Beth El Lunch and Learn Series
Lunch & Learn Programs
What is Lunch & Learn? It is an opportunity for you to join with other Beth El members and friends for interesting study and conversation over lunch. Participants are invited to bring either a dairy or pareve (non-meat, non-lactose) lunch to any of our Lunch and Learn venues. No prior experience in any of the topics is required, and all study material will be provided. Three different Lunch and Learn groups meet. The Beth El Lunch & Learn features Beth El congregant expertise and interests every 1st Wednesday. The Downtown Lunch & Learn shifts focus to to Jewish responses to contemporary issues every 2nd & 4th Wednesday at Fedder and Garten, and the Towson Lunch & Learn will go beyond Dan Brown in this year’s study of Jewish Demons & Angels every 3rd Wednesday at the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies.
Lunch & Learn at Beth El
Jewish Communities Around the World
(and Across Time) in Photos and Facts
Syria: Oct 6; Morocco: Nov 3; The Dead Sea Scrolls: Jan 5
Irv Donick and Rabbi Greenspoon co-present this set of lunch and learn offerings. Irv’s photography and his commentary from his world travels are combined with the historical context presented by Rabbi Greenspoon. When we explore Irv’s pictures of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Rabbi Greenspoon will introduce a few interesting texts from the extensive library of the Qumran community.
Jewish Needs at Home and Abroad
Marc B. Terrill, President, The Associated
Dec. 1
We live in a time where the Jewish community and Jewish philanthropy is facing unprecedented challenges. We seek to maintain a social services safety net for those at-risk in our local community, provide for the needs of Jewish education, support the needs of Jews worldwide, and maintain our commitment to the State of Israel despite economic uncertainty. Marc Terrill will share his unique insights on these challenging times.
Shanghai Revisited
Yvonne Daniel
Feb. 2
Yvonne Daniel was born in Shanghai, China during WW II after her parents fled Nazi Germany, because there was no other place for them to go. Many people at Beth El have heard her story of the 20,000 Jews that found their way to Shanghai and the life they lived there. This includes horrendous living conditions as well as a miraculous flourishing European Jewish culture. What is new and presented for the first time at Beth El is the sequel to the original tale: the reunion trip Yvonne took back to Shanghai. It involves visiting the ghetto where she lived, learning of the Jewish presence there today, and the feeling of gratitude the refugees have to the Chinese government and people. Yvonne will also debut new photographs that help to document this incredible story in a more visual way.
How High the Wall?
Church/State Separation at a Crossroads
Mark J. Pelavin
Mar 2
Mark J. Pelavin is the Associate Director
of the Religious Action Center
of Reform Judaism (RAC), a
position he has held since May
1996. He is one of the Jewish community's
leading legislative strategists,
and having worked in
Washington for over 15 years, one
of its senior lobbyists. Mr. Pelavin
is particularly recognized for his
expertise on issues concerning the
separation of church and state.
His writings have been carried in newspapers across the
nation including the New York Times, The Washington
Post, and USA Today. Mr. Pelavin, an
attorney, is also the Associate Director
of the Commission on Social Action of
Reform Judaism.
Downtown Lunch & Learn
The sessions meet at Fedder and Garten, 36 S. Charles Street.
The Rabbis’ Series
This year the Downtown Lunch & Learn group explores a new structure for our 2010-2011 series. Each of the Beth El rabbis will present a consecutive mini-series on topics they have chosen.
Rabbi Greenspoon will lead a four-session exploration of The Hidden Histories of Prayers and Holy Days. The first two sessions are scheduled to be devoted to the hidden history of the most popular prayers in the Jewish tradition: the Kaddish and Aleinu. We will see what roles these prayers served in worship when they were first written, and explore the ongoing evolution of each of them into our own day. The final two sessions are dedicated to the two most popular holy days for Jews in North America and likely around the world: Passover and Hannukah. If you ever wondered what the Passover experience was really like two thousand years ago when the Temple still stood, or if you only know Hannukah’s background from the fable about the oil you were taught in Hebrew school, you will really want to be a part of these sessions!
Rabbi Greenspoon Dec 8, Jan 12, Jan 26, Feb 9
Rabbi Saroken will lead a series titled Wild Women, Men and Stories From The Torah That They Never Taught In Religious School and How They Can Transform Our Lives. Throughout the Torah, there are stories of painful and difficult decisions and family dynamics that seem inconceivable… until we look around us. In this three-part series, we will explore the stories and lives of parents who made choices that had great ramifications on their children. From Abraham and Isaac to Jephta and his daughter, from Hannah and her son Samuel to Lot and his daughters, we will also explore the spousal relationship beginning with Adam and Eve and focusing on Isaac and Rebecca. Finally, we will explore the relationships between siblings in the Torah focusing on the story of Cain and Abel and Joseph and his brothers and sister. We will use the Torah stories and midrash (rabbinic legend) to follow major themes in the Torah and figure out the meaning and insights that they can provide us within our family relationships
Rabbi Saroken Feb 23, Mar 9, Mar 23
Completed Series
Rabbi Steve Schwartz will discuss and review three books in this year's downtown lunch and learn series. First he will look at the Dave Eggers book Zeitoun, a true story account of what happened to one Muslim man and his family in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The book becomes a commentary on our society and its values, and a reflection on questions of how we interact with one another. Next, Rabbi Schwartz will review Elie Weisel's short biography of one of Judaism's greatest thinkers and figures, Rabbi Shlomo ben Yizchak, called Rashi. This sage lived through the Crusades, worked as a vintner, and created the single most important commentary on the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud, still studied to this day. The last session in this book review series will be dedicated to a discussion of the Hebrew Bible. What can be learned from reading the Bible as a unified work of literature?
Towson Lunch & Learn
Jewish Demons & Angels
Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies
Rabbi David Greenspoon
Oct 20; Nov 17; Dec 15; Jan19; Feb 16; Mar 16
If you were ever skeptical or curious about the role of angels in Judaism, this course is for you. Jews have wrestled with angels and demons throughout history. This experience began in the time of the Bible, has been a constant factor of Jewish culture across the centuries and over the continents, and continues into our own time. We will explore the ways these beliefs have been expressed in various mediums including literature, pictorial art, jewelry, poetry, and song. No prior knowledge of the material or the ability to read Hebrew is required, and everyone is welcome to join.
Classes will meet at the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies, 95 Dulaney Valley Road in Towson.
Session 3 Dec 15 Medieval Miracles
Session 4 Jan 19 Lilith
Session 5 Feb 16 Talmudic Voodoo, Amulets, Incantations, and Other Magic
Session 6 Mar 16 Modern Musings