Adult Education Committee Programs – 2015 - 2016
Shabbat Lunch and Learn Program with Rabbi Jessica Oleon Kirschner
Saturday, October 3 12:30 – 2 p.m. Social Hall
From Ferguson to Charleston and Beyond: Creating a Jewish reflection and response to racial injustice in our own time. As we emerge from the Holy Days filled with hope and optimism as we begin a new year, we have been sensitized, as well, to the many societal challenges that remain before us. One of the biggest issues confronting us in America is the pain caused by systemic racism in our country. The shofar blasts have awakened us and primed us to get involved. Now join us for our very first Shabbat lunch and learn of the year on Saturday, October 3 at 12:30 p.m., immediately following our service to do something positive to help. We are so pleased to have Rabbi Jessica Oleon Kirschner as our special guest speaker. Rabbi Kirschner is the Northern California Organizer for Just Congregations and Reform CA. Together we will examine what these challenges around racial justice can mean for each of us as individual Jews, for our Jewish community, and how we might become better allies to people and communities of color in the coming year. Bring your stories to share about what this issue means to you. There is no cost for the program, but please rsvp to Leah in the office at 758-0842 so we know how many to expect.
A little more information about Rabbi Kirschner:
Rabbi Kirschner works to strengthen the local community organizing efforts of Reform congregations in the Bay Area and anchor their participation in Reform CA. Jessica was ordained as a rabbi in 2007 from HUC-HR in Los Angeles and served as Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Washington, DC until 2014, where she led the congregation’s efforts to join and participate in community organizing as a member institution of Washington Interfaith Network (WIN). During rabbinical school she worked for many Reform Movement and social justice institutions including URJ Camp Newman and the Religious Action Center. She is also an active member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) Committee on Peace, Justice, and Civil Liberties. A native of Oakland, Jessica earned her BA from University of California, Berkeley and recently married and returned home to live in the Bay Area.
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San Francisco Jewish Film Institute Films
Sunday, October 25 2:00 p.m. Social Hall
Come for a fun afternoon of Jewish film with your friends at CBH. Jewish Film Institute on Demand is the newest initiative from the Jewish Film Institute, making available archival films from the SF Jewish Film Festival, the world’s first Jewish Film Festival and a leader in the field of Jewish independent cinema. Launched initially with 35 Festival favorites from its 35 year history JFI on Demand will add new films to its online collection each month, to rent and download-to-own. Stay tuned for the film we will be screening.
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Sasha Abramsky speaking on his book, “The House of Twenty Thousand Books
Sunday, November 15 2:00 p.m. Social Hall
Join us for an exciting opportunity to hear the personal story of Sasha Abramsky’s grandfather, Chimen, who was the atheist son of one of this century’s most important rabbis. The book, The House of Twenty Thousand Books, tells the story of Chimen Abramsky, an extraordinary bibliophile who amassed a vast collection of socialist literature and books on Jewish history. For more than fifty years, Chimen and his wife, Miriam, hosted epic gatherings in their house of books that brought together many of the age’s greatest thinkers.
Journalist Sasha Abramsky re-creates here a lost world, bringing to life the people, the books, and the ideas that filled his grandparents’ house, from gatherings that included Eric Hobsbawm and Isaiah Berlin to books with Karl Marx’s handwritten notes, William Morris manuscripts and woodcuts, an early sixteenth-century Bomberg Bible, and a first edition of Descrtes’s Meditations. TheHouse of Twenty Thousand Books is a wondrous journey through our times, from the vanished worlds of Eastern European Jewry to the cacophonous politics of modernity.
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A Taste of Judaism® with Rabbi Greg Wolfe Tuesdays, Nov. 3, 10, 17 from 7-9 PM
This 3-part class is a wonderful opportunity to taste the joys of Judaism. Everyone is welcome. You don’t have to be Jewish to be curious. Enjoy three FREE classes on the modern Jewish take on spirituality, values, and community. Our classes are dynamic and interactive. A Taste of Judaism® is designed especially for people who have limited or no Jewish background but are interested in learning more about Judaism. Many participants are unaffiliated Jews who don’t feel that they know much about their religion, the adult children of interfaith couples, non-Jews who are interested in learning more about Judaism, and partners in interfaith relationships. All sorts of people take this class! If you know someone who might be perfect for this class please have them register. Registration is required. To register, please contact Leah in the office at 758-0842.
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Watch for many more opportunities to learn throughout the year on the web at bethaverim.org and in upcoming issues of the E-news and E-Tone.