Adult Studies

Many Jewish sacred texts are millennia old, yet the Jewish People have continued to evolve. Similarly, each of us change in the course of our own lives. Adult studies gives a passageway into Jewish tradition and culture within the context of the classroom and through shared experiences. Continue to explore your Jewish journey forth with the offerings that follow. All of our adult education opportunities will fully engage both remote and in-person participants. Listed below are programs that we offer on a regular basis. Also, check out our program brochurePlease check the calendar for actual dates.

 

Women's Rosh Hodesh with Rabbi Jodie

Monthly on Wednesdays, 7:30 - 9:00pm

All women of our congregation are welcome to join us as we study and learn with each other. We examine traditional religious rituals and life cycle events and reflect on how they continue to meet the needs of women today. Current issues of importance to us are also discussed. Women of all ages are welcome.

 

Men's Group

Members only
Monthly on Thursdays, 7:30 - 9:00pm

The Men’s Group is a monthly vehicle for the men of our congregation to socialize and discuss topics of mutual, personal and general interest. Rabbi Lee, a member of the group, participates in the discussions. Members learn more about one another and develop friendships. Men of all ages are welcome. Contact congregant Seymour Weinstein at MensGroup@rsns.org.

 

Generations of Holocaust Survivors

The children and grandchildren of survivors join together to share stories and the history of their family members. We discover our common bonds and more fully understand the impact of the Holocaust on our lives. Discussions depend upon the needs of participants. In the past, they have included action steps to deal with anti-Semitism, how to learn more about our families’ past and the question of reparations. Contact congregant Dinah Kramer at Generations@rsns.org

 

Engaging With Aging

Members only
Meets monthly

Under the expert and gentle guidance of Eileen Rosendahl, we share ideas, expand our interests and explore new directions in our lives while we get to better know one another as fellow congregants and friends.

 

Clergy Connections with Cantor Eric & Rabbi Lee

Weekly on Tuesdays, 12:00 - 1:00pm

Cantor Eric and Rabbi Lee will continue this program, teaching on alternate weeks, blazing pathways into the Jewish past and discussing topics of the day that are of political, cultural and religious interest.

 

Bible Seminar with Rabbi Lee

Bi-monthly on Thursday,  7:30 – 9:00pm

Our never-ending study of the Hebrew Bible continues.  We will pick up our reading with the lives of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs featured in the Book of Genesis, and with both the nobility and dysfunctionality of our first families.  All are welcome to come regularly or episodically, those for whom the narratives are new, and those who have studied them before.

 

Shabbat Yoga with Rabbi Jodie (RYS-200 Certified)

Fridays

Experience Shabbat through movement; connecting body, mind and soul. Good for all levels. Adults and post b’nei mitzvah teens, as well as non-members are welcome. Bring your own mat and yoga props (we have a few if you forget yours). Wear comfortable workout attire.


Clergy "One-Shots"

 

Exploring Haggadot.com: DIY Haggadah Workshop with Cantor Eric

Tuesday, April 5, 2021, 7:00pm

Using the power of relationships to transform the Jewish community, Rabbi Jodie will lead an exploration of denominational boundaries, institutional walls, and how we develop Judaism for the next century.

 

Relational Judaism with Rabbi Jodie

Saturday, May 21, 2021, 12:00pm

Using the power of relationships to transform the Jewish community, Rabbi Jodie will lead an exploration of denominational boundaries, institutional walls, and how we develop Judaism for the next century.

 

Looking at Addiction Through a Jewish Lens with Rabbi Jodie

Tuesday, October 26, 2021, 7:00pm

Using traditional texts and insights from her work at Beit T’Shuvah, Rabbi Jodie will lead participants on a journey through the wilder- ness of addiction.

 

Jewish Humor Through Music with Cantor Eric

Sunday, November 7, 2021, 10:00am

From irony to joy, mischief to satire, Jews, humor and music have a long history together. Come listen to some hilarious examples as we unpack the intersection of these quintessential forms of Jewish expression.

 

A Jewish Vampire Story with Rabbi Lee

Thursday, December 16, 2021, 7:00pm

If you like scary stories and are interested in how Israelis look at Diaspora Jewry, you’ll enjoy this reading and analysis of Nobel Prize laureate, S. Y. Agnon’s “The Lady and the Pedlar,” a perfect not-for-children Hanukka tale.

 

The World Jewish Experience through the photography of Frederic Brenner with Rabbi Lee

Saturday, February 12, 2022, 12:00pm

French born Frederic Brenner has been the photographer of record of the Jewish world for the past forty years.  Rabbi Lee will frame what Brenner has seen and recorded in his peregrinations to vanishing Jewish communities throughout the world.


Cantor's Kiddush Lunch & Study Session

Monthly on Saturday afternoons

Join Cantor Eric for Shabbat lunch and engage in lively conversation and the study of diverse topics. This year’s theme is Great Jewish Biographies. We’ll look at several influential Jewish figures each month, to see how their stories inform our lives today Lunch is at the synagogue.

 

Torah Study with Rabbi Jodie & Cantor Eric

Monthly on Saturdays, 9:00 - 10:15am

Study the Parshat HaShavua (Torah portion of the week). No prior knowledge or previous study is needed.

 

What Makes Us Jewish?

Bi-monthly Saturdays, 12:00 - 1:30pm

At the beginning of our history as a People, the pillars of Jewish identity rested on the Torah and the teachings of our Rabbis.  Though they continued to sustain traditional Jews, progressive and secular Jews came to look to the Holocaust and the modern State of Israel as the foundation stones of their Jewish identity.  Will these two pillars sustain non-Orthodox Jews in the twenty-first century?  We will address this question through the writings of modern and contemporary Jewish thinkers.

 

Better Together with Cantor Eric

Members only
Grades 10 - 12, RSNS Adult Seniors
Sundays, 5:00 - 7:00pm

Teens and adult seniors will engage in a sharing of perspectives, ex- periences, opinions and wisdom on a different topic each month while sharing a meal together. Participants will take turns providing food for each session.

 

Jewish Parenting Workshop with Rabbi Jodie

Quarterly

Every decision we make as parents has not only psychological dimen- sions but moral, ethical and spiritual ones as well. Using a Jewish perspective to understand parenting problems gives us a long view and reveals the underpinnings of the problem, not just the surface cuts and scratches. Parents will join Rabbi Jodie in discussion while children explore Jewish values through art, stories, music and games with faculty.