Weekly Learning Opportunities

Sichat Shabbat (9:00 am - 10:15 a.m. Saturday Mornings in the Library

  • February 28 - The Elephantine Papyri and What They Reveal About Early Judaism, with Peter Pizor

  • March 7 - Presenter’s Choice, with Rabbi Aaron Nielsenshultz

  • March 14 - BOOK DISCUSSION: Modern Jews Engage the New Testament By Rabbi Michael Cook, PhD, with Jim Appelbaum

  • March 21 - BOOK DISCUSSION: Modern Jews Engage the New Testament By Rabbi Michael Cook, PhD, with Jim Appelbaum

  • March 28 - Continued Exploration of Prophets and Jewish History, with Elaine Tobias

  • April 4 - Passover Parshah Play, with Karen Liebenau

*NOTE THIS UPCOMING EVENT: March 14 & 21, Modern Jews Engage the New Testament, with Jim Appelbaum (You may wish to purchase the book with the same title, by Rabbi Michael J. Cook PhD.)

More Adult Learning Opportunities

Visit often to learn about upcoming Adult Education opportunities

Natives, Invasives, and Jewish Values - A Nature Walk with Sarah Shaw
Sunday, March 29 (10:30 a.m., rain or shine)
Location: Meet at Beth Torah in the ulam, walk out back

Outdoor Professional Sarah Shaw joins us again for a walk in the woods behind Beth Torah. Sarah will teach us about the plants we share this space with.

Ongoing Opportunities….

Welcoming the Stranger ~ Immigration Justice: Jewish Values in Action (A Monthly Sermon Series)
Fridays: February 27, March 13, April 10, May 8, June 12, July 17 (6:30 p.m.)

The Torah tells us over 30 times that we must remember the stranger because we were once strangers in Egypt. But what does that mean? How do we turn our Jewish values into action? Our Friday Night Sermon Series focusing on Jewish Values in Action will help.

The series opens with the theological foundation for the Jewish response to how we approach immigration. Drawing on Torah and rabbinic tradition, Rabbi Levin will explore why immigration is not a peripheral political issue, but a core Jewish moral concern rooted in our collective story of displacement, vulnerability, and responsibility.

March 13 (HIAS Refugee Shabbat)
Speaker: Hilary Cohen Singer, Executive Director, Jewish Vocational Service
Topic: HIAS’s Annual Global Refugee Shabbat. Learn from one of the primary refugee settlement organizations in Kansas City about refugee resettlement today, current challenges, what welcome looks like beyond arrival, bearing witness to immigration courts and enforcement practices, and how congregations can respond with presence, learning, and action.

April 10  
Speaker: Kevin Hill, Attorney, Brown County, Volunteer Attorney for Asylum Seekers
Topic: You Were Strangers in the Land of Egypt. Passover calls us to experience liberation as if we ourselves were freed. This session will explore the asylum process and legal barriers to freedom including prolonged detention and delayed due process. 

May 8
Speaker: Micah Kubic, Executive Director, ACLU of Kansas
Topic: Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof /Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue. As Shavuot approaches, we’re reminded of our obligation to uphold Jewish commandments. This session will examine civil liberties and immigration enforcement, due process and constitutional protections and the status of legal norms.

June 12
Speaker: Suzanne Gladney, Missouri Migrant Farm Worker Assistant Fund
Topic: Rooted in the Land, Sustained by Workers: Kavod Ha’Avodah (Dignity of Labor). Jewish teachings remind us that we are sustained by the land and by those who labor to nourish us. This session will focus on the experiences of migrant farm workers and the impact of current enforcement policies on families, food systems and rural communities.

July 17 
Speaker: Pastor Rick Behrens, Grandview Park Presbyterian
Topic: El Vecendario y La Hospitalidad / The Neighborhood and Hospitality. Rev. Behrens will share stories of inspiration and challenge from 30 years of multicultural/bi-lingual ministry in the Central Avenue neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas. How do we live the call to welcome the stranger into our communal, familial, economic and institutional lives? And who wins when we do so?

Lunch & Schmooze with Damien
(12:00-1:00 p.m. 2nd Thursday of the Month)
Location: Beth Torah Library
Next meeting: March 12

Bring a lunch and your questions for a round-table conversation with Damien.

Jewish Journeys: The Stories We Tell
7:00 p.m.-8:30p.m., 2nd Thursday of the Month - Beginning November 13
Location: Beth Torah Library

Join us for lively sharing and exploration about the conversations we have with ourselves and with others over the course of our lives. This class is for the women of Beth Torah and their (female identifying) friends, facilitated by Jill Maidhof.
(For Questions & Registration, contact Jill: jill.maidhof@gmail.com)

All women in the Jewish community are warmly invited. | Attend as consistently as your life allows. | Add your voice to our conversations.

LEARN TO READ BIBLICAL HEBREW, FOR FREE AND ACCORDING TO YOUR OWN SCHEDULE:

From Jill Maidhof, Chair of the Adult Education Committee:

I highly recommends an online program called Aleph With Beth. https://freehebrew.online/how-it-works/
DO read how the program works and how you can access resources.

Two notes:
1) It looks at first glance like a child’s program. IT IS NOT!
2) It’s produced by a Christian couple, revealed by their use of the term Yaweh instead of the Adonai. I’ve watched over 100 lessons and “Yaweh” is the only Christian reference in the program. I just substitute “Adonai” as I watch.

Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class

This year’s enrollment is closed. Please email Jill Maidhof with questions.

Upcoming Beit Midrash

Watch this Space for Upcoming Events

—> Questions about or ideas for Adult Ed at Beth Torah? Contact jill.maidhof@gmail.com