Adult Education

How Jewish Mysticism Revolutionized Being Jewish Taught by Guest Lecturer Professor Barry Wimpfheimer Monday Evenings 6:00pm Supper (optional); 6:45pm Lecture Throughout history the central goals of Jewish life have changed with the times. One of the strong intellectual influences on the framing narratives of Jewishness is mysticism. This four-part series will trace the changes that Jewish mysticism has wrought on Judaism from the bible to today. Mondays: Nov 4, 18, 25, Dec 2.  Class meets 6:45-8:15pm preceded by an optional…

How Jewish Mysticism Revolutionized Being Jewish Taught by Guest Lecturer Professor Barry Wimpfheimer Monday Evenings 6:00pm Supper (optional); 6:45pm Lecture Throughout history the central goals of Jewish life have changed with the times. One of the strong intellectual influences on the framing narratives of Jewishness is mysticism. This four-part series will trace the changes that Jewish mysticism has wrought on Judaism from the bible to today. Mondays: Nov 4, 18, 25, Dec 2.  Class meets 6:45-8:15pm preceded by an optional…

Coffee Chat - Discussion on readings Sunday, December 15, 2019; Sunday, February 2 and Sunday, May 10, 2020 10:00am Back by popular demand, Roundtable discussions are back.  This year grab a cup of coffee at the Nosh and join this salon-style discussion!  Discussion topics and readings will be distributed ahead of time online, as well as be available in the office.   Sunday, December 15 Mystery Torah in a Thrift Store in a Southern Town https://forward.com/news/national/434356/mystery-torah-goodwill-williamsburg-virginia/ Jewish Identity Means Different…

December 16, 2019 Souper Study featuring author Ed Elhaderi Ed Elhaderi -             Nomadic Soul tells the remarkable story of how the author dis­cov­ered mean­ing depth and com­mu­ni­ty in Judaism. He was born in a tiny vil­lage in the Libyan Sahara into a Sun­ni Mus­lim fam­i­ly with­out elec­tric­i­ty or run­ning water and was lucky to sur­vive his poor Bedouin child­hood. TBI welcomes Ed Elhaderi. Ed obtained his B.Sc. from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Tripoli, and received a Ph.D. in Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing…

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON LUNCH AND LEARN Wednesday Lunch time 12:00pm Lunch (optional) $10; 12:45pm Lecture Enjoy lunch and fabulous tidbits of learning during the day. Each month on the third Wednesday, there will be lectures from varied and learned sources ranging from TBI history to the Israel Film Festival to Yiddish and Hebrew Language. Join the discussion each session as these presenters bring these interesting topics straight to you here at Temple Beth Israel. Stay tuned to the TBI Bulletin and…

Enjoy this new program for a taste of learning through your day on the third Wednesday of each month!  More details to follow soon.

Souper Study featuring author Skokie Village Mayor George Van Dusen Mayor George Van Dusen – “Clear it with Sid!” The Jew­ish son of a Lithuan­ian black­smith, Sid­ney R. Yates rose to the pin­na­cle of Wash­ing­ton pow­er and influ­ence. As chair of a House Appro­pri­a­tions Sub­com­mit­tee, and dean of the Jew­ish Cau­cus, Yates was a pre­em­i­nent nation­al fig­ure involved in issues rang­ing from the envi­ron­ment to Israel, and sup­port for the arts. Speak­er Tip O’Neill relied on the savvy Chicagoan in the trench­es and advised any­one with…

SUNDAY MORNING SEMINAR FEATURING AUTHOR MARY MORRIS 10:00am Presentation Sunday, January 26, 2020 Speakers:  Mary Morris With more and more ease, peo­ple today are dis­cov­er­ing their Jew­ish roots — some find­ing they are the descen­dants of con­ver­sos, Jews who con­vert­ed dur­ing the Inqui­si­tion. Mary Mor­ris touch­es on this phe­nom­e­non in the his­tor­i­cal note at the begin­ning of her nov­el, Gate­way to the Moon. The chap­ters in the book alter­nate between 15th- and 16th-cen­tu­ry Spain and Por­tu­gal dur­ing the har­row­ing time of the Inqui­si­tion, and…

Coffee Chat - Discussion on readings Sunday, October 6 and Sunday, December 15, 2019; Sunday, February 2 and Sunday, May 10, 2020 10:00am Back by popular demand, Roundtable discussions are back.  This year grab a cup of coffee at the Nosh and join this salon-style discussion!  Discussion topics and readings will be distributed ahead of time online, as well as be available in the office.  

