Adult Education Classes

Bagels, Lox and Learning

Our award-winning guest lecture series, Bagels, Lox, and Learning (BLL), meets on the second Sunday of every month in the Multipurpose Room of Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto. For details, see the BLL Web page.

2007-8 classes

Winter 2008, 10-session class

The Ten Commandments: They’re More than a Movie

Rabbi David Levinsky and members of the class

As the centerpiece of the Book of Exodus’ telling of the events at Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments hold sway over the ethics of a number of religious traditions. At the same time, few people have ever taken a critical look at these ten pithy Hebrew phrases. Rabbi David Levinsky will provide a suggested lesson plan and study materials, and will teach the first and last classes. Class members will lead the other lessons as we teach ourselves about the Ten Commandments. Rabbi Levinsky will be available for consultation as each leader prepares to teach his/her commandment. He will also attend the classes and participate in the discussions.

Spring 2008, 4-session class

Cultural Contact and Cultural Change in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean

Rabbi David Levinsky

What happens to religious practices when different kinds of Jews have contact with each other? What happens to religious practices when Jews have contact with Christians? In each of the four classes, we will study a few exemplary texts from a chapter of Rabbi Levinsky’s Ph.D. dissertation. Then we will examine what these texts reveal about changing Jewish and Christian conceptions of martyrdom, euergetism, and asceticism. Because most of these texts are formative of religious ideas and practices in the contemporary West, we may also have the chance to address some modern examples of these ancient phenomena.

Summer 2008, 6-session class

Modern and Contemporary Jewish Writing III

Rabbi David Levinsky

Following the previous two summer literature classes, Rabbi Levinsky will once again lead us in reading short fiction, poetry, and an essay. Each session will open with background information on the text and author, followed by a discussion of the literary work of the week. We will read short works, which will take no more than an hour or two to read before class. The reading list includes the poets Jerome Rothenberg and Robert Pinsky, the essay “A Program for the Reconstruction of American Judaism” by Mordecai Kaplan, the short story “Envy, or Yiddish in America,” by Cynthia Ozick, and “ The Day of the Locust” by Nathaniel West.

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