Adult Education Blog

Our next Book Club meeting will be on February 26th at 10:30 AM at the home of a congregant. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about book club.

Our next book is, "Not Our Kind" by Kitty Zeldis - a riveting story featuring two women: a young Jewish girl and the rich woman who hires her to tutor her young daughter. The book takes place in New York City in 1947 and the author does an excellent job of putting the...Read more...

Book of Jeremiah

Summary of Jeremiah

Was Jeremiah a Failure?

Notes on AJH's the Prophets

Excerpt's from Rabbi's Graduate Class on Jeremiah

I Kings

I Kings Summary

II Kings

II Kings Summary

The following two images are from Christian websites, which it is helpful to be mindful and wary of. However, the dates are fairly accurate despite being written as BC instead of BCE and I find it really helps to see everyone lined up like this. Many of the Kings' names are similar and I lose track of Judah vs. Israel, etc.

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Learning about the Prophets is on hold this week as we engage with learners of all ages on the theme of anti-heroes and benevolent or redeemable villains in Jewish texts!

Gather to pray with our Religious School at 10:30, and the learning begins at 11! We will start off discussing perspectives all together and then move into age-appropriate break out groups.

k-4th Grade: Make your own Superhero and Arch-Nemesis...Read more...

Slideshow by Rabbi Suri from Rabbi Lizz's Alumni Listserve

Rabbi Lizz's Notes on The Prophets by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Our regular Adult Ed classes with the Rabbi will start up for the year on November 24th. This year's focus will be on the Books of the Prophets and will meet each Sunday at 1 pm unless otherwise noted. 

For our next book, we will be reading The Source by James Michener.

This historical novel spans all of Jewish history, linking characters from generation to generation through the persecution of the early Hebrews, the rise of Christianity, and the Crusades to the founding of Israel and the modern conflict in the Middle East.

As such, it is a very long read, so we will meet to discuss it on the last Wednesday of October...Read more...

Our Book Club meets monthly at the home of a member. Each member takes turns picking the book and providing the snacks for the meeting at which we discuss their pick. 

June's pick is Jewish Children by beloved Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, to be discussed at 10:30 am on June 19th. Jewish Children is available for free on Kindle. 

July's pick is rather long, so you may want to start reading that in June as well! On...Read more...

Nehemiah 11-13

In an Age of Prose - Notes on the rest of the book

Rabbi Lizz's Source Sheet

This post by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is not about Ezra-Nehemiah, but I thought it was a nice drash for our final moments together of Purim Weekend, and she pulls in some knowledge from Tamara Cohn Eskanazi who wrote "In An Age of Prose."

Nehemiah chapters 4-6

Rabbi Lizz's Source Sheet

Judaism: The First Phase (Last Chapters Notated)

Notes on "In An Age of Prose"

Nehemia Chapters 1-3

Rabbi Lizz's Sefaria Source Sheet

Notes on Joseph Blenkinsopp's book "Judaism: The First Phase" (Some new notes have been added)

Ezra Chapters 7-10

Wikipedia - Historical Background section has a helpful timeline of the Historical Persian Kings and Wider World Events that Coincide with Ezra-Nehemia

Rabbi Lizz's Sefaria Sourcesheet

Notes on Joseph Blenkinsopp's book "Judaism: The First Phase"