Adult Education Newsletter

November brings two exciting programs to the Temple on the same weekend!

• Friday, November 13, at 6:00 p.m., Bobbie Klau will conduct an alternative service including storytelling and other activities.
• Sunday,November 15, at 2:00 p.m, A Conversation with Our Muslim Neighbors. The program is sponsored by the Hartford Seminary, Connecticut Muslim Coalition, and Connecticut Council for Interreligious Affairs (CCIA). We hope to have a large turnout as we ask our Muslim neighbors to answer questions from the audience concerning topics in the news as well as learn more about the Muslim Faith. Feel free to invite your friends as this is open to the community.

Last month we started a monthly Torah Study on Friday night and we had a large, engaged group in attendance with beginners and regulars contributing. Alas, we have scheduling conflicts in November and will resume on Saturday, December 19.. In January, we will move to a more consistent schedule of 2nd Friday evenings of the month unless otherwise noted, following the 6:00 p.m service. Come and learn about the Torah and more!

L’Shalom,
Ellen Rothberg Adult Education Chair

Last year the temple conducted a survey of the membership to solicit your input on educational topics. Our programming this year addresses the topics which received the most votes, starting in October with a program on Intermarriage. This program will be on Sunday, October 25, at 9:30 a.m. We welcome all couples, grandparents and others who are interested in discussing this complex topic.

Also In October, a new Torah study class aimed at those just starting their learning will begin once a month classes. Our first class will lead by Rabbi Bennett on Friday, October 9, after services—light supper will be served. Please let Joyce know if you plan on attending so we can have enough food!

Lastly we will have a book discussion of the bestselling Being Mortal by Atul Gawande on Friday, October 30. Gawande, a neurosurgeon practicing in Boston, presents what Time Magazine calls a “…clear eyed exploration of what growing old means in the 21st century…”. This is an essential and insightful book for our time.

A sneak peek into November, when we will have two exciting programs:

• Bobbie Klau will lead an alternative Friday evening service on November 13; and
• Sunday afternoon, November 15, the Hartford Seminary program –A Conversation with our Muslim Neighbors, with Temple Sinai inviting our Newington neighbors.

Hope to see you at these new exciting events.

The Adult Education Committee welcomes new members. The next meeting of the Adult Education Committee will be Monday, October 12, at 7:00 p.m.

Shalom,
Ellen Rothberg, Adult Education Chair 

The Adult Education Committee has been hard at work this summer in planning many events. (A list was sent with the High Holy day tickets in mid-August). The first events this year will be:

• Sunday, October 25, 9:15 a.m.—A Discussion on Interfaith Marriage—Things you didn’t think about beforehand; Things you think about now!
• Friday, October 30, 7:30 p.m.—A book discussion, Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande”—a physician’s exploration of aging, death, and the medical profession’s mishandling of both. Here’s what Amazon has to say about it:

  “In Being Mortal, bestselling author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending.

  “Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But in the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit. Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, pin patients into railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, checking for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot. Doctors, committed to extending life, continue to carry out devastating procedures that in the end extend suffering.

  “Gawande, a practicing surgeon, addresses his profession’s ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families. Gawande offers examples of freer, more socially fulfilling models for assisting the infirm and dependent elderly, and he explores the varieties of hospice care to demonstrate that a person’s last weeks or months may be rich and dignified.

  “Full of eye-opening research and riveting storytelling, Being Mortal asserts that medicine can comfort and enhance our experience even to the end, providing not only a good life but also a good end.”

The Adult Education Committee welcomes new members. The next meeting of the Adult Education Committee will be Monday, September 21 at 7:00 p.m.

We wish everyone a sweet & Happy New Year.

Shalom,
Ellen Rothberg, Adult Education Chair 

The Adult Education Committee has created a survey for you to let us know what kind of programming you would like to see our committee plan for next year. There is a copy of this survey near the end of the April 2015 bulletin. Please help us by completing it and returning it to the temple office via email, fax, snail mail. you can also access the survey directly on line at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SD6SMRY. This is going to be most helpful to the Adult Education Committee.

On Sunday, April 19, at 9:30 a.m., we will hold the second part of the panel discussion, “Caring for Our Aging Parents”. Atty. Paul Czepiga from Czepiga & Daly will discuss issues covering financial & estate planning. Call the Temple Office, 860/561-1055, if you’d like to attend.

