Start 2013 off with some learning! Did you know that more Americans start a new class in January than any other month of the year? Including September. It is a time for fresh starts. I’m going to start listing the class options so you can find one near you. Check back to see what’s been…
Read More »Jewish Learning
Halloween and Jews
Can Jews celebrate Halloween? I’m wondering if this question just got you hot under the collar. Just stop for a moment and check your emotions… is this a question that gets you upset? I’ve been reading about this topic online this week and there seem to be a number of people for whom this topic,…
Read More »Was that God?
The April that my son was eight years old we were preparing for Passover. My husband and kids had searched the house for chametz (the crumbs of leavening). Tradition says that you burn the chametz. So my husband put a strip of aluminum foil over the gas stove’s burner and turned on the flame. The…
Read More »Talking to Children About God
Join Rabbi Straus and other parents to explore children’s concepts of God. Should parents open a conversation about God or wait for children to ask questions? What if you don’t believe in God but your spouse does? What should you say about what they are being taught in Religious School? What if you and your…
Read More »God Talk
Rabbis have amazing God conversations with children fairly regularly. Why we don’t continue these conversations as easily as we age? The questions certainly don’t get any easier! Perhaps we forget, over the years, that sharing doubts and yearning for hope is what makes us human. I invite you to join an open and caring –…
Read More »Homer & Moses: Poets of their People
Join us at the Berkeley Rep production of An Iliad! Imagine this. . . a religion that focuses on this world, not the next; a theology with angry gods who interact with humans. A tradition that is perpetuated in an illiterate society by men who sing the story in formulaic music and words. This describes…
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