LIFELONG LEARNING
Education is a continuing commitment for persons of all ages. We sponsor a variety of introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses in Hebrew Language and Jewish Studies ranging from a single session to a year-long commitment. We join with other Reform congregations in sponsoring an Introduction to Judaism course. We also host book discussions, guest lectures, scholar-in-residence, and family workshops, as well as special events throughout the year, open to the community. Finally, we offer links to the many other institutions of Jewish learning throughout New York City. Please contact AdultEd@bhsbrooklyn.org or call 718-522-2070 x138 if you have any questions.
Classes with Visiting Lecturers
Intro to Judaism
Led by Rabbi Sue Oren
This 20-session course begins on Tuesday, May 6 and Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Tuesday Evenings from 7:00-9:00pm in-person (w/hybrid option)
Wednesday Evenings from 7:00-9:00pm on ZOOM
In a warm and open environment, explore Jewish thought, prayer and practice, learn about Jewish history and holidays, wrestle with inherited texts and contemporary issues, discuss Jewish views of God, ethics, life and death.
For registration and questions, contact Rabbi Sue Oren at introclass@postpro.net or (917) 539-1334.
This Too Is Torah: Exploring Sex in the Texts
With Sarina Elenbogen-Siegel
Thursday, May 8 from 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Cantorial Intern Sarina Elenbogen-Siegel will teach a class about attitudes of the Rabbis toward sex. In this session we will examine our assumptions about what Jewish tradition has to say about sex and pleasure, discussing various texts, and creating our own collective Jewish values around sex today. May 8th, 6:30-8pm in the 2nd floor event space, refreshments served!
Join us in May for special lectures and events with visiting Rabbi Ezra Ende and Rabbi Arik Ascherman
May 16 & 17, 23, 2025
Events with Rabbi Ezra Ende:
Friday, May 16 at 6:30pm at BHS – Guest Speaker at Shabbat Evening Services
Saturday, May 17 at 9:30am at BHS – Co-facilitating Chavurah with Rabbi Lippe
Saturday, May 17 at 4:00pm at Rabbi Lippe & Deborah Speyer’s home – Speaking for Seudah Sh’lishit
(for BHS Members only). RSVP required
Event with Rabbi Arik Ascherman:
Friday, May 23 at 6:30pm at BHS– Guest Speaker at Shabbat Evening Services
About the Rabbis
Rabbi Ezra (Ezzi) Ende is the founding rabbi of Kehilat HaDror in Kiryat HaYovel in Israel, and holds a master's degree in Jewish education. Rabbi Ende leads ceremonies, teaches Torah to diverse audiences, and is a spiritual companion to people in changing life situations.
Rabbi Arik Ascherman is an American-born Israeli Reform rabbi, and Executive Director of the Israeli human rights organization Torat Tzedek-Torah of Justice.
Classes with Rabbi Serge Lippe
Advanced Modern Hebrew Reading Course
Thursday mornings at 9:30am beginning September 19, 2024
We will finish our reading of the Gesher series version (in ‘simplified’ Hebrew) of Sh’losha Yamim v’Yeled (Three Days and A Child) by A.B. Yehoshua, and then choose another short-story/novella from the series. Course focuses on vocabulary, grammar and narrative.
An ongoing class, all are welcome to join.
Course held on Zoom only.
Adult B’Mitzvah Class
Tuesdays from 6:30pm-8:00pm beginning October 8, 2024
Ceremony held on Saturday morning June 7 or 14, 2025
A yearlong course that focuses on both knowledgeable participation and leadership in Jewish worship services. Learn the basic structure and meanings of the prayer service, how to lead the prayers; the origins, development and practices of public reading from Torah and other books of the TaNaKh (Scripture), and various approaches to constructing and delivering d’rashot – sermons, teachings, messages about the intersection of sacred texts and our lives as Jews today. Each participant will lead an element of a Shabbat morning service, chant/read verses from the Torah and/or Haftara, and offer their own drasha at a class lead Shabbat morning service in June (TBD).
