Lectures & Courses

Adult Engagement Programming

Interested in presenting at Central Synagogue? Please contact Lauren Dickel, Adult Engagement Program Manager, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Prayer as Practice for Resilience

Mondays, 9:00–10:00am
October 5–December 7, 2020
Taught by Rabbi Nicole Auerbach and Rabbi Lisa Goldstein

Explore a variety of Jewish prayers and practices—some of which are in the siddur, others in our hearts—that can help us cultivate joy, resilience, and well-being. We will identify the qualities that these prayers help us access, and experiment with how to practice them together.

Register here.

Jewish Medical Ethics

Tuesdays, 10:45 am–12:00 pm
October 20–December 22, 2020
Taught by Rabbi Dan Ross

Written by Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Ph.D., Jewish Medical Ethics is a curriculum developed by the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning that explores Jewish approaches to a number of challenging 21st-century ethical issues, including human cloning, surrogate motherhood, genetic identity, assisted suicide, and genetic manipulation.

Register here.

Jewish Denominations: Challenges of Modernity

Tuesdays, 6:00–7:15 PM
October 6 – December 8, 2020
Taught by Educator Harman Grossman

Using a curriculum developed by the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning, we will gain insights into the historical and ideological developments of Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist Judaism and ask how those developments speak to us today.

Register here.

Object Stories

Wednesdays, 10:30 am–11:45 am
October 7–December 2, 2020
Taught by Rabbi Sarah Berman

Each week, we will look closely at one object (a painting, a ketubah, a chanukah menorah), and the many stories it tells. We will explore a constellation of history, culture, text, and private lives, which together build a diverse set of stories about Jewish experience.

Register here.

20th-Century Jewish Theology

Thursdays, 10:00–11:30 am
October 8–December 3, 2020
Taught by Rabbi Hilly Haber

Dive into more than 100 years of Jewish philosophy and theology, spanning Enlightenment thinkers to post-Holocaust theologies and pioneering feminist and queer theologians. Together, we will consider the political, historical, and traditional aspects of Jewish theology while taking in account our personal ideas about God.

Register here.

Teachings of Wonder, Wisdom, and Values

Thursdays, 6:00–7:15 pm
October 1–December 17, 2020
Taught by Educator Joe Septimus

Together we will explore stories from the Talmud that confront the strengths and frailties of human nature, universal experiences, and the very nature of godliness. Designed to enhance and deepen our appreciation of life’s wisdom, our discussions will focus on our amazing and complex universe, and Jewish values.

Register here.