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Dec. 20 Kabbalat Shabbat service will be Zoom only

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Winter 2019 Events

Poetry Cafe:  The first Kehilat HaNahar Poetry Cafe was called a flaming success. Words lit up the Shabbat evening from the creativity of our own KHN members delivering heartfelt and humorous works.

Participating readers included: Lynn Levin, David Stoller, Andre Salz, Jennifer Fritch, Rabbi Diana, Abraham Leibson and Richard Kirschner. Also, someone read Susan Rattner’s haikus for her in her absence. The works of some of the authors can be read here.

Jews Learning About Islam: Our own Andre Salz delivered a talk about his own experiences of interacting with and learning about the history and the people who practice Islam.  The emphasis was on meeting people with a shared history and engaging on a human, not ideological or political level.

Fall 2018 Bagel U Archives

Jewish Pickles 201: Jewish Gasronomic Heritage:  A hands-on experience in making sour pickles was led by Arnie Feineman. Everyone went home with a quart of pickles and a smile, awaiting the 10 days for the pickles to mature. Our gratitude to Arnie.

Understanding The Place for Jews in the World and Our Connection to Israel: A three-part class met at a member's home to discuss the film ‘Jerusalem 1913’ about the events and characters in Turkish-controlled Palestine and the implications of that history today.  The classes continued with readings and discussion about anti-semitism and the connection of American Jews to Israel.

Sephardic Cooking:  A KHN member Ira Friedman hosted a dinner for a small group that was introduced to the slicing, dicing and cooking of a distrinctly Sephardic meal from Aleppo.

Bagel U over the years ...

Courses have included:

Mezuzah Making got started in the ceramic studio of Sharon Leibson where participants created and painted their own personal mezuzahs. Mezuzahs are placed as doorposts at the entrance to a Jewish home.

Hebrew Prayer with Understanding, led by Susan Rattner, examined each word in a selected prayer for subtle meaning and relevance to one’s personal life, making the experience of prayer creative and anything but routine.

Jewish Intellectual History, which started at the home of Abraham Leibson, has investigated philosophical ideas from intellectual leaders such as Baruch Spinoza and Martin Buber.  Meetings at member homes occur several times a year on topics of members' choosing.

 

There was a series of classes held to learn about Jewish Food Preparations related to the holiday season.  Classes included making Hamantashen (fruit-filled triangle-shaped cookies) for Purim, baking challah (twisted bread) for Shabbat, and preparing Passover foods. 

Other Adult Ed Courses 

Other classes from Kehilat HaNahar's Adult Education Program:

  • “The Spiritual Brain,” with Dr. Andrew Newberg, Director of Research at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, a spirited discussion about the connections between our brains and different kinds of religious phenomena.  

  • “The 1891 New Orleans Lynching and the Limits of State Power to Protect and Control Immigration.” Shows parallels to the current time in the way we talk about and portray immigrant groups today and in the recent past, including our own ancestors.

  • "Who Were the Rabbis?" How the Sages actually lived and learned in Jewish society after the fall of the Second Temple.  An overview of their major works, the differences between them, and the social and political pressures that lead to their creation.

  • "Who Wrote the Torah?" An Introduction to the Scribal Arts

  • "Let me Entertain Jew!" A film series highlighting the works of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, and Barbra Streisand

  • "Praying Together in the Melting Pot"  The evolution of synagogue design in America

  • "Synagogue Interiors" The rituals and culture that define design

  • "Genesis and the Big Bang" Scientists who struggle with the apparent conflicts between religion and science

  • "Soul Beliefs, Causes, and Consequences" The history of soul beliefs and how they inform Judaism

  • "Americans Talking about Israel" How to speak, listen and stay civil

 

Sat, December 21 2024 20 Kislev 5785