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BEIT Midrash

Thursday, October 18, 2018 9 Cheshvan 5779

6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
All are welcome to join us for our BEIT Midrash on Thursday evenings. On each evening choose from a variety of specific experiences and continuing courses. Come for dinner at our BEIT Café, create your own schedule, do as much or as little as you like - or just come to visit with us. Welcome to BEIT!
 
5:30 to 6:00 pm    
VTS Parents of 5-7 Grade Students
Bereshit: Finding Meaning in New Beginnings
with Rabbi Avi Libman
We invite VTS Parents to learn with our rabbis while their children are in VTS, then stay for dinner or to participate in other BEIT experiences as desired.  Students are welcome in study hall or youth programs while their parents are learning. Study Hall is 6:15-8:30pm for grades 2-7.
 
6:00 to 7:00 pm        
BEIT Café open for Dinner: Israeli Menu Night
Register for Dinner. $8 per person, in advance. $10 per person, at the door.
Plan on dining with us all semester? $60 per person one meal at each BEIT through December.
 
Our BEIT theme for the fall is IDENTITY.
Our courses and programs explore dimensions of Jewish identity, individual and family identity, as well as helping us to identify meaningful ideas, texts, perspectives, and opportunities for ourselves and our community. 
 
Choose one from this list of many experiences and sessions. Participate in one, two, or all three parts of the evening. BEIT Café offers coffee and nosh all evening.
 
6:30 to 7:00 pm    BEIT Experience I
Learning with the Lebowitzs
Ian Merles
Study the weekly Torah portion with the commentaries of Yeshayahu and Nehama Lebowitz - a brother and sister pair of polymath geniuses, Torah scholars, and shapers of Israeli society.
 
Beginning Hebrew Reading 
Robin Shulman
Learn to decode the Hebrew alphabet and read basic prayer book blessings. This is a comfortable first step for discovering or rediscovering your ability to read Hebrew.
 
Intermediate Hebrew Reading
Orli Moses 
Strengthen your Hebrew reading and comprehension skills to better participate in synagogue services and ritual celebrations.
 
Identify Me
Willy Bagg
Join an informal group of synagogue friends to explore each other’s Jewish backgrounds and how we integrate being Jewish into our lives. We’ll also discover the life stories of prominent Jewish personalities and how they lived their Jewish identities.
 
Torah Reading
Ran Anbar
Learn to read Torah or grow your Torah reading skills. If you wish, read Torah on occasional Shabbat mornings as member of our Torah reading squad. We meet on a regular basis to teach Torah trope to beginners, review trope with more experienced readers, and practice upcoming Torah readings.    
 
Making Music!
Cara Freedman
Let’s sing and enjoy each other’s company as we learn popular Jewish melodies and expand our personal and communal repertoire.

6:30 to 7:25 pm    BEIT Learning
Intro to Judaism – Part I
Rabbi Avi Libman
Join us for an educational journey for Jews and non-Jews interested in gaining knowledge of Jewish history, life, and culture. In this course, we will cover topics like Jewish history, theology, and philosophy, as well as holidays and life-cycle events, practices, and rituals. The course is geared to anyone who wants to learn more about Judaism, in addition to those considering conversion.
 
Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Rabbi Ron Shulman
If you never celebrated your Bar or Bat Mitzvah, or if you’d like to renew that childhood moment as an adult, we invite you to join our Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah group – a communal experience culminating for those who wish in a group Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony. Participants should also take one of the Hebrew Reading classes and join in other adult learning experiences on evenings when this group doesn’t meet. The Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah group is a community of individuals who grow together in Jewish knowledge, achieve greater comfort with synagogue services, and the joys of Jewish celebration.
 
Women Talking with Women 
Sandra Block and Renee Ravich
Explore what it means to be a Jewish woman today with relationships, community and family-traditional and nontraditional - in a safe and supportive environment. We will provide text from various books & resources, including The Five Books of Miriam, as discussion prompts.

7:30 pm Fall Lecture Series
21st Century Jewish Identity

Consider the nuances, meanings, challenges, and opportunities of Jewish identity in our world today. Our speakers will address the nature of Jewish identity in America and Israel, in our personal experiences, and in the future.
American Jewish Identity
Guest Speaker: Rabbi Ed Feinstein

Senior Rabbi, Valley Beth Shalom, Encino, CA
What is the condition of and opportunity for American Jews today? Rabbi Ed Feinstein is an engaging thinker and teacher, well known for asking, and guiding us toward answering, questions about Jewish identity, meaning, and modern society.
 

Register

Dinner will be Israeli themed.
Gluten free option available upon request. 
Enter the number of people you wish to purchase meals for all BEIT days in 2018.
October 18, 25, November 1, 8, 15, 29, December 6, 13, 20. 
Unredeemed meals will be donated to other participants.
We will accommodate requests when possible. 
Please enter the names to associate with the purchased meals. 
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Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784