jews return to the Land of Canaan? What happened to prophecy? How did we transition to […]

** Wisdom Wednesdays – The Moral Voice Of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks ** Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020) was a global religious leader, philosopher, author of more than 25 books and a moral voice for our time. His thinking and writings have influenced and will continue to influence the mindset of world Jewry for generations to […]

**From Exile To A New Home: The “Other” Jerusalem Of The Balkans** Exiled from the Iberian Peninsula, the thousands of Sephardic Jews found shelter on the Eastern Mediterranean and gradually established a dominant cultural and religious ethnic group. Welcomed by the Muslim Ottoman Empire, they have found a rather tolerant environment. In the Greek territories, […]

**Contemporary Halachic Debates: More Questions, Fewer Answers ** Join Rabbi Faudem for a lively weekly discussion and debate on current, relevant topics. How does Halacha (Jewish Law) impact our everyday opinions and decisions? Participate in this round table discussion as Rabbi Faudem asks you to answer the question: “What are your questions, comments and concerns?” […]

**An Angel On Your Back** Do you ever get the feeling that a departed loved one is watching over you? Perhaps you have a strange feeling that someone is trying to communicate with you? Angels are supernatural beings that appear widely throughout Jewish literature. The Hebrew word for angel, mal’ach, means messenger, and the angels […]

**Jewish Values And The Israeli- Palestinian Conflict: A Shalom Hartman Curriculum** Utilizing curriculum from the Shalom Hartman Institute, join us to engage with the ideas and values that form the many different attitudes toward the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Using objectivity to discuss, and perhaps even alter and shape the way we think about this deeply […]

**Jews And Judaism: The Essentials – Part 3: The Challenges Of Modernity** In this series we explore the new opportunities and challenges that Jews encountered in the modern world, during the last three centuries; and how a new compartmentalized Jewish identity superseded an older all-encompassing Jewish identity. We focus on new attitudes toward Jews, especially […]

**Salon Series Continues: A Talmudic Exploration Of Rabbi Akiva’s Teachings On Ethics And Kindness** The genius of the Talmud, and the methodology of distilling its principles toward application for Jewish ethical life, has been the hallmark of Jewish scholarship throughout the ages. In this series, we analyze many of Rabbi Akiva’s teachings in the Talmud […]

** Great Jewish Thinkers Of A Radical Kind** Join JLearn for a journey through the radical writings and theologies of Philo (1st C), Maimonides (12th C), Spinoza (17th C) and Mordecai Kaplan (20th C). Each of these Jewish figures challenged established rabbinic leadership in how they understood Torah and Revelation and what it then meant […]

**Coffee With The Rabbis: The Bonds That Bind Us – A Study Of Life Relationships** Join us for a deep dive into some of the most interesting and complex relationships in the Hebrew Bible and throughout Jewish literature. These sessions will explore the intriguing, challenging, wonderful and sometimes confusing connection between siblings, parents, children, spouses […]

** Biblical Verses Top 20: Context, Content And The Stories They Tell ** From the Isaiah Wall to Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, biblical verses are woven into the fabric of our contemporary lives. Each week, we will learn a different Biblical phrase memorialized in structure, in idiom or in song. We will study the text, context […]

**From Sukkot To Thanksgiving – Appreciating The Relationship Between Jews, Food, And The World We Live In ** For Jews, the fall season is bookended by two holidays focused on gratitude and food: ** _Sukkot and Thanksgiving_**. This fall we will increase our understanding and appreciation of how Jewish life and contemporary American life intersect […]

** Checking Off The List Of Israeli Art At 75!** To celebrate 75 years of Israeli statehood, **_Wendy Evans_** __will unpack the Center for Israel Education’s list of 75 artworks, formulated in celebration of this important event. Going chronologically from an 1896 sculpture by **_Boris Schatz_** __, the father of Israeli art as well as […]