Our May event is book night. This will follow the 7:30 p.m. Shabbat service on Friday evening, May 29. The book we will discuss is “The Last Jew” by Noah Gordon. Here’s a brief synopsis, courtesy of Amazon.com:

In the year 1492, the Inquisition has all of Spain in its grip. Yonah Toledano, the 15 year old son of a celebrated Spanish silversmith, has seen his father and brother die. Trapped in Spain, he is determined to honor the memory of his family by remaining a Jew. On a donkey, Yonah begins a journey across the vastness of Spain. He desperately clings to the memories of a vanished culture and deals with the questions that mark his past. How he achieves a life with the outer persona of a Christian and the inner life of a secret Jew is the fabric of this novel.

Please join us for a lively book discussion on May 29.

Shalom,

Ellen Rothberg, Adult Education Chair

This year Adult Education had three diverse programs. In November, we discussed the book, “My Promised Land” by Ari Shavit. In December we showed the movie “The Lemon Tree,” with a rousing discussion led by Cantor Gordon, about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as seen through the eyes of a Palestinian widow and an Israeli cabinet member’s wife. It’s worth renting if you haven’t seen it.

This past month we had a very well attended panel discussion on “Caring for our Aging Parents” with guest speakers Ann Leabman and Penny Yellen from Jewish family Services, Joanne Foss from Aging Care, and myself. The discussion could have gone on for another hour, so we are scheduling a follow up panel to cover topics around financial planning, housing and estate planning.

On May 29, we will end the year with a book discussion following the 7:30 p.m. service. The book is “The Last Jew” by Noah Gordon.

We sent out a survey monkey (electronically) to the temple members and I will sort out the results and report next month on what our members’ preferences are in adult education programming. We hope to gain insight into what programs are interesting to you.

We welcome new members to the Adult Education Committee. Our next meeting is Monday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m. Please join us and give us your input into future topics.

Shalom,
Ellen Rothberg, Adult Education Chair 

The Adult Education Committee will sponsor a panel discussion on Caring For Our Aging Parents, January 25, 9:30-11:00 a.m. in the Social Hall. A panel of experts in the field, with ample time for questions, covering Normal Aging; Planning and Family Dyramics; Services and Who Pays for Them.

Light refreshments will be served. Please call or email the Temple Office to let us know you’re corning. (Phone: 860/561-1055; email is: office@sinaict.org). Please visit the Temple website, www.sinaict.org, to complete the Adult Education Survey. Just scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on “More” after Adult Education Survey. Thank you for your insights!

We welcome new members to the Adult Education Committee. Our next meeting is Monday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m. Please join us and give us your input into future topics.

Shalom,
Ellen Rothberg, Adult Education Chair 

We have several upcoming events scheduled for this fall and winter:

• Friday, November 21: Book discussion following the 6:00 p.m. service. The book will be My Promised Land,
• Saturday, December 6: Movie night, The Lemon Tree, at 6:00 p.m. in the social hall. In addition to the movie, we’ll be having a pizza dinner (and, of course, Havdallah service). Reservations are required, and most be made by November 26. See the flyer in the November–December bulletin for ticket prices and more information.
• January 11 and February 1: A two-part series on Caring for your Aging Parents.

We’ll also be polling the congregation for your ideas on programming as we begin planning for 2015–2016. There will be more on this in January.

B;Shalom,
CJ Hauss, Adult Education Chair 

Mv Promised Land is a New York Times bestseller and was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Times and The Economist. It won the Natan Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Anisfleld-Wolf Book Award.

My Promised Land is an Israeli book like no other. Not since Amos Elon’s The Israelis, Amos Oz’s In the Land of Israel, and Thomas Friedman’s From Beirut to Jerusalem, has there been such a powerful and comprehensive book written about the Jewish State and the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Ari Shavit is one of Israel’s leading columnists and writers, and the story he tells describes with great empathy the Palestinian tragedy and the century-long struggle between Jews and Arabs over the Holy Land.

While Shavit is being brutally honest regarding the Zionist enterprise, he is also insightful, sensitive, and attentive to the dramatic life-stories of his fascinating heroes and heroines. The result is a unique nonfiction book that has the qualities of fine literature. It brings to life epic history without being a conventional history book. It deepens contemporary political understanding without being a one-sided political polemic. It is painful and provocative, yet colorful, emotional, life-loving, and inspiring. My Promised Land is the ultimate personal odyssey of a humanist exploring the startling biography of his tormented homeland, which is at the very center of global interest.” — Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Israel.

