Adult Education

Happy is the one who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding.—Proverbs

The adult education committee seeks to provide meaningful Jewish learning to the Adat Shalom community through classes, lectures, informal sessions on Hebrew, Jewish history, Jewish literature, Torah, Talmud, prayer, Israel and other topics of interest to the congregation. Our goal is to challenge and inspire the adult members, irrespective of their prior level of Jewish learning, to

• Become more knowledgeable about Jewish civilization in all of its aspects;
• Develop skills and knowledge that will enable them to further enhance their Jewish identify; and
• Share their learning and questioning with others in the community.

Adat Shalom Adult Education Programs, September, 2008 to May, 2009

The Adult Education committee will be posting the full calendar soon.

Second Temple Period Literature

Rabbi George’s 2008-2009 Course in Second Temple Period Literature: Jubilees, Maccabees, Ben Sira, Judith and other pre-rabbinic, post-biblical works. This course will continue the introduction to post-Biblical Jewish literature that we began when we read excerpts from the Dead Sea Scrolls. We will begin with Jubilees, an early Hasmonean (Maccabeean) period work scholars classify as a rewritten Torah. Jubilees interestingly bridges the gap between the Torah and the later rabbinic commentaries in the Talmud and Midrash collections. We will be especially interested in the author’s theological views. The Book of Jubilees is available in a well regarded (if stilted) translation by R.H. Charles on Amazon.com for under $10.00. The remaining books we will discuss are part of the “Apocrypha,” works included in the Catholic Bible but except for Ben Sira, absent even by reference from the rabbinic literature. The “standard” edition over the last seventy years is Edgar J. Goodspeed’s translation with an introduction by Moses Hadas. “Available wherever good books are sold.” I will be glad to hear your preferences among the Apocryphal works, the sooner the better.

Look forward to seeing you all at the first class on Monday, September 22, Adat Shalom, at 11:00. Targeted end time is 12:15 pm. Later classes have been scheduled for October 6 and 20; Nov. 3 and 17; Dec. 1, 15, and 29, and January 12 and 16.

Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
7727 Persimmon Tree Lane
Bethesda, MD 20817

E-mail info@adatshalom.net

Phone: 301-767-3333 x106 | FAX: 301-767-3340

Shabbat Services: Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.

We are an affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
and part of the Chesapeake Region of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (CRJRF)