ADULT JEWISH LEARNING

Temple Emanu-El Adult Jewish Learning
ונימע ירבד Words of Our People: Exploring the Texts and Stories of the Jews

Last year, our Adult Jewish Learning department began a multi-year educational arc, whose learning goals were focused on the central question: “What should an educated Reform Jew know?” In the first year of exploration toward answering this question, we centered our classes and resources on Jewish spirituality, providing learners with the concepts, sources, and tools with which to refine their own ideas about – and their relationships with – the God of Israel.

The temple members who learned with us last year received some new building-blocks with which to continue constructing their relationship with God. We provided them with new insights into personal prayer and spirituality, self-improvement and morality, and new devotional practices with which to enrich their understanding of the sacred in their lives. In short, we encouraged and empowered our congregational learners to craft their own personal responses to God’s presence in the world.

Our learning goal last year challenged the members of Temple Emanu-El to spend some time composing their own personal “texts” about how they relate to God. This year, we hope they will learn about the canonical texts of Judaism which have shaped our faith over the centuries. We will seek to provide our adult learners with the tools they need to gain new comfort with their literary heritage and learn to lay claim to the texts which are their inheritance.

Our primary goal is that our learners should gain familiarity and comfort with the major genres and examples of Jewish canonical text (Tanakh and classical parshanut, midrash, legal and aggadic rabbinic texts, mystical works, responsa, etc.). However, we also hope and expect that adult learners at Temple Emanu-El will be exposed to significant types of text (and significant ways of approaching texts) outside this narrow band of canonical content. These might include works such as influential biographies of Jewish individuals, foundational documents of the state of Israel and the Reform Movement in America and “reading” techniques such as liturgical nusach and scriptural cantillation.