The Lemon Tree is a story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemon tree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and tbreatens to have her lemon grove torn down. See the flyer in this bulletin for details and reservation information.

Adult Education has two notable upcoming events:

Friday, November 21, we will have a book discussion following the 6:00 p.m. service. We will discuss My Promised Land by Ari Shavit. This is a New York Times best seller, and was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Times and The Economist. It won the Natan Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.

“My Promised Land is an Israeli book like no other. Not since Amos Elon’s The Israelis, Amos Oz’s In the Land of Israel, and Thomas Friedman’s From Beirut to Jerusalem, has there been such a powerful and comprehensive book written about the Jewish State and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ari Shavit is one of Israel’s leading columnists and writers, and the story he tells describes with great empathy the Palestinian tragedy and the century-long struggle between Jews and Arabs over the Holy Land. While Shavit is being brutally honest regarding the Zionist enterprise, he is also insightful, sensitive, and attentive to the dramatic life stories of his fascinating heroes and heroines. The result is a unique nonfiction book that has the qualities of fine literature. It brings to life epic history without being a conventional history book. It deepens contemporary political understanding without being a one-sided political polemic. It is painful and provocative, yet colorful, emotional, life-loving, and inspiring. My Promised Land is the ultimate personal odyssey of a humanist exploring the startling biography of his tormented homeland, which is at the very center of global interest.”

Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Israel

Saturday, December 6, at 6:00 p.m. is Adult Ed Movie Night. We will see The Lemon Tree. This is a story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemon tree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and threatens to have her lemon grove torn down.

Director: EranRiklis.
Stars: Hiam Abbass, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Ali Suliman.

The next meeting of our Adult Education Committee is October 22 at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!

b’Shalom,
CJ Hauss, Adult Education Chair 

The Adult Education Committee has been busy all summer planning and coordinating not only the Temple Sinai Shabbaton, to be held on Sept. 13, but our entire year of events. Here’s what we have in store (so far!) for 2014–2015:

• We’ll take a little breather after the Shabbaton, and hold our first Book Discussion on Friday, November 21, after the 6:00 p.m. service. The book which will be discussed is “My Promised Land” by Avi Shavit.
• On Saturday, December 6, we’ll hold our first Movie Night featuring “The Lemon Tree”.
• We’ll open the secular New Year with a two-part series on Caring for Our Aging Parents, tentatively scheduled for January 11 and February 1, with a panel of experts from Jewish Family Services, the Hebrew Home, and the VNA.
• We’re also coordinating with the Berlin Mosque to organize a springtime discussion on Islamaphobia and anti-Semitism.
• Last, but not least, our spring book discussion will be held after the 7:30 p.m. Shabbat service on May 29. The book reviewed will be “The Last Jew”, by Nora Gordan.

Our next committee meeting at the Temple will be on Wednesday, September 17, at 7:00 p.m. We always welcome new members to our committee.

Best wishes to everyone for a very Happy New Year.

b’Shalom

CH Hauss, Adult Education Chair 

On May 30, following the 7:30 p.m Shabbat Service, we are sponsoring a book discussion on The Bamboo Cradle: a Jewish Father’s Story by Avraham Schwartzbaum, Feldheim Publishing, 1988.

“This is the true story of a young non-religious Jewish couple, the Schwartzbaums, who adopt an abandoned Chinese girl while they are teaching and researching in China on a Fulbright scholarship. In the process of adopting Hsin-Mei (later named Devorah) and converting her to Judaism, the couple find themselves becoming more in tune with Jewish teachings and values and eventually move to Israel as religious Jews.”

Copies of the book are available on-line and at Barnes and Noble. Temple Sinai’s Library has two copies. The Koopman Library at the JCC has three copies available.

The Adult Education Committee has been hard at work on plans for the Shabbaton this fall. This is a collaborative effort of several Temple groups, including Membership, Men’s Club, Religious Affairs, Religious School, Sisterhood, Social Action, Tots, and Youth Group. We have a fuIl day of activities planned for all Temple members, beginning with services, and offering everything from Torah study to softball, music to mitzvot, arts and crafts, and a 5K fun run. Please save the date: Saturday, September 13, at Winding Trails in Farmington. We have a wonderful day planned filled with prayer, play, song, dance, run, nature, and the joy of doing mitzvot together! Of course food and fun are included! Some details are still being worked out, and we welcome you to join our very active Adult Education Committee.

CJ Hauss, Adult Education Chair