TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Archive of Previous Talks
Weekly Parsha Class
CBI Cafe: Spring Schedule
Sign up for the Adult Education email list
Questions about our Adult Education offerings? Please reach out to our Engagement Coordinator Amy Stein.
The Adult Education Committee is comprised of Penina Glazer, Phyllis Eckstein, Larry Fine, Joshua Roth, Laura Katznelson, Dave Gorin, and Steffi Schamess.
Archive of Previous Talks
Professor Mark Auslander
"Mourning across borders: honoring the voices of the lost" --- Read the transcript of this talk here.
January 14, 2024
Professor Omar Bartov
"Weaponizing Language: Misuses of Holocaust Memory and the Never Again Syndrome" --- Fill out this form to receive the recording link.
February 28, 2024
Laurie Sanders
"History of the Northampton Alms House" --- Watch the Zoom presentation here.
February 4, 2024
Rabbi David Seidenberg
"Jews and Indigenousness" --- Watch the livestream recording here.
March 11, 2024
Spring Offerings
Weekly Parsha Class with Rabbi Ariella and Rabbi Jacob
Fridays 12:00-1:00 pm in the CBI Library
In person only. Drop in; no registration required.
Join Rabbi Ariella and Rabbi Jacob for a discussion of the weekly Torah portion. All are welcome, no prior knowledge or experience required. Each session will stand alone, feel free to come whenever it works for you. And please feel free to bring your own lunch!
Queer Torah with Rabbi Ariella
Wednesdays, May 8, 15, 29, and June 5 from 7:00 - 8:30 pm in the CBI Library and on Zoom
Register for Queer Torah Class. Back by popular demand, Queer Torah will explore stories, characters and ideas in the Torah and other Jewish texts that connect to LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences. We'll learn about and practice applying a queer lens to the text, shifting the ways we read and understand the words of these texts that belong to all of us. We will be learning all new materials, so if you attended Queer Torah classes in years past, this class is still for you! This class is intended for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. If this feels like the right space for you, please join us.
Sundays, in person in the CBI Library
10:30-11:00 am: Coffee and nosh
11:00-12:00 pm: Presentation and discussion
No registration required, except where noted.
Sunday, May 19: Tamar Shadur, Jewish Papercutting Workshop
Registration is required; space is limited to 10 participants.
Learn the centuries-old folk art of Ashkenazi and Sefaradi Jews. In this workshop will explore what makes a papercut Jewish, and create at least one papercut using simple materials.
Tamar Shadur, the daughter of a renowned Jewish papercut artist and scholar, is an experienced teacher with degrees in Art Education and MEd. ESL. She is also a renowned tapestry weaving artist.
To cover the costs of this class, we are asking for tuition on a sliding scale of $0-$100, including the cost of materials. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Sunday, June 9: Rabbi Rena Kieval, "Reading Ruth: A Torah of Love"
This program will go from 11:00 – 12:30 to assure time for discussion.
On Shavuot, as we celebrate the giving of Torah at Sinai, this story offers another facet of Torah in its profound teachings about the practice and challenges of chesed, grace and love. We will explore these themes in the Biblical story and in rabbinic commentary, and learn from Ruth, an unlikely hero who, according to Jewish tradition, is ancestor to the messiah, to a redeemed world.
Rena Kieval is a social worker and educator who was ordained as a rabbi by the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York. She recently retired from serving as full-time rabbi of a congregation in Albany NY, and continues to write, study and teach, while enjoying time in Northampton with her family and at CBI.
Canceled Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, "Song of Songs": We are so sorry to share that this event has been canceled, due to Rabbi Ellen Berstein's recent passing. Please read Ellen's obituary, and read her book, Toward A Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in the Age of Climate Crisis. May Rabbi Ellen's memory be a blessing.
Coming Attractions
Community Read
We will choose a book for anyone in the community to read and discuss. We will host several small discussion groups and we will organize a final panel featuring “experts” including literary, historical, and psychological points of view on the book.