Requirements: Basic Hebrew phonetic decoding ability (sign up for Beginner’s Hebrew)
The course is open to BHS members only
Reading Rabbi Irving Greenberg’s “Triumph of Life: A Narrative Theology of Judaism”
Intermittent Wednesdays at 6:30pm, starting November 6, 2024
Brooklyn born, Yeshiva Beis Yosef (ordained), Brooklyn College (BA scl) and Harvard University (MA & PhD), Rabbi ‘Yitz’ Greenberg was a founder of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry; Jewish chaplain of Brandeis University; rabbi of the Riverdale Jewish Center; associate professor of history at Yeshiva University; founder, chairman, and professor in the department of Jewish studies of the City College of New York, past-President of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.
The Triumph of Life is Rabbi Greenberg’s magnum opus—a narrative of the relationship between God and humanity as expressed in the Jewish journey through modernity, the Holocaust, the creation of Israel, and the birth of Judaism’s next era. Greenberg describes Judaism’s utopian vision of a world created by a God who loves life, who invites humans to live on the side of life, and who enables the forces of life to triumph over death. The Bible proclaims our mission of tikkun olam, repairing the world, such that every human image of God is sustained in the fullness of our dignity. To achieve this ideal, Judaism offers the method of covenant—a realistic, personal, incremental partnership between God and humanity across generations in which human beings grow ever more responsible for world repair.
Greenberg calls on us to redirect humanity’s unprecedented power in modernity to overcome poverty, oppression, inequality, sickness, and war. The work of covenant requires an ethic of power—one that advances life collaboratively and at a human pace—so that the Jewish people and all humanity can bring the world toward the triumph of life.
Classes with Rabbi Bailey Romano
Beginner Prayerbook Hebrew
Thursdays at 6:00pm from November 7, 2024 - May 15, 2025
Join Rabbi Romano to learn the Hebrew Aleph Bet and vowels; giving you the ability to read and decode Hebrew words. This class will prepare students to be able to read and decode most Hebrew words with little difficulty.
*No prior Hebrew background is required for this class, just a willingness to learn!*
Intermediate Prayerbook Hebrew
Thursdays at 5:00pm from November 7, 2024 - May 15, 2024
Students in Intermediate Prayerbook Hebrew will continue honing their Hebrew reading and translation skills. All those interested in Intermediate Hebrew, should be able to decode Hebrew fluently and have basic vocabulary with nouns, adjectives, and simple verbs.
Torah on Tap with Dads: Exploring the Joys and Oys of Being a Jewish Father or a Father to Jewish Children
Wednesdays December 4, 2024, February 12, April 2, 2025, & June 4, 2025 at 7:00pm
Custom House Bar on Montague St.
Beer is optional! Parents who identify as non-binary are always welcome to attend.
Moms & Margaritas: Explore the Joys and Oys of Being a Jewish Mother or a Mother to Jewish Children
Thursdays January 9, 2025, March 6, 2025, May 8, 2025, & June 12, 2025 at 7:00pm
Custom House Bar on Montague St.
Margarita optional! Parents who identify as non-binary are always welcome to attend.
Parenting from the Inside Out: Supporting Ourselves to Support Our Teens
Meetings to be held once a month, January-June, at 6:00pm for an hour and a half.
January 28, February 27 (6:30pm), March 18, April 8, May 6, June 3, 2025
Taught by Rabbi Bailey Romano and our Social Work Intern, Isabelle Siegel, this new 6 session program, for parents of Jewish teens seeks to build a supportive community of parents to talk, learn together, and strengthen their ability to parent proactively in a way that centers their values, is rooted in Jewish wisdom, builds on research-based understandings of adolescent development, and reflects a deep appreciation for the particular challenges of Jewish teens and parents today.
E-mail Rabbi Bailey Romano at rabbiromano@bhsbrooklyn.org if you’re interested in signing up for the course.