Ongoing Offerings
The following offerings are continuing throughout the year, and you are invited to join at any time. You need NOT register for these offerings, just show up:
Torah Study, most every Saturday morning at 9:30. Come and explore the hidden gems in our Torah and learn how to use them to live fuller life. No prior experience required.
Interfaith Panel. One Wednesday a month at noon at the Temple, Father Leo from Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Rev. Jody McDevitt from First Presbyterian Church, Rabbi Ed, and Muslim leader Ruhul Amin, will come together to discuss how each of our faith-traditions understand a particular issue, and address questions from those attending about those issues. This is not only a chance for learning, but also an opportunity to understand one another better.
Adult Education
Upcoming Fall 2010 Classes
Parting of the Ways: The Split Between Judaism & Christianity in the First Century
Wednesdays, 2:30-4:30, October 13 to November 17
Taught by Rabbi Ed through Wonderlust
Introduction to Kabbalah
Times and dates to be announced.
This six week class will give you an introduction to, and an overview of, kabbalah, the world of Jewish mysticism. The Orthodox tradition says that only happily married men (women prohibited!) of age 40 or older and with at least two children may study the real kabbalah, but in the progressive world, we make the real thing accessible to all. Of course, this will only be an introduction, but come learn the hidden part of Judaism.
Guide for the Perplexed, by Rabbi Moses Maimonides (Rambam).
Times and dates to be announced.
We will read Rambam's famous book, Guide for the Perplexed, no more than a chapter a week, and discuss. Rambam is the father of rationalism in Judaism, and was the most esteemed Jewish philosopher and medical doctor of his time. His book was so controversial that it was burned in some Jewish circles. Come learn.
Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Times and dates to be announced.
Perhaps you did not have a bat mitzvah because you are a woman who grew up in a time when women did not have this opportunity or you grew up in the Orthodox world where women still are not permitted to read from the Torah, lead a service, or have their voices heard in public? Or perhaps you grew up in an environment where bar/bat mitzvah was not considered important? Or perhaps you are a Jew by Choice ready to take the next step and become bar/bat mitzvah? Or maybe you had a bar/bat mitzvah at a time where it lacked meaning for you and you want to do it again, maybe on the anniversary of the first time? Whatever the reason, now is your chance. We will do some Jewish learning together which will culminate in a bar/bat mitzvah for each of the participants, either as a group or individuals, as the group decides.
Recent Spring 2010 — classes (ended May)
Jewish Eldering
Co-Taught by Dr. Kathryn Borgenicht & Rabbi Ed
This six session weekly offering is designed for the elders among us (and those who will soon be elders) who are willing to explore issues of aging and eldering in their lives. While in much of modern culture, aging is a negative to be avoided, in the Jewish and some other traditions, the elder is revered for his/her wisdom.We will discuss the medical, ethical, and spiritual issues that one faces in the November and December years of our lives. How do we harvest all that we have experienced and learned during a life time and pass it on to those we love? How do we make the most of those years? What work is there to do that must be addressed in the time remaining? As Jews and some other traditions have done for millenia, we will each learn to write, and actually write, our own ethical will, a document designed to pass on our cherished values, hopes, and aspirations to those we love.
Dr. Borgenicht is a member of our congregation and also a geritrician and head of Palliative Care at Bozeman-Deaconess Hospital.
Meeting times TBA based upon interest.
Introduction to Kabbalah
taught by Rabbi Ed
This six week class will give you an introduction to, and an overview of, kabbalah, the world of Jewish mysticism. The Orthodox tradition says that only happily married men (women prohibited!) of age 40 or older and with at least two children may study the real kabbalah, but in the progressive world, we make the real thing accessible to all. Of course, this will only be an introduction, but come learn the hidden part of Judaism. Meeting times TBA based upon interest.
About Rabbi Ed & His Teaching
Rabbi Ed's academic background includes a B.S. from State University of New York at Stony Brook (1975), a J.D. from Florida State University College of Law (1978), a M.A. in Religion of Western Antiquity from Florida State University (2005), A.B.D. (all but dissertation for a Ph.D) from Florida State University, and Rabbinic ordination from the ALEPH Rabbinic Program, following 8 years of study. All classes are geared towards a discussion style rather than lectures.