Feb

15 2017

Genesis Forum: The Jewish American Experience

12:00PM - 1:15PM  

Temple Shalom of Newton 175 Temple Street
West Newton, MA

Contact Stacey G.
617-457-8694
staceyg@cjp.org

Jewish Voices and Visions for Our Shared Future

Sessions meet on Wednesdays, 12:00 - 1:15 p.m.
Three different locations this year.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Bring your lunch and join us for our popular Genesis Forum. This year, we bring ‭the discussions to new sites downtown and in the suburbs. We offer three‬ ‭distinct sections at three different venues. Choose the place and program‬ ‭convenient to you — or join us for all three. We look forward to learning with‬
‭you!‬
‭‬
Photocopies of the texts studied will be provided.

Bring your own lunch, if you’d like. Coffee and tea will be available.

Register online, by emailing adultlearning@cjp.org, or by calling Stacey Gainey at 617-457-8694.

An election year inspires learning and conversation about our shared future and ‭the society we create and uphold. Together, we will explore the call to‬ ‭leadership, the dimensions of civic duty, and our unity amidst difference.‬ Each section covers four topics and their relationship to our theme, Jewish‬ ‭Voices and Visions for Our Shared Future


SECTION 1
Courageous Callings: Listening and Leadership

Temple Israel, 477 Longwood Avenue, Boston
Parking is available in the 375 Longwood Avenue parking garage. Temple Israel is also easily accessible from the Longwood T Station on the Green Line’s Riverside (D) route.

In this section, we will investigate leadership callings, inner voices, and external charges. We will focus on four Jewish superstars, one each from the biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern periods of Jewish history.

11/2/16 - Abraham and Heeding the Voice
with Rabbi Benjamin J. Samuels, CJP Genesis Scholar and Rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Tefillah

11/30/16 - Beruriah: Hearing a Woman’s Voice 
with Tamar Biala, Jewish Israeli feminist thinker and the editor of Dirshuni: Midreshei Nashim Israeli Women Writing Midrash (vol 1, 2009; vol 2, forthcoming)

1/4/17 - Maimonides and the Call to Virtue
with Dr. Erica Brown, Associate Professor, Graduate School for Education and Human Development and Director, Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership at George Washington University; and author of eleven books

2/1/17 - Rav Kook and the Call of the Future
with Rabbi Ariel Evan Mayse, Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish Thought and Director of Jewish Studies at Hebrew College


SECTION 2
The Dimensions of Jewish Civic Duty

Temple Shalom of Newton, 175 Temple Street, West Newton
On-site parking is available.

In this section, we will contemplate Jewish views of civic duty, from their biblical and rabbinic roots to their modern manifestations.

11/9/16 - The Jewish Values and Vision of Building and Planting
with Rabbi Laura Baum, Associate Vice President, CJP's Jewish Learning and Engagement Commission

12/14/16 - Civic Duty, Democracy, and Rabbinic Judaism
with Rabbi Benjamin J. Samuels, CJP Genesis Scholar and Rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Tefillah

1/18/17 - Praying for the Government: From Tolerated Minority to Equal Citizen
with Professor Shaye J.D. Cohen, Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Harvard University

2/15/17 - The Jewish American Experience: Voting in the Booth and with our Hands and Feet 
with Rabbi David Ellenson, Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and Visiting Professor in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies of Brandeis University, Chancellor-Emeritus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion


SECTION  3
E Pluribus Unum: Jewish Particularism and American Pluralism

Hebrew College, 160 Herrick Road, Newton Centre
On-site parking is available. Hebrew College is also accessible from the Newton Centre T Station on the Green Line’s Riverside (D) route.

In this section, we will explore the dialectic of Jewish particularism and humanistic universalism, and its relevance to the American Jewish experience of unity amidst difference.

3/8/17 - Diversity: Recognizing Self and Others
with Dr. Erica Brown, Associate Professor, Graduate School for Education and Human Development and Director, Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership at George Washington University; and author of eleven books

4/19/17 - Jewish Pluralism and Communal Unity
with Rabbi Daniel Lehmann, President of Hebrew College

5/17/17 - Jewish Values and Religious Freedom
with Barry Shrage, President of Combined Jewish Philanthropies

6/14/17 - Democracy and the Ethics of Jewish Debate
with Rabbi Laura Baum, Associate Vice President, CJP's Jewish Learning and Engagement Commission, and Rabbi Benjamin J. Samuels, CJP Genesis Scholar and Rabbi of Congregation Shaarai Tefillah