Lifelong Learning

Visit the Adult Education Handouts and Readings page here.

Shabbat Education Series

Shabbat Study following Kiddush

Extra-Canonical Books

How were the books that are included in the Bible chosen? Why are some books included and others not? For example, why is the Song of Songs in but the Books of Maccabees out? The reasons are not a matter of when those books were actually written. After the works that comprise the Bible were written and collected into the canon, the writing of religious and theological works did not cease. In fact, many works written contemporaneously with texts that became canonized were not themselves included in the canon. Some of these texts are quite ancient; at least one extant non-canonical text was written as early as the seventh century BCE, well before most of the books of the Torah were assembled. We will examine the texts that are classified as extra-canonical in order to learn why they were not included in the canon and look at some of the major Jewish writings that were composed after the Hebrew Bible was set in its final form.
Class notes are located here

Conversion Class Outlines and Materials

Rabbi Zimmerman conducts classes on Jewish culture, history, life-cycle, and literature for conversion candidates. Listed below are the RRA’s recommendations for conversion requirements, the training outline Rabbi Zimmerman uses based on these recommendations, and a list of recommended reading materials for candidates.

• RRA Conversion Guidelines
• Conversion Training Outline
• Conversion Reading List

Community Learning Activities

• Taking the Torah Home

  "Taking the Torah Home" is a unique way of studying Torah (parashat ha'shavuah), a way which we call the "vertical Torah." Instead of studying with just one or two sources and the text itself ("horizontal" study), we study simultaneously from sources across all Jewish denominations and also bring in major Christian commentators. Our sources include a wide range of scripture translations, including the ArtScroll, Jewish Study Bible, Etz Chaim, JPS Torah Commentary, Soncino Chumash, W. Gunther Plaut, Everett Fox, Robert Alter, Richard Elliott Friedman; and major commentaries such as those of Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Nachmanides, the Anchor Bible, Nehama Leibowitz, and Nahum Sarna.

  Our sources also include very early texts such as the writings of Josephus, the Pseudepigrapha, the Enuma Elish, and the Amarna letters, as well as books and articles on biblical archaeology, paleosociology, and anthropology. Finally, we use sources from the Muslim and Christian religions such as the Qu'ran and the King James and New International Bibles and their commentaries, and a wide variety of sources from the Web including commentaries from the sites of the Orthodox Union, Jewish Theological Seminary, and Union of Reform Judiasm as well as other sources of current commentaries.

  In addition to Torah and haftarah study, we have also studied the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Ezekiel, 1 Maccabees, Daniel, Jonah, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the post-exilic prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. We are currently engaged in studying the rest of the Minor Prophets.

  This group has been meeting since early in 2002, and we've been told that our "vertical Torah" approach to study is unique. Please join us to see for yourself. We meet Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at Shaarey Zedek in the library. You can find out more about the class by Conducted by local community members.