Derekh Torah/Judaism 201

Overview

Many people have completed an excellent Introduction to Judaism here at the 92NY or elsewhere. We have heard from many of you that, as you connect more to Jewish community, a deeper exploration of Jewish text, practice and contemporary issues would be helpful and meaningful in your Jewish journey.  

We are delighted to offer Exploring Judaism, Part II. Our beloved instructor, Abby Eisenberg, will teach the first class this November.   

This class will weave together the ways in which Jewish tradition has embraced day-to-day life and infused it with a sense of the sacred, while simultaneously weaving in consistent hope for a better day, and a better future.   

A tentative outline of the class is below and each cohort will be able to shape the learning experience with questions and topics that resonate for them.  

Judaism 201:  

Cultivating Lives of Meaning in the Jewish Present, Hoping for - and Working Toward - a Better Future  

Session 1. Welcome: Revisiting Jewish Communal and Spiritual Connection  

Session 2. Jewish Spirituality: Prayer, Meditation and Beyond  

Session 3. Text Study and Interpretation: Nuances of Rabbinic Commentaries and skill-building for our own divrei Torah (Words of Torah)  

Session 4. Shabbat in Our Lives: Deepening and Personalizing the Shabbat Experience with Tradition and Modernity - From the Practical to the Ethereal   

Session 5. A Tradition of Doing Good: Sacred Responsibility with Acts of Love and Kindness  

Session 6. Contemporary Antisemitism: Our Jewish Responses  

 Session 7. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Exploring the Conflict with Empathy and Equanimity  

Session 8. Multi-Vocal Jewish Thought - Part I: Jewish Responses to Suffering and Loss  

Session 9. Multi-Vocal Jewish Thought - Part II: Individual Afterlife and Communal Redemption  

Session 10. Solidifying and Expanding Our Own Jewish Lives Today: Understanding Denominations and Finding Jewish experiences in NYC that feel like home  

Dates 

Thursdays, 7-9 p.m.   

Nov 5  

Nov 12  

Nov 19   

Dec 3  

 Dec 10  

Dec 17  

Jan 7  

Jan 14  

Jan 21  

Jan 28