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Adult Learning

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Links for online classes are available on our Barnert Online Community page (member login required). 
If you are not a member and interested in joining us, please contact the office at (201) 848-1800 or info@barnerttemple.org. 

Have a specific question or a topic you would be interested in learning about?  Contact Rabbi Scheffler. 

As always, members can check our online calendar for the most up-to-date information and offerings.

On Being Jewish Now

On Being Jewish Now
with Rabbi Steiner

Three Lunch-and-Learn Sessions
Monday, December 2, 9, 16
12 - 1 PM

Format: In-Person

On Being Jewish Now is an intimate and hopeful collection of meaningful, smart, funny, sad, emotional, and inspiring essays from today’s authors and advocates about what it means to be Jewish, how life has changed since the attacks on October 7, 2023, and the unique culture that brings this group together.

Purchase your copy of the book On Being Jewish Now, and join Rabbi Steiner for a deep dive into this very personal and timely topic.  This collection of essays by 75 Jewish authors reflects their stories of love, family, joy, fear, and pain.  Writers include descendants of Holocaust survivors, several Israelis, and one author who lost a cousin in the war in Israel.  The essays are short and accessible, and the reflections are poignant, nostalgic, honest, humorous, and direct. 

Each week we will read a few of the essays in this book and dig into what we learn and feel.  (The first reading assignment will be sent out to registrants approximately one week before the first class.)

Profits from book sales will be donated to Artists Against Antisemitism, a 501(c)(3) founded by Alison Hammer, that Zibby Owens joined as a founding member after the attacks on October 7, 2023.

 

Adult B-Mitzvah Program

Adult B-Mitzvah Program
with Rabbi Steiner

Begins January 2025 
Twice a Month (full 18-month commitment required)

Format: In-Person

We will bridge the study of basics and big questions, to affirm our places as Jewish adults who find joy, purpose, and connection in our sacred tradition. The class will culminate in a joyful, meaningful B-Mitzvah celebration with the Barnert community in the spring of 2026. Can’t read Hebrew?  A portion of our class time each week will be for learning the aleph-bet to learn to read Hebrew to deepen our comfort with prayer and to prepare to read from the Torah when the course is complete!

*Full 18-month commitment required.

 

Sinai and Synapses

Sinai and Synapses
with Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman

Sunday, February 9, 23 and March 2, 9
9:30 - 11 AM

Format: In-Person and Zoom (in-person participation is encouraged)

As Jews in a modern world, how should we look at, think about and talk about the relationship between science and religion? Rabbi Mitelman, sought after scholar and presenter on this topic, will lead four sessions:

  • Has Science Replaced God?
  • Intelligence, Consciousness or a Soul? Some Jewish Views on AI
  • The Cosmos and the Covenant: Just How Special Are We?
  • There are Places I Remember: How Memory Works and How it Doesn’t

Torah in Dialogue

Torah in Dialogue
with Rabbi Eliza Scheffler

Saturday, April 5, 12, 26 and May 3
9 - 10 AM

Format: In-Person and Zoom (in-person participation is encouraged)

Study the week’s Torah portion through the lens of Abigail Pogrebin, a Reform author and journalist, and Dov Linzer, an Orthodox rabbi. We will read and build upon the conversations from their new book It Takes Two to Torah as we prepare for their visit in May (see below).  Using these dialogues as a model, we will continue to discuss and debate the questions raised by the Torah portion and how we see them playing out in our own lives.

It Takes Two to Torah

"It Takes Two to Torah" Author Talk
with Abigail Pogrebin and Rabbi Dov Linzer

Sunday, May 4 | 10 AM

Format: In-Person and Livestreamed

This is a very special opportunity to spend the morning with the authors of the new book It Takes Two to Torah: An Orthodox Rabbi and Reform Journalist Discuss and Debate Their Way Through the Five Books of Moses.

In a time of division when we often speak in silos, this book models how we can engage with one another across religious and ideological divides.

Abigail Pogrebin is an accomplished author and has written for The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Tablet, and The Forward.  Rabbi Dov Linzer is a leading voice in the modern Orthodox community and the President of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT), an Orthodox rabbinical school and Torah center which promotes a more open and inclusive Orthodoxy.

Click here to order your copy of It Takes Two to Torah in advance of the author talk.

