ADULT EDUCATION

SPRING 2018

JewishCommunityofAmherst742MainStreet,Amherst,MA01002413.256.0160~www. jcamherst.org

JCAadult-educationprogramsreflectreligious,secular,practical,andculturalaspectsofJudaism.Wehopethatyouwillfindsomethingthatappealstoyou.

Registerandcontributeonlineathttps://goo.gl/forms/FYp5Yj9WU8NLsoPB3

Ifyouprefertoregisterbymailandcontributeviacheck,please

printtheregistrationformattheendofthisbrochureorpickoneupintheJCAlobby.

SPRING2018PROGRAMS

LunchandLearnRabbiBenjaminWeinerStartingJanuary3Wednesdays•12:15–1:15pm

Maimonides:OurContemporary?RabbiBenjaminWeinerJanuary30,February6,13,20Tuesdays•7:00–8:30pm

IsraeliDancingRandiSteinMarch13,20,27Tuesdays•7:00–8:30pmIslamforJewsandOtherInterestedLearners

RabbiDevorahJacobsonApril3,10,17,May1,8,15Tuesdays•6:30–8:00pmTheMerchantofVenice:theTragedyofaComedy

MurraySchwartzApril19,26;May3,10Thursdays•7:00–9:00pm

Ifyouwouldliketosuggestfutureprogramming,

pleasecontactamemberoftheAdultEducationCommittee:BarbaraBurkart(chair),JaneBrodwyn,DavidGlassberg,DianeGnepp,PhyllisHerda,JonathanLewis,MelanieLewis,RuthSmith,LindaTerry,BorisWolfson,JanisWolkenbreit,RabbiBenjaminWeiner(exofficio)

LunchandLearn

RabbiBenjaminWeiner

Wednesdays•StartingJanuary312:15–1:15pm

Nowinitssixthyear,LunchandLearncontinuesitsinvestigationofHalakha,orthetraditionofJewishlaw.Overthepastfewyears,wehaveinvestigatedavarietyoftopics:holidayobservanceandperspectivesonShabbat,divorce,suicide,deathandmourning,purityandimpurity,kitniyot,thegivingoftzedaka.Theconversationisintellectuallystimulatingandemotionallyexpansive,givingparticipantstheopportunitytodeepentheirtraditionalJewishknowledgeandprocessthethoughtsandfeelingsthatthematerialbringstolight.Pleasebeassuredthatifyouhavenotalreadybecomeapartofthismeaningful,oddlyexhilarating,andevenfunexploration,itisnevertoolate.Youcancomeandgoasyou’reable,anddrop-insarealwayswelcome.Bringyourownlunch,andpleaserememberthatJCAkashrutrulesallowonlyfordairyandparevefoodsinsidethebuilding—nomeat!

Noregistrationneeded.

Pleasebringanon-perishablefooditemtobedonatedtotheSurvivalCenteraspartoftheJCAPerpetualFoodDrive.

Maimonides:OurContemporary?

RabbiBenjaminWeiner

Tuesdays•January30,February6,13,207:00–8:30pm

Thoughhelivedalmostathousandyearsago,RabbiMosesbenMaimon,knowneitherasMaimonidesortheRambam,remainsatoweringfigureintheannalsofJewishthoughtandlife.HiscodeofJewishlaw,theMishnehTorah,persistsinthebedrockofthehalakhic(Jewishlegalistic)process,hiscelebratedlettersexemplifycommunalleadership,andhisphilosophiclandmark,GuideforthePerplexed,isstillarelevantcontributiontotheprojectofreconcilingreligionandscience.Infact,thebodyofhisworkissobroadandnuancedthatnumerousstreamsofJudaism,rangingfromstringenttoprogressive,mysticaltosecular,havesoughttoclaimhimasaspiritualfather.It’simportanttoremember,too,thatdespitetheveneerofpietythatadherestohimtoday,hewasconsideredquitecontroversialinhisowntime.Inthisbrief,four-sessionclasswithRabbiWeiner,studentsofanylevelwillhaveachancetoencounterthelifeandtextsofthisremarkableman,andthroughitdevelopasenseofhishistoricalcontext.Asalways,thegoalistoimmerseourselvesinJewishintellectualhistoryandtoexploreitsrelevancetoourownexperience.Studentsareencouragedtoacquiretwotexts:

•SherwinB.Nuland.Maimonides.Schocken,2005.(JewishEncountersSeries,ISBN978-0805211504)

•IsadoreTwersky,ed.AMaimonidesReader.BehrmanHouse,1972.(LibraryofJewishStudies,ISBN978-0874412062)

Registrationrequired.Aminimumofsixparticipantsisneeded

forthecoursetorun.Suggestedcontribution:$54 Noonewillbedeniedaccesstoprogrammingbecauseoffinancialneed.Yourparticipationinourcommunityismoreimportantthantheamountofyourmonetarycontribution.

IsraeliDancing

RandiStein

Tuesdays•March13,20,277:00–8:30pm

ComeandlearnthepleasuresofIsraelifolkdance!Thisisaone-to-three-session-longworkshop,dependingoninterest.Attendthefirstsessionforanintroductiontothebasicpatternsandseehoweasyandfunfolkdancingcanbe.WewillmeetinRandi'shomestudio.PleasecontactRandi(randistein@earthlink.net)fordirections.

RandiSteinlearnedtodancewithFredBerkinthesixtiesandcontinueddancingwithatroupeatBrandeisUniversity,andtheninIsraelwhereshelivedonakibbutzin1974-79.

