November 08, 2023 Adult Learning GROW Series: November 2023

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With Israel on our minds, Hebrew College Adult Learning is launching our new free, monthly GROW series with a discussion about Israel and Jewish Peoplehood. We hope you will spend an hour with us for this and future programs in our series, to gather, reflect, observe, and wrestle with topics that will deepen your Jewish learning.

November Program

The Imperative, Challenge, and Hope of Jewish Interconnectedness
Instructor: Rabbi Neal Gold

A discussion, with classic Jewish texts, about the state of Jewish peoplehood today: how the spiritual wisdom of our tradition informs our feelings of longing, loss, and pain as war unfolds in Israel.

About Our Instructor

Rabbi Neal Gold teaches and writes about Jewish texts, Israel, and the intersections between Jewish spiritual life and the contemporary world. In 2020, he created a rapidly expanding online platform for adult Jewish learning called “A Tree with Roots.” He is adjunct faculty Hebrew College in Newton, MA, and in 2023 became the spiritual leader of Am HaYam—Cape Cod Havurah.

Neal is the Immediate Past President of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis. In 2021, he became an inaugural JJGI [J.J. Greenberg Institute for Advancement of Jewish Life] Fellow at Hadar Institute in New York.

Neal received smicha (rabbinic ordination) from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he also received a Doctor of Divinity honoris causa degree in 2022. In 2018 he earned a second Master’s Degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. He is the author of many academic and popular writings about Judaism and Israel, and he is the editor of Radiance: The Collected Prose and Poetry of Danny Siegel, published by the Jewish Publication Society in 2020.

save the dates

Future Free, Monthly GROW Programs

Date: December 13, 2024 | 12-1 PM EST/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Program: Illuminating Christmas and Hanukkah from the Inside
Instructors: Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire & Reverend Tom Reid
Join us: Learn more | Register now

Date: January 10, 2024 | 12-1 PM EST/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Program: Unexpected Encounters
Instructors: Dr. Susie Tanchel
Join us: Learn more | Register now

In our time together, we will explore select biblical texts in which a person receives an unexpected revelation from God. Through our study, we will glean possible ways in which these ancient texts are relevant for our lives in the present time. No knowledge of Hebrew is required. Please bring an open mind and heart.

Date: February 14, 2024 | 12-1 PM EST/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Program:What can the New Testament teach us about first century Judaism?
Instructors: Alan Avery Peck
Join us: Register now

Jesus, the Christian messiah and son of God, was also a first century Galilean Jew who stood firmly within the Judaism of his day. Jesus’ message responded to and resonated within his people’s—the Jews’—distinctive theological, cultural, and political circumstances. As much as the New Testament tells the story of Christian origins, it thus reflects deeply on first century Judaism. Christians who ignore Jesus’ Jewish context cannot fully understand what was at stake in, or the urgency of, Jesus’ message. And Jews who ignore the New Testament miss the opportunity fully to grasp Jewish belief in the period that yielded the Judaism we still practice today. Thus our focus today: What can the New Testament teach us about first century Judaism?

Date: March 13, 2024 | 12-1 PM EST/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Program: Building Resilience for Stories
Instructors: Margie Bogdanow
Join us: Register now

Research shows that learning and knowing about family history helps build resilience in children of all ages. Judaism is a religion of stories. We tell the same Torah stories over and over and each time they have new meaning with the Passover Seder being the most famous example. As grandparents, sharing our stories is one of the most important things we can do for our grandchildren. Today our stories can be told in many ways, from sitting on a lap to sitting at computers across the world. They can be shared in words, in music and in pictures. Join other grandparents to reflect on our stories, explore the Jewish wisdom around the value of storytelling, and share practical approaches to becoming impactful stewards of our family narrative.

Date: April 10, 2024 | 12-1 PM EST/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Program: TBD
Instructors: Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld
Join us: Register now

** Watch for details and instructors for our programs on May 8 and June 5, 2024.