Torah Study

Torah Study: Finding Modern Wisdom in our Ancient Text
with Rabbis Rachel Steiner and Eliza Scheffler

Saturday Mornings

Format: Zoom and In-Person (check calendar for which specific dates for each format)

Have questions about navigating the world around us? Looking for an anchoring place to learn and grow? Torah is our primary guide and the source we return to again and again for questions and answers.  This class is for everyone - whether you are new to Torah or have been studying forever.

Zoom sessions are from 9 - 10 AM. 
In-person session are from 9:30 - 11:30 AM
Advance registration requested for in-person sessions.  Consult our online calendar for dates and registration links.

 

Rabbi Joel Soffin

Torah Study with Guest Rabbi Joel Soffin

Saturday, January 25 & February 22
9:30 AM | Breakfast
10 AM - 12 PM | Study

Format: In-Person

Join Rabbi Joel Soffin, a familiar face and educator at Barnert Temple, for two in-person Torah Study sessions.  Discussions will be tied to the week's parsha.  

Advance registration requested.

 

JJP Parent Education Series

JJP Parent Education Sessions
with Rabbis Rachel Steiner and Eliza Scheffler

All Sessions start at 9:30 AM
Grade 3: Sunday, Nov. 17
Grade 4: Sunday, Dec. 8
Grade 5: Sunday, Mar. 16
Grade 6: Sunday, Apr. 6

Format: In-Person

Learning isn’t just for kids. These sessions are designed for JJP Parents to explore some of the topics your children learn about, but with adult-level depth and nuance. Topics include rituals and symbols, Torah, siddur and God, mitzvot and middot, Israel, and responding to antisemitism. The topics covered are specific to each grade. If you have more than one child, you are welcome to come to multiple sessions. If you must pick, please come to the session for your older child.

OFFERED THROUGH THE URJ

LEARN TO READ HEBREW

Learn the shapes and sounds of the Hebrew alphabet with a warm and supportive educator to guide you and a group of classmates through practicing together. Recognize and understand common Hebrew words and phrases that are often heard in Reform congregations and in Jewish prayer. Perfect for Introduction to Judaism alumni and other adults, this course assumes no prior Hebrew experience.

This course has been developed specifically for online learning, and is taught by experienced educators. Live sessions meet weekly over video conferencing. Participants are given access to online course materials and a link to purchase a workbook.

Each session is 10-weeks in duration, and sessions run throughout the year.

Click image for details and to register.

READING HEBREW PRAYERS

Gain comfort and fluency reading Shabbat prayers in Hebrew in this new six-session course from the Union for Reform Judaism. Explore the meaning of the prayers, learn key Hebrew prayer vocabulary, and hear common prayer melodies.

Participants should already be familiar with the sounds and shapes of the Hebrew aleph bet and be able to slowly sound out Hebrew words. Each session focuses on a different selection of prayers from the siddur (prayer book) and includes reading practice with an experienced instructor and a classroom community. Registration includes online access to all class materials, including audio recordings of each prayer selection.

Click image for details and to register.

 

PAST COURSES & LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Sins of Offense and Forgiveness

Sins of Offense and Forgiveness
with Rabbi Scheffler

Sunday, September 15, 22, 29
10:45 AM - Noon

Format: In-Person and Zoom (in-person participation is encouraged)

A friendship-ending argument. A predeliction for prostitutes. And... Jesus? The Talmud has it all!  Come encounter dramatic Talmudic tales about repentance, forgiveness, and when pride gets in the way. Through close reading and reflection, we will elicit lessons that apply to all of us as we approach the High Holidays.

 

Understanding Kabbalah

Finding Spiritual Clarity in a Chaotic World
with Mishkan Hakavanah and Rabbi Emerita Elyse Frishman

Tuesday, October 8, 15, 22, 29 | November 12, 19 | December 3
7:30 - 9 PM

Format: Zoom

Come learn and experience Kabbalah.  Kabbalah means to receive.  The study responds to compelling questions of our generation:  Where is humanity heading?  How can one move beyond receiving for oneself?  How do reason and faith coexist?

This course will be led by Rabbi Emerita Elyse Frishman, Barnert members Lisa and Becky Dugal, and Peter Schaffer, all students of Mishkan Hakavana's Rabba, Saphir Noyman Eyal.  Questions: Contact Lisa Dugal.

Thu, November 21 2024 20 Cheshvan 5785