Registrationrequired.Aminimumofeightparticipantsisneededtobegin.

Suggestedcontribution:$36

IfyouregisteredforthisworkshopinFall2017,whenitwasoriginallyannounced,thereisnoneedtocontributeagain,

butpleasecompleteanewregistrationformforeachparticipanttoconfirmyourintentiontoattend.

Noonewillbedeniedaccesstoprogrammingbecauseoffinancialneed.Yourparticipationinourcommunityismoreimportantthantheamountofyourmonetarycontribution.

IslamforJewsandOtherInterestedLearnersRabbiDevorahJacobson

Tuesdays•April3,10,17,May1,8,15

6:30–8:00pm

AnintroductiontoIslamforthosewhowouldliketohaveadeeperunderstandingofthecorebeliefsandpracticesofIslam(andthemanysimilaritiesbetweenJudaismandIslam)whilehearingaboutdifferencesbetweenSunni,ShiaandSufiMuslims.OurlearningtogetherwillincludelisteningtosomeofProf.JohnEsposito’svideopresentationsfromtheGreatCoursesclassonIslam;engagingwithinvitedlocalMuslimcommunityleaderstodiscusspersonalexpressionsofMuslimpiety,interfaithworkanddealingwithcontemporarypoliticalrealities;visitingalocalmosqueforeveningprayer;anddiscussionofprayerpractices,aswellaslifecyclepractices—especiallymarriage,death,andburial.WewillalsoshareaRamadaniftarmealtogether.

RabbiDevorahJacobsonhasbeenChaplainandDirectorofSpiritualLifeatJGSLifecareinLongmeadowsince2001.ShehasservedonthefacultyofMeltonAdultJewishEducationProgramsinSpringfieldandFlorenceforovertenyears.In2016,shewasnamedoneofAmerica’sMostInspiringRabbisbyTheForwardandlaudedforherworkinhelpingseniorsandtheirfamiliesspirituallyduringdifficulttransitionsofaging.

Registrationrequired.Aminimumofelevenparticipantsisneededforthecoursetorun.Acoursefeeof$130perstudenthasbeensetbytheinstructor;

thefeeincludesacopyoftheQur’an.

TheMerchantofVenice:theTragedyofaComedy

MurrayM.Schwartz

Thursdays•April19,26;May3,107:00–9:00pm

Infoursessions,participantsinthiscoursewillreadWilliamShakespeare’splayTheMerchantofVenice(1599)andviewthefilmversionstarringAlPacinoasShylock.OuraimwillbetounderstandhowShakespeareembodiesatragedyinacomicform,andtoplacethattragedyinthehistoryofanti-Judaismandanti-Semitism.ParticipantsshouldpurchasetheFolgerShakespeareLibraryeditionoftheplay(editedbyBarbaraMowatandPaulWerstine,ISBN978-0743477567)andbringittotheclasses.

Foroverfiftyyears,MurrayM.SchwartzhastaughtShakespeare,Holocaustliteratureandpsychoanalysis.HiswritingspansawiderangeofinterdisciplinaryinterestsandincludesessaysonShakespeare,theworkofErikErikson,appliedpsychoanalysis,modernpoetryandtraumastudies.Hehasalsoco-editedseveralanthologies,includingRepresentingShakespeare(1980)andMemoryandDesire(1985).HewasPresidentofthePsyArt

FoundationandeditedtheonlinejournalPsyArt.MurraywasDeanoftheCollegesatSUNY/Buffalo(1979-83),DeanofHumanitiesandFineArtsatUMassAmherst(1983-91)andProvostoftheClaremontGraduateUniversity(1991-97).HeisProfessorEmeritusatEmersonCollegeandascholarmemberoftheBostonPsychoanalyticSocietyandInstitute.

Registrationrequired.Aminimumoffiveparticipantsisneededforthecoursetorun;themaximumnumberofparticipantsistwelve.

Suggestedcontribution:$54 Noonewillbedeniedaccesstoprogrammingbecauseoffinancialneed.Yourparticipationinourcommunityismoreimportantthantheamountofyourmonetarycontribution.

ADULTEDUCATIONREGISTRATION•SPRING2018

WestronglyencourageyoutoREGISTERONLINEat

https://goo.gl/forms/FYp5Yj9WU8NLsoPB3

Tomakeyourpaymentonline,viaPayPalorcreditcard,gotoourwebsiteathttps://jcamherst.org/payments-and-donations/payments

andchooseAdultEducationClassfromthemenuofpaymentoptions.

Ifyouprefertopaybycheck,pleasecompletethisRegistrationFormandsendtotheJCAofficewithyourcheckmadeouttotheJCAand“AdultEd”inthememoline.

Participants’namesandemailaddresses

(pleaseprint)

IndicateprogramsforwhichyouareregisteringContri-butionAmount

Maimo-nides

4sessions

$54

IsraeliDancing

1-3mtgs

$36

IslamforJews

6sessions

$130

MerchantofVenice

4sessions

$54

Name1:

Email1:

Name2:

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Noonewillbedeniedaccesstoprogrammingbecauseoffinancialneed.Yourparticipationinourcommunityismoreimportantthanthe

amountofyourcontribution.

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Forinquiriesaboutregistrationemailadultedprog@comcast.netForinquiriesaboutprogramsemailbarbruth@comcast.netPleaseputthenameoftheprogramintheemailsubjectline.