Come learn with us!
Beth El encourages everyone to engage in lifelong Jewish learning.
Our classes are open to congregants as well as to friends of the community.
Spring 2020 Learning Opportunity
Israel’s Milestones and Their Meanings:
The Legacy of the Past and the Challenge of the Future
Join Rabbi David Spinrad and Gilah Goldsmith in an exploration of the past, present, and future of the Jewish state that features an outstanding curriculum created by the Shalom-Hartman Institute. The dates and topics of our 8-session series are as follows:
February 5: 1917 The Balfour Declaration: The Idea of a Homeland for the Jewish People
February 12: 1947 – The United Nations Partition Plan: The Jews in the World
February 19: 1967 – The Six Day War: Power, Land, and God
February 26: Judea and Samaria: Occupation or Liberation
March 11: One State, Two States: Moral Red Lines
March 18: Jerusalem of God, Prayer, and Peoplehood
March 25: Jerusalem of Responsibility, Loss, and Hope
April 1: The Jubilee Year and Beyond: Milestones and their Meanings
Classes meet on Wednesdays from 6:15-8:00 PM at Beth El in the Seminar Room. There is no cost for the course. Registration is limited. Please click here to register.
Adult Hebrew 2019-2020 Registration Now Open
Adult Hebrew meets each Sunday during Religious School (if there is no Religious School that week, there are no Adult Hebrew classes either). Beginning Adult Hebrew meets from 10-11 am. Intermediate Adult Hebrew I meets from 10-11 am. Intermediate Adult Hebrew II meets from 11 am to noon.
Cost is $125 for members, $150 for all others. Members can charge the fee to their Beth El account or pay by credit card; non-members must pay by credit card.
To register, go to the October calendar, click on the course you want, scroll to the bottom and fill in the very short sign-up form.
Please Contact the Religious School Office for more information.
Ongoing Programs
Adult Hebrew meets each Sunday during Religious School at 10 am or 11 am. There are beginner and intermediate classes. Please contact the Religious School office for more information.
The Torah Discussion Group meets every Saturday morning at 9, except when High Holidays fall on Shabbat. We discuss the portion of the week, which can be found on the Beth El website calendar. The Torah Discussion Group has met every Shabbat morning since January 12, 1985. It was the brain child of Diane and John Rothberg, who had attended a study session at the Biennial the previous year and who convinced then-Rabbi Fink to create a similar group at Beth El. The original announcement stated that sessions would be informal and that the purpose was to deepen our understanding of Torah's meaning for our lives today, and we have been true to that promise. Every Shabbat since then (except when a High Holiday falls on Shabbat) the Group has met to discuss the parsha of the week. Some folks come regularly, some drop in when they can. Many have been coming for several or even many years. We have explored alternative translations (Everett Fox, Richard Elliott Friedman, Robert Alter) as well as various contemporary commentators. Currently, we are returning to a close reading of the text, exploring places where things aren't as clear or simple as they look. Lisa Sheldone maintains an email list and sends a weekly message reminding us of the parsha, with a summary and links to internet resources. Contact Gilah Goldsmith for more information.
Beth El hosts Interfaith Bible Study sessions on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Please contact Linda Tolkan if you would like to join the group or be added to the email list.
Goals of BEHC Interfaith Programs
The clergy and lay leadership at Beth El work to ensure that all of our study programs address the needs and interests of the following communities:
- Jews in an interfaith relationship
- Non-Jewish partners of Beth El members
- Children of interfaith families
- Individuals considering or preparing for conversion
Objectives
- To welcome, support, and educate interfaith families and couples at Beth El
- To provide opportunities to the Beth El Community to understand the needs, interests, and value of interfaith families and couples
- To offer information, support, and friendship to those considering or preparing for conversion
Recommended Books
- Choosing a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant
- The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life: An InterfaithFamily.com Book edited by Ronnie Friedland and Edmund Case
- Introducing My Faith and My Community: The Jewish Outreach Institute Guide for the Christian in a Jewish Faith Relationship by Rabbi Kerry M. Olitsky
- Making a Successful Jewish Interfaith Marriage: The Jewish Outreach Institute Guide to Opportunities, Challenges and Resources by Rabbi Kerry Olitsky with Joan Peterson Littman
Many of these titles are available from Beth El's Outreach collection located in the library.