Enjoy this new program for a taste of learning through your day on the third Wednesday of each month!  More details to follow soon.

Nationalism and Judaism: a burden or an opportunity? Monday Evenings 6:00pm Supper (optional); 6:45pm Lecture In this five-session series we will explore the stories that we Jews tell, from biblical times to the present, about our dual commitments to Jewish particularism and Jewish universalism. Together we will mine the Jewish tradition for orientations and values that we want to be the dominant, guiding lens through which we approach the idea of nationalism – all the while, deeply cognizant of the…

Nationalism and Judaism: a burden or an opportunity? Monday Evenings 6:00pm Supper (optional); 6:45pm Lecture In this five-session series we will explore the stories that we Jews tell, from biblical times to the present, about our dual commitments to Jewish particularism and Jewish universalism. Together we will mine the Jewish tradition for orientations and values that we want to be the dominant, guiding lens through which we approach the idea of nationalism – all the while, deeply cognizant of the…

Nationalism and Judaism: a burden or an opportunity? Monday Evenings 6:00pm Supper (optional); 6:45pm Lecture In this five-session series we will explore the stories that we Jews tell, from biblical times to the present, about our dual commitments to Jewish particularism and Jewish universalism. Together we will mine the Jewish tradition for orientations and values that we want to be the dominant, guiding lens through which we approach the idea of nationalism – all the while, deeply cognizant of the…

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON LUNCH AND LEARN Wednesday Lunch time 12:00pm Lunch (optional) $10; 12:45pm Lecture Enjoy lunch and fabulous tidbits of learning during the day. Each month on the third Wednesday, there will be lectures from varied and learned sources ranging from TBI history to the Israel Film Festival to Yiddish and Hebrew Language. Join the discussion each session as these presenters bring these interesting topics straight to you here at Temple Beth Israel. Stay tuned to the TBI Bulletin and…

Nationalism and Judaism: a burden or an opportunity? Monday Evenings 6:00pm Supper (optional); 6:45pm Lecture In this five-session series we will explore the stories that we Jews tell, from biblical times to the present, about our dual commitments to Jewish particularism and Jewish universalism. Together we will mine the Jewish tradition for orientations and values that we want to be the dominant, guiding lens through which we approach the idea of nationalism – all the while, deeply cognizant of the…

Nationalism and Judaism: a burden or an opportunity? Monday Evenings 6:00pm Supper (optional); 6:45pm Lecture In this five-session series we will explore the stories that we Jews tell, from biblical times to the present, about our dual commitments to Jewish particularism and Jewish universalism. Together we will mine the Jewish tradition for orientations and values that we want to be the dominant, guiding lens through which we approach the idea of nationalism – all the while, deeply cognizant of the…

SUNDAY MORNING SEMINAR FEATURING AUTHOR ALEXANDRA SILBER 10:00am Presentation Sunday, April 19, 2020 Speakers:  Alexandra Silber The world knows well the tale of Tevye, the beloved Jewish dairyman from the shtetl Anatevka of Tsarist Russia. In stories originally written by Sholem Aleichem and then made world-famous in the celebrated musical Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, his wife Golde, and their five daughters dealt with the outside influences that were encroaching upon their humble lives. But what happened to those remarkable…

Coffee Chat - Discussion on readings Sunday, October 6 and Sunday, December 15, 2019; Sunday, February 2 and Sunday, May 10, 2020 10:00am Back by popular demand, Roundtable discussions are back.  This year grab a cup of coffee at the Nosh and join this salon-style discussion!  Discussion topics and readings will be distributed ahead of time online, as well as be available in the office.