Adult Learning October to December 2022
Limmud Rodef
Partially funded by a grant from The Breman Foundation
Click here to register for December Limmud Rodef.
November classes
Tuesdays • Nov 1, 8, 15 at Rodef Shalom
7:00 p.m.
Opening Talks: What’s Jewish About…
Serving in Public Office with State Representative Steve Woodrow - Nov 1
Renewable Energy with Ilan Caplan - Nov 8
Space Travel with Dr. Jeff Ward - Nov 15
7:15 - 8:00 p.m. (3-part series Nov 1, 8, 15, choose 1)
Gender and Judaism with Ev Evnen
How the Bible Came to Be with Dr. Fred Greenspahn
Trope: Learn to Chant Torah! with Debbie Ginsburg
8:15 - 9:00 pm (3-part series Nov 1, 8, 15, choose 1)
Judaism and Ecology with Dr. Moshe Kornfeld
Jewish Poetry Throughout the Ages with Rabbi Dave Yedid
Hebrew 101 - Learn to Read! with Daniel Eisenberg (6-part series Cost: $54 for Hebrew 101 class)
December Classes
Tuesdays • Dec 6, 13, 20 at Rodef Shalom
7:00 p.m.
Opening Talks: What’s Jewish About…
Writing an Ethical Will with Dale Marcus - Dec 6
Secular Education? with Dr. Jeremy Golubcow-Teglasi - Dec 13
Mental Health Care with State Representative Dafna Michaelson Jenet - Dec 20
7:15 - 8:00 p.m. (3-part series Dec 6, 13, 20, choose 1)
How We Understand Suffering (Tractate Brachot) with Rabbi Sandra Cohen
Kippah, Scarf, or Hat? Head Coverings in Judaism: Study Text and Learn to Crochet a Kippah with Rabbi Carrie Benveniste
Trope — Learn to Chant Torah with Debbie Ginsburg
8:15 - 9:00 p.m. (3-part series Dec 6, 13, 20, choose 1)
Labor & Judaism with Rabbi Rachel Kobrin & David Seligman, Esq.
The Art and Archeology of the Ancient Synagogue with Dr. Joyce Raynor
Hebrew 101 with Daniel Eisenberg (6-sessions con't)
Wine, Cheese & Torah with Rabbi Kobrin
Wednesdays 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Nov 2, 16 • Dec 7, 21
Come shmooze and learn a little while our kids are at R•School.
Niggun Circle with Moshe Kornfeld, our Hazzan
Thursday 8:00 p.m.
Dec 15
Join together to make beautiful music. All are welcome and encouraged to add their voices to the experience!
Ongoing Classes
Women’s Text Study Group Facilitated by Rabbi Rachel Kobrin
Wednesday • zoom.us/j/798075647
Nov 2, 16, 23 • Dec 7, 14, 21 (con't in 2023)
1:00 pm — 2:00 p.m.
Open to all self-identifying women.
Interfaith Bible study
Wednesday Oct 19, 26 • Nov 2, 9,16, 23, 30 • Dec 7
6:30 — 7:30 p.m. on Zoom
A partnership in study with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
An eight-session course investigating the topics in “A Rabbi Talks with Jesus,” by Jacob Neusner. Contact mainoffice@rodef-shalom.org for Zoom information.
Tanakh and Tabloids Facilitated by Rabbi Rachel Kobrin
Thursdays on Zoom • zoom.us/j/798075647
11:00 a.m. — noon
A half-hour discussion of current events through a Jewish lens, followed by a half-hour of text study. No experience necessary.
Talmud Class Facilitated by Rabbi Bernie Gerson
1st and 3rd Sundays of each month on Zoom
This is an in-depth exploration of Tractate Shabbat through the study of the text in translation. Beginners are welcome. Monthly contribution suggested.
For further information, link, and questions, please contact Rabbi Bernie directly at gersonbernard18@gmail.com.
Shabbat Learners’ Minyan Led by Rabbi Joyce Raynor & our Hazzan, Moshe Kornfeld
Saturdays Oct 8 • Nov 19 • Dec 10 at Rodef Shalom
10:00 a.m. — 11:30 a.m. (con't in 2023)
We will meet monthly to familiarize ourselves with the structure of the Shabbat morning service, history, and meanings of individual prayers, and become comfortable with some of the melodies we use at Rodef.
Valley Beit Midrash
Rodef Shalom is partnering with Valley Beit Midrash (VBM) to offer online learning and in-person social justice opportunities this year. These two classes are offered in cosponsorship between Rodef Shalom and VBM and are free of charge to our Rodef Shalom members.
The Other Oven in the Talmud: How A Halakhic Discussion Sparked A Great Soul with Rabbi Michael Marmur
November 17 on Zoom
10:00 — 11:00 a.m.
In this class, we will consider a debate in the Talmud concerning the limits of responsibility for the deeds of our fellow human beings, and how one of the greatest Jews of the twentieth century read and related to this debate. At stake is the question: when is it intrusive and disrespectful to get involved in your neighbor’s business, and when is it morally imperative?
About the Speaker: Rabbi Michael Marmur is Associate Professor of Jewish Theology at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. He has published works on Abraham Joshua Heschel and American Jewish Thought, and is the Chair of the Board of Rabbis for Human Rights.
Darkness Will Envelop Me: Meditations on Chanukah and Winter with Dr. Devorah Steinmetz
December 15 @ 10:00 — 11:00 a.m. on Zoom
About the Event: The Talmud tells a story about the first human being’s experience of the first winter, a story that has echoes of the story of Chanukah. We will consider the meanings that emerge from the interplay between these texts and that are embodied in our practice of lighting candles on Chanukah.
About the Speaker: Devora Steinmetz serves on the faculty of the Hebrew College Rabbinical School and the Mandel Leadership Institute. She is the founder of Beit Rabban, a Jewish day school profiled in Daniel Pekarsky’s Vision at Work: The Theory and Practice of Beit Rabban. She is the author of scholarly articles on Talmud, Midrash, and Bible as well as of two books, From Father to Son: Kinship, Conflict, and Continuity in Genesis and Punishment and Freedom: The Rabbinic Construction of Criminal Law. She has served on the faculty of Drisha, the Jewish Theological Seminary, Yeshivat Hadar, and Havruta: a Beit Midrash at Hebrew University.