Trimester II: First period

Jews & The Civil Rights Movement
Rabbi Abraham

 Martin Luther King Jr. famously said "The segregationists and racists make no fine distinction between the Negro and the Jew."  In this class we will explore the role Jews took within the Civil Rights Movement, who were some of the key figures and what steps they took.  In addition we will look at the relationship between Jews and Blacks prior to the Civil Rights Movement, during as well as today.  
 

Judaism Answers a Call from the Future
Rabbi Linder

Jews have always been preoccupied with how to integrate the deep qualities of tradition with the ever changing and exciting advancements in technology, culture and science.  This interest has given way to a body of Jewish Literature called Responsa, where rabbis respond to moral and social questions in order to synchronize Jewish practice with modern culture. We will look at various teachings/rulings revolving the internet, music downloading and the usage of electricity on Shabbat. This course is a requirement for Confirmands.

 
The Mystical and Practical Secrets of the Aleph Bet
Rabbi Gross

The Hebrew alphabet was one of the first alphabets created by mankind.  In Jewish tradition the shapes, names, and numerical values of each letter holds hidden secrets.  The authors of the ancient Jewish texts embedded their words with these secrets, some were known only to a select few, some were discovered hundreds and thousands of years later.  Those Torah detectives that discovered these mysteries used knowledge of mystical traditions, mathematical formulas, and in modern times computers to decode these encrypted messages from thousands of years in the past.  In this class we will learn the methods used to decipher the codes found in Jewish texts, and explore the letters of the Hebrew alphabet one at a time to unlock the hidden secrets found within.

 
Basics of Conversational Hebrew
Na’ama Keren
Learn conversational Hebrew through Israeli culture, i.e. television, film, art, and music.  More details to come, but all you need is a basic, basic Hebrew vocabulary and the ability to read Hebrew, and you are in for an amazing trimester!