Adult Education
The goal of the Adult Education Committee at Temple Emanu-El is to initiate programs that will be of interest to our members, building on a sense of community. We hope to reach out to our members wherever they are, to find ways to interest them, increase their knowledge, and share with the entire Temple family Judaism’s unique call to learn.
Jewish learning at Temple Emanu-El can be energizing and communal. You will not only learn from your fellow members, but your own insights and reflections will be enhanced through the process of discussion and examination. The Adult Education Committee wants to help develop a Jewish “Community of Learners” by:
- Providing Jewish learning opportunities to all members of the Temple
- Providing opportunities for open discussions on relevant, real-life issues which foster creative Jewish thinking and promote a sense of community with other Temple members and with Am Israel
- Recognizing the deep well of expertise and talent residing within our own congregation and providing occasions for sharing this knowledge among our own members
- Enriching the lives of our members through learning so that we can transmit that love of learning from this generation to the next
Temple members have engaged in this process through a wide array of learning opportunities including:
- Saturday morning Torah Study with the Rabbi
- Lay-led Study Groups (topics have included “The Ethics of War”; “The Six Day War and Its Consequences”)
- Engaging Classes with Rabbi Emeritus Klein (whose previous topics have included Genesis, The New Testament, Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets)
- Learning outside the Temple walls through group movie attendance followed by discussion, and ethnic restaurant visits with focus on the Jewish connection to various locales
- Scholar–in-Residence Program (Past scholars have included Rabbi Larry Kushner, Rabbi David Saperstein, Cantor Ellen Dreskin, Rabbi David Foreman, Aaron Lansky, IRAC Executive Director Anat Hoffman, and author Joel Hoffman)
- Weinstein Scholar Lecture (Past lecturers have included Dr. James VanderKam on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the late Jeffrey Zaslow speaking on “The Last Lecture,” Prof. Michael Pytlik on his archaeological work in Israel)
- Introduction to Judaism classes with the Rabbi.
