Image: Passover at the Kepler/Snyder house. Photo by Linda Burnett.
This eight-week online course will introduce you to:
- The major and minor Jewish holidays
- Jewish lifecycle rituals, from birth to death
Date & Time: September 15 – November 10, 2019. Classes meet on Sunday afternoons, 3:30-5:00 Pacific Time. I record the classes so that if students cannot attend “live” they can still access the class via recordings.
Tuition: Sliding scale of $240 – $144. Scholarships available.
Platform: I teach the class using Zoom meeting software. You will be able to access your class meeting using a link in the email invitation you receive after registration.
To Register: Go to the HaMaqom website (formerly Lehrhaus Judaica), and look at the class page.
Texts: Settings of Silver, by Stephen Wylen. The book is available both new and used. I use this text because it contains a history and an excellent index; when you’ve finished the class it makes a nice reference book if you choose to keep it.
This class is one part of the Introduction to the Jewish Experience series, a three part series of eight classes each. The classes may be taken in any order, and each also works as a stand-alone class. Part 2, “History & Texts” will be offered in Winter 2020, and Part 3, “Diversity of Judaism” will be offered in Spring 2020.
Your instructor will be Rabbi Ruth Adar, a Reform rabbi, graduate of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, as well as the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. I’ve been a teacher since I graduated from college in 1976; I’ve been teaching this particular class (Intro to the Jewish Experience) since 2009. This blog began as a resource for that class.
I welcome questions via the Comments section here (also, to any previous students, I welcome any comments/reviews/notes you have to offer.)
Dear Rabbi Adar,
I am a a person who desires to convert. I am currently attending Congregation Shaareth Israel in Lubbock, Texas under the guidance of Rabbi Deborah Goldmann. She has suggested that I take your online Intro class. I have already taken her Jewish Holidays & Lifecycle classes, which follow along with your classes.
So, I don’t know when to join into your class schedule. I also may have internet problems since I am on a satellite and streaming video gets buffered and interrupted a lot.
That being said, can you advise me on how to move forward? Can I join your classes now in the session that has already started?