Temple Beth Shalom | Adult Education 2009

Adult Education 2009

At Congregation Beth Shalom, we are very excited to offer a broad array of adult education classes for those with all sorts of background and experience, ranging from none to some to a lot. Classes will begin in early to mid October, so please hurry and sign up for something. It is our hope that this will be the year where everyone will do some Jewish learning by taking us up on at least one of the offerings. Here is our "catalogue"!!

Learn to Read & Translate Hebrew from Scratch
This class will meet weekly on Wednesdays at 6:15-7:45, beginning October 14. The assumption is that you do not know the alphabet at all and cannot read at all. For those who stick with it, after one year, you will read Hebrew from a Torah book (with vowels), and you will be able to translate simpler Biblical stories. Also, you will have fun. You will be expected to purchase two books and attend regularly. Success depends on devoting at least an hour a week at home to practice, preferably with a partner from the class. There has been strong interest in this and we are expecting a good sized class, to also include people from the University and larger Bozeman community. If you wish to participate, please contact our coordinator, Anika Hanisch, anika@spirituscreative.com.

Basic Introduction to Judaism
This class will meet every other week (more or less), twice a month, on Sunday evenings at 6:30-7:30, for a total of 10-12 sessions. It is designed for the complete novice, the newcomer to Judaism, the curious non-Jew, the intermarried spouse, or Jews who learned it as a child, and want a refresher. Each session will cover a different topic within Judaism, like Jewish ideas about G!d & spirituality, Jewish texts, prayer, Shabbat, Jewish calendar and holidays, Jewish ethics, Israel, Jewish social justice, etc. If you wish to participate, please contact our coordinator, Jennifer Stadum, lbcurlew@gmail.com.

Introduction to Jewish Texts
This is an intermediate level class for those who have had exposure to the basics of Judaism, and want to take the next step. We will look at texts around various themes from the mishna, the talmuds, the midrsah, etc., and learn the nature of these texts, how we use them, etc. No Hebrew knowledge is required. This class will meet twice a month on Thursday evenings at 5:30-6:45, the exact dates to be determined. If you wish to participate, please contact our coordinator, Elizabeth Burnim, elizabethburnim@gmail.com.

Torah Study
Torah study meets on most Saturday mornings (check the Temple website for details) at 9:30 a.m. We generally look at some text from the Torah and discuss its implications for our lives today. This is a vibrant group and your input and opinions are welcome. No prior knowledge or experience required. Just show up.

Jewish Parenting
This class will be offered during Shalom Tots, every other Monday at 5:30 (see the Shalom Tots schedule on our webiste). We will read a book on jewish parenting and discuss the ideas together. Don't just drop your kids, off, get involved. If you wish to participate, please contact our coordinator, Amy Keefer, keefer.amy@gmail.com.

Jewish Aging & Saging
This class will begin after January 1. We will explore Jewish ideas about how we spend our latter years and write our own ethical wills, where we seek to pass on our values to our children and grandchildren. I have taught this class before and participants found it to be very powerful. If you wish to participate, please contact our coordinator, Diane Yankelevitz, diane@wisdomhealing.com.

Group Spiritual Direction (Hashpa'ah)
This program will begin after January 1. Spiritual direction (or hashpa'ah in Hebrew) is a process in which participants explore the question of where G!d is present in their lives and seek to stregnthen their connection with the Holy One. Rabbi Ed is an ordained mashpia (spiritual director), a three year training and ordination apart from Rabbinic ordination. The practice of hashpa'ah is a strong Jewish tradition over the last 300 years, and has been supplemented by recent advancements made in other faith traditions. This is not so much a "class" (no texts or reading involved) as it is a chance to explore deeply personal questions. This program will be limited to 4-6 participants. If you wish to participate, please contact Rabbi Ed at bozemanrabbi@gmail.com.

Social programming
Watch our Calendar of Events for various social programs, organized by Paul and Barbara Rosenthal, chairs of our programming committee, and their committee members. For questions or suggestions, please contact the Rosenthals at divemaestro@hotmail.com.

Book club
Beth Shalom has had a book club for several years, and a few would like to continue it. The club has met once a month to discuss a book they have each read the preceding month, and selects a book for the next month. Meeting date will depend on the schedules of those who sign up. We are not sure if there is a continuing interest in the book club, so if you wish to participate, please contact Rabbi at bozemanrabbi@gmail.com.

Shabbat Morning worship
While we have regular Friday night services, the main shabbat Jewish service is on Saturday morning. We will begin a once a month abbreviated Saturday morning service, generally on the first shabbat of the month, at 8:45 a.m, so as to be done in time for Torah study at 9:30. This will be partly a learning service so that we can learn the Saturday morning service. The service will be a little closer to conservative tradition (although abbreviated) and the prayers will be mostly in Hebrew, but because it will include a teaching element, it is a chance to learn the prayers used in our main service.

Interfaith Dialogue
TBA

We hope to see you all there!!

Please send comments, corrections, suggestions and contributions to our office administrator, Lisa Roots.

2010 West Koch St. Bozeman, MT 59718-4069 | (406) 556-0528 | cbshalom@qwestoffice.net

A member of the Union for Reform Judaism