Fall/Winter 5786 Programs
Want to deepen your skills and your connection to Jewish wisdom and spirituality? Join us for Shabbat programming, weekday learning, special guests, and more. For Zoom links and updated information about all of our classes and programs, please visit the CDT calendar. Unless noted otherwise, all in-person programs take place at 60 Highland Street in West Newton.
To explore previous class offerings and view recordings & source sheets, visit our Past Course Recordings page.
Preparing for the High Holydays
Diving Into the Machzor: An Exploration of High Holydays Texts with Rabbi Toba Spitzer
Thursday, September 11, 7:00-8:30 pm
Zoom (Register to join on Zoom here)
Some of the most beautiful and most challenging liturgy of the Jewish year is found in the High Holydays prayerbook, the machzor, dealing with themes of mortality, vulnerability, and our relationship to the Divine. Together we will explore some of these texts and how we might make them more personally meaningful during the holidays.
Cheshbon HaNefesh (Soul Accounting) with Rabbi Beck Epstein
Thursday, September 18, 7:00-8:30 pm
CDT (60 Highland St, West Newton)
It can be challenging to make time to reflect on the specifics of how we have fallen short of our values in the past year, but it is also a critical piece of the Elul preparations for Yom Kippur. Let's support each other to do this by doing it together. In this class, we will learn about the Jewish reflection practice of cheshbon hanefesh, or accounting of the soul, and then have dedicated time for personal application.
Sukkot Learning
Sukkot: A Reconstructionist Approach with Rabbi Toba
Sunday, October 5, 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Temple Reyim shared campus (1860 Washington St, Auburndale)
As we kick off the religious school year with a Sukkot-themed morning, grown-ups are invited to join Rabbi Toba for some learning and conversation about the ever-evolving nature of the Sukkot holiday.
A Time for Study and A Time for Brunch
Sunday, October 12, 11:00 am-1:00 pm
CDT Sukkah (Temple Reyim shared campus, 1860 Washington St, Auburndale)
Please register on the calendar so that we can have enough food!
Each Jewish holiday is associated with a different special text. On Sukkot, we read Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), a classic wisdom that reflects on life's meaning, impermanence, and joy. Join Rabbi Beck in the CDT Sukkah for a relaxed morning of text study, discussion, and delicious brunch. Together, we'll explore this timeless (and timely) text in the open air of the sukkah, engaging with its questions and insights in community. Please register so we know how many bagels to buy ;).
Fall/Winter Classes & Programs
Learn to Read Hebrew!
Sundays, October 26, November 2, November 9*, November 23, December 7, December 21
10:00-11:00 am (*11:00 am-12:00 pm on November 9)
Temple Reyim shared campus (1860 Washington St, Auburndale)
Register here!
Whether you have a beginner’s knowledge of Hebrew or have yet to learn the Alef-Bet, join us for a basic Hebrew reading class. We will review consonants and vowels, practice decoding words and phrases, and then focus on recognizing common prayerbook Hebrew words in order to build confidence with the siddur.
Participants will be asked to purchase the workbook Aleph Isn't Enough, but if purchase of the workbook is a financial barrier, we will happily cover it. This class will take place during Sunday Religious School hours, but it is also open to the broader CDT community, not just Religious School parents! Please register on the Adult Education webpage.
If you are interested in a higher level Hebrew class, please fill out this form.
Fostering Spiritual Resilience in Difficult Times with Rabbi Toba Spitzer
Thursdays, October 30, November 6, November 13, November 20,
7:00-8:30 pm
CDT (60 Highland St)
For thousands of years, Jewish communities have faced the challenges of war, oppressive governments, internal strife, and more. And over the millennia, Jewish teachers and spiritual leaders have developed spiritual practices to bolster individual and communal resilience in the face of these challenges, and to foster the necessary qualities of joy, gratitude, commitment, and more, to meet the moment. In this class, we will explore some of these practices, both ancient and contemporary, and their applicability to our lives today.
Accommodations can be made for those who need to attend on Zoom; if you are unable to attend in person, please contact Rabbi Toba at t.spitzer@dorsheitzedek.org.
Learning Shabbat — Bilhah & Zilpah: Ancestral Stories with erica riddick
Saturday, November 15, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
CDT Sanctuary and Zoom
In Jewish tradition, we often honor matriarchs, Leah and Rachel, as the two mothers of the 12 Israelite tribes, when in fact there were four mothers! In this session we will reclaim and re-connect with the two forgotten matriarchs, Bilhah and Zilpah, through midrashic traces that offer insight, contradiction, and opportunity for constructive engagement. Come with openness and curiosity; be prepared for rigorous text study infused with playful interaction and powerful connection to modern issues. This session is designed to be accessible to a wide range of text study experience, interest, and confidence. Whether you are not sure you know how to do text study or see yourself as a Torah scholar, there is room for you in this tent.
Introduction to Mishnah with Rivka Nechemya Thrope
Mondays, December 1, 8, 15, and 22, 7:00-8:30 pm
TBD — To determine whether the class will be on Zoom or in person, please go to tinyurl.com/CDT-MishnahInterest to fill out a brief survey if you are interested in attending!
Whether you’ve heard of Mishnah or are curious about what it is, anyone who knows their alef bet and can sound-out Hebrew words (no need to know the meaning of these words!) is welcome to join rabbinical student and CDT Religious School teacher Rivka Nechemya Thrope for an introduction to Mishnah, the earliest of rabbinic texts! In this class, we will briefly summarize what Mishnah is and how it fits into the landscape of Jewish thought, and then we will spend most of our time learning selections from the Mishnah in its original Hebrew. To do this, we will spend about a third of our time together in well-scaffolded one-on-one (chevruta) learning pairs, and the remainder of our time in group learning (shiur) altogether. With an eye towards empowerment within and ownership of tradition, we will decode Mishnaic text and begin to weave its meaning with our own lives and experiences. Questions? Contact Rivka Nechemya at rivchemya@gmail.com.
Chanukah Adult Learning with Rabbi Toba Spitzer
Sunday, December 21, 10:15-11:45 am
Temple Reyim shared campus (1860 Washington St, Auburndale)
Ever wonder about the deeper meaning of the Festival of Lights? Come learn about this most "reconstructed" of Jewish holidays with Rabbi Toba as we celebrate the 7th day of Chanukah.Update this content.
Shamor v'Zachor: Celebrating Shabbat at Home with DCL Rabbi Beck
Saturday, January 10, 4:00-6:00 pm
Friday, January 23, 6:00-9:00 pm
Saturday, January 31, 4:00-6:00 pm
In-person (location TBD)
Join Rabbi Beck for an in-person, three-part learning series exploring home-based Shabbat practice through a Reconstructionist lens. Together, we'll delve into the core mitzvot of Shabbat, reflect on what it means to keep and to guard this sacred time in our own lives, and workshop the practical details of how to hold Shabbat rituals in our homes. This is an opportunity to deepen your spiritual connection to Shabbat, grounded in tradition and shaped by personal meaning.
If you cannot join us for the class but would like to join for Havdalah on January 10 or 31, at 5:30 pm, you are welcome!