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September 2024
“Questions You’ll Be Asked in Heaven” with Rabbi Yael Hammerman
Elul is a month of self-reflection - a time to prepare yourself for the Yamim Noraim. But, what exactly should you reflect on? Join Rabbi Yael Hammerman in exploring the “Questions You’ll Be Asked in Heaven” - at least, according to the Talmud (Shabbat 31a). In truth, no one has ever come back to verify this... Nonetheless, we’ll look at what the rabbis proposed to get our minds, hearts and spirits warmed up for Tishrei. No Hebrew or Talmud skills…
Find out more »Time-Machine Teshuva, with Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky
"The past is never dead," William Faulkner wrote. "It's not even past." OK, Faulker was probably not talking about Jewish concepts of penitence. But he could have been. One of our deepest teachings is that teshuva today today transforms both tomorrow and yesterday. Let's talk with sages through the ages to reflect on how reshaping the future reshapes the past. Please RSVP online. Walk-ins also welcome.
Find out more »Heading to the Polls: American Jewish Civics in a Post-October 7 World
With neighboring synagogues, AC is co-sponsoring a 3-part series to explore the implications of this defining moment on Jewish civic identity. Join us at B'nai Jeshurun, Ansche Chesed, and Rodeph Shalom to hear from Shalom Hartman Institute scholars Yehuda Kurtzer, Elana Stein Hain, and Tamara Mann Tweel. The first session, Retreat & Reenter: A Model for American Jewish Civic Commitment, will be taught by Tamara Mann Tweel and held at B'nai Jeshurun (257 W. 88th St.) Learn More and Register
Find out more »October 2024
Lunch and Learn: Why is That in the Bible?
Working remotely? Retired? Stay-at-home parents? Taking a day off? Please join Rabbi Kalmanofsky for a monthly lunch-and-learn program to study some of the stranger passages in the Hebrew Bible. You'll meet giants and sea monsters, psychedelic visionaries and stone-cold killers. We'll retell the Torah's dirty jokes, sexy poems and gruesome horror stories. Some of this material will raise important religious or moral questions. Most will be fun and funny. Bring your lunch, according to the AC Kashrut policy, and we…
Find out more »Heading to the Polls: American Jewish Civics in a Post-October 7 World
The second session, Good for the Jews, Good for America?, will be taught by Elana Stein Hain and held at Ansche Chesed. Enlightened self-interest is the ethical concept that serving oneself can serve others and vice versa. Given the challenges confronting both Israel and American democracy today, and the very real emerging partisanship around Israel in U.S. politics, what might an American-Jewish version of enlightened self-interest look like? How do solidarity with and advocacy on behalf of Israel align with…
Find out more »November 2024
Wednesday Night Talmud with Rabbi Kalmanofsky: Holy Books and Holy Time
This year we will study tractate Shabbat, Chapter 16, which addresses how to write and care for sacred texts. If you want to purchase a copy of this text it is Artscroll vol. 4 or Koren vol 2F. We will also share electronic copies of the material. This class is best in person -- so please come! Also available via Zoom (Meeting ID: 817 7824 4159 | Passcode: chesed)
Find out more »Three Great Hebrew Poets, with Rachel Korazim
Join us for a series exploring Hebrew poetry with the great poetry teacher Rachel Korazim, who will join us for three Zoom sessions from Tel Aviv. Our next session will focus on Leah Goldberg. Born and raised in Eastern Europe, educated mainly in Germany, Leah Goldberg (1911-1970) emigrated to pre-state Israel in 1935, composing beautiful, musical poems bridging the distance between her European childhood and her new homeland. Scarred by World War I and the unfolding Shoah, she wrote lyrics…
Find out more »Jewish Values vs. Jewish Interests: Preventing America from Becoming Merely “Diaspora”
With the elections over, where are American Judaism and the American Jewish community heading? Long-developing polarization and hyper-partisanship, amplified by local discourse around October 7 and the Israel-Hamas war, have led many to wonder if liberalism, American Jewish values, and Zionism are truly compatible, and if the Jewish community can survive as a collective enterprise. Join Shalom Hartman Institute president Yehuda Kurtzer as he reflects on the post-election moment and offers a new framework for how American Judaism might continue…
Find out more »Wednesday Night Talmud with Rabbi Kalmanofsky: Holy Books and Holy Time
This year we will study tractate Shabbat, Chapter 16, which addresses how to write and care for sacred texts. If you want to purchase a copy of this text it is Artscroll vol. 4 or Koren vol 2F. We will also share electronic copies of the material. This class is best in person -- so please come! Also available via Zoom (Meeting ID: 817 7824 4159 | Passcode: chesed)
Find out more »Rabbi Jules Harlow Parshat HaShavuah Class
Join us for our weekly Parashat HaShavua class before the start of Shabbat morning services in the Chapel. Come at 8:45am for hot coffee and a chance to schmooze before the 9am class. Also available virtually via Zoom. This weekly class is dedicated to Rabbi Jules Harlow, a great teacher of Torah and Jewish liturgy. Click here for the Source Sheet for this week's class (updated on Friday afternoon).
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