Institute of Jewish Studies

Religious School

Adult Learning

Teen Tuesdays

Conversion Class

Rosen Library

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We offer a wide range of courses for adults throughout the year, thanks to the generosity of the Koffler and Bornstein families.

Click here to register for Tuesday Night Learning 

Click on any of the offerings listed below for more information, or scroll down to see information on all of our offerings

• Re/Introduction to Judaism - Tuesday Night Learning!
• Learn to Lead Us - Tuesday Night Learning!
• Jewish Views of the Afterlife - Tuesday Night Learning!
• Hug Ivri - Thursday mornings
• Parashat HaShavua - Friday mornings
• Let's Talk Hebrew

Learn to Lead Us: Synagogue Skills Workshop

Instructor: Rabbi Michael Fel and Cantor Brian Mayer
Time:  7:30-8:15 on Oct 19 and 26;  8:30-9:15 on Nov 2, 9, 23, 30, Dec 7 14. PM.
Cost: $36 suggested donation to support educational scholarships. (Those not in a position to donate are more than welcome to attend.)
 

This class will consist of the following four modules: 

• 10/19 @ 7:30 - Synagogue Skills Refresher w/Cantor Mayer: Practice taking an aliyah, lifting and dressing the Torah Scroll, Opening and Closing the Ark, and more!
• 10/26 @ 7:30 - Leading Shiva Minyan w/Rabbi Fel: Learn how to lead a shiva minyan, comfort mourners, the meaning of Psalm 23, and the rituals in a house of mourning.  
• 11/2, 9, 23 @ 8:30 - Leading Shabbat Torah Service w/Rabbi Fel: Learn to lead the Torah service by understanding the choreography, melodies, and prayers!
• 11/30, 12/7, 14 @ 8:30 - Leading Shabbat Musaf w/Cantor Mayer: Learn to lead the Musaf service by understanding the choreography, melodies, and prayers!

Jewish Views on Life After Death

Instructor: Rabbi Irvin Wise
Time: Tuesdays 7:30-8:15 PM. In person at Temple Emanu-El beginning November 2 (ongoing).
Cost: $36 suggested donation to support educational scholarships. (Those not in a position to donate are more than welcome to attend.)
 

Contrary to popular notions, Judaism has a lot to say about life after death. In this class we will look at a wide range of positions and reflections on the subject including biblical, rabbinic, medieval, Kabbalistic, Hasidic and contemporary teachings for the purpose of expanding and deepening our understanding of what Judaism has to say about this universal human interest and concern.

About the instructor: Rabbi Irvin Wise earned a Master’s in Hebrew Letters in 1978 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Cincinnati and his rabbinic ordination there in 1979. He served as Assistant Rabbi and Director of Student Affairs at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem from 1979-1981 and then as Executive Director of the Hillel Foundation at Ohio University in Athens and at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis from 1984-1992. In 1992 Rabbi Wise became Senior Rabbi of Adath Israel Congregation, a Conservative synagogue in Cincinnati, serving there for 27 years. He retired in 2019 and now lives in Barrington, RI. Learn more here: https://www.brgri.org/rabbi-irvin-m-wise.html

Re/introduction to Judaism 

Instructor: Rabbi Michael Fel and Cantor Brian Mayer
Time: Tuesdays 7:30-9:15 PM. In person at Temple Emanu-El beginning Oct. 19 and ongoing. 

• Do you want to know more about Jewish ideas, practices and traditions?
• Are you interested in learning more about Judaism?
• Are you exploring conversion to Judaism?

Join Rabbi Fel, Cantor Mayer, and guest teachers to learn more about Judaism. This course is designed to be an introduction to Judaism so that those who were born Jewish or are interested in Judaism can learn more!  This class is part of the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program.

$60 as part of adult Education - Includes Coursebook and materials
$360 as part of Conversion Program - Includes Coursebook, materials, individual meetings with clergy, Additional Books, Mikvah, and more!

Delve Deeper is an adult education initiative that brings dynamic teachers to teach in-depth, university level Judaic courses to a diverse group of adult learners. Delve Deeper programs are presented in cooperation with the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and area synagogues, including Congregation Beth Sholom, Temple Beth-El, Temple Emanu-El, Temple Habonim, Temple Sinai and Temple Torat Yisrael.

Delve Deeper Fall 2021

“Creativity and Resilience: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe, 1500-2020”

Instructor: Dr. Natan M. Meir

Time: Wednesdays 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm beginning Oct. 6 (10 sessions)

Format: Online via Zoom

For many centuries, Eastern Europe was one of the great centers of Jewish civilization. This course explores the society that Jews created in the east European borderlands, a world unto itself but also closely interlinked with the surrounding Slavic and Christian milieu. Drawing on key documents from the world of Polish and Russian Jews, we will examine central phenomena such as the shtetl, the Hasidic movement, the emergence of modern Yiddish and Hebrew literature, the rise of modern Jewish political movements such as Zionism and Bundism, the creation of Soviet Jewry, and the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. We will also touch on the question of the outcasts of the Jewish community – beggars, disabled people, and others – who are the subject of the instructor’s recent book, Stepchildren of the Shtetl: The Destitute, Disabled, and Mad of Jewish Eastern Europe, 1800-1939.

About the instructor: Natan Meir is a scholar of Jewish social, cultural, and religious history, and he holds the Lorry I. Lokey Chair in Judaic Studies at Portland State University’s Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies. His latest book, Stepchildren of the Shtetl, recovers the histories of Jewish Eastern Europe’s social outcasts. He is currently engaged in a new project on the intersection of magic and sexuality in European Jewish culture. (Adapted from www.natanmeir.com/)

Winter/Spring 2022

“History of the Jews in Italy:

From Empire to Emancipation and the Opening of the Vatican Archives”

Instructor: Dr. Dana W. Fishkin