The Schwarz-Kurz-Zeller Adult Education Institute
Helene Geiger & Arleen Barisa
Adult Education
Committee Chairs
For more information contact:
adulted@bethelyardley.org
Learning has no age limit. Something for Everyone! Check out our weekly, monthly and special classes/programs below.
We’re starting the new year with a range of educational programs to fit your interests and schedule. There’s something for everyone! Check out the listings below and join us!
The Adult Education Committee welcomes your feedback and help as we continue to plan our 2024-2025 season. All volunteers warmly welcomed!
- Is there a topic you’d like to learn about or teach?
- Are you good with social media?
- Do you have art, photography or writing skills?
- Do you enjoy planning events?
Weekly Classes
torah study
Torah Study with Rabbi Cantor
Every Saturday, 9:00am
Join Rabbi Cantor and Congregation Beth El member Saturday mornings to discuss the Parasha of the week. No prior knowledge needed.
Exile & the jews
Exile and The Jews
Wednesdays, 10:00am
Discussion Leaders: Rabbi David Cantor and Professor Harriet Freidenreich
Click here for more information.
Click here to purchase book by October 14 for early bird special.
This 10-week discussion course, facilitated by Rabbi Cantor and Harriet Freidenreich, is based on a new book, Exile and the Jews: Literature, History, and Identity, edited by Nancy Berg and Marc Saperstein (JPS, 2024), that is described as follows:
“This first comprehensive anthology examining Jewish responses to exile from the biblical period to our modern day gathers texts from all genres of Jewish creativity to explore how the realities and interpretations of exile have shaped Judaism, Jewish politics, and individual Jewish identity for millennia.”
Participants are encouraged to read one chapter per week (or at least the brief introductions) in order to fully engage in class.
Monthly Classes
Book club
Beth El Book Club
Sundays, 10:30am or 7:45pm
Check calendar for dates.
Calling all readers! Beth El’s new book club is open to all adults. Whether it’s fiction, current events or memoirs, you’ll find something of interest to read and discuss.
Culture & Cream cheese
Culture & Cream Cheese (Formerly known as Book Nosh)
Sundays, 10:30am - 12:00noon
Check calendar for dates.
Session Leader: Alex Geiger
Join us in person to discuss all the interesting books, movies, TV shows, art exhibitions, Broadway shows, operas, and any other cultural happenings that have a Jewish theme, a Jewish author, or Jewish characters that you have run across since our last meeting.
Special Classes, Events & Programs
teshuvah and criminal justice class
Teshuvah & Criminal Justice
Wednesday Mornings, 10:00 – 11:30 AM
September 11, 18, & 25
Instructor: Rabbi Cantor
What do Jewish sources say about starting anew after breaking the law, and how can that inform our understanding of modern-day criminal justice?
In this course, we’ll do a deep dive into teshuvah (repentance) and the rehabilitation process after one has committed various types of offenses. We will ask whether it is ever too late to turn over a new leaf, and what the consequences should be for a communal leader who speaks or acts inappropriately.
Rooting ourselves in Jewish texts, we will explore complex real-life cases together. In doing so, we will see firsthand how approaching these moral questions through a lens of Jewish tradition can offer unique insights
Click HERE for recordings.
Film festival
Film Festival
Saturday Nights
November 9, 16, and 23, 7:30pm
Save the dates for movie night! More information will follow.
bRISTOL RIVERSIDE THEATER TRIP
Bristol Riverside Theater Trip
Sunday, February 23
"Fires in the Mirror" by Anna Devear Smith, directed by Amy Kaissar, Congregation Beth El Member.
More information will follow.
ADULT EDUCATION ARCHIVES
Did you know that recordings of many Adult Education classes and programs are available on the Congregation Beth El website? Click here to access our archives or visit the menu bar at the top of the page; click Learn or click on the Archives tab (at the end of the menu bar).
