Adult Education

Adult Education at Temple Beth El is designed to create a center for Jewish learning in Northern Westchester that is relevant and meaningful. Our intent is to provide temple members and members of the community with the opportunity to participate in programs and courses on a variety of Jewish topics that are infused with excitement and diversity.

Click on each event below for additional program details and registration information.

Upcoming Programs

Jewish NYC Walking Tours
with Rabbi Jaffe

Join Rabbi Jaffe, alongside Beth El friends and neighbors, in exploring NYC through food and Jewish heritage.  Each tour will include historical perspective, food and time for schmoozing - three of our favorite things!  

To get things started, we will be taking Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day for a historical walking tour and tasting of New York Pizza.  We will be meeting at DeSalvio Playground (corner of Spring and Mulberry streets) on Monday, October 9th to begin our tour next door with Lombardi’s Pizza.  We will end by 2:00 pm at Washington Square Park.  Please join us for an afternoon of walking, eating and spending time with friends and neighbors!

Brooklyn Pizza Crawl
Monday, October 9 (Columbus Day) at 12:00 pm     
Click here to RSVP
 
Upper East Side Chanukah Sufganiyah (Doughnut) Crawl
Sunday, December 10 at 1:30pm          
RSVP coming soon!

Lower East Side Jewish Food Tour
Saturday, June 1 at 2:00 pm             
RSVP coming soon! 

An Introduction to Modern Jewish Thought
with Rabbi Leora T. Londy

While the Torah offers a personal, anthropomorphic concept of God, various concepts of theology exist under the umbrella of Jewish monotheism.  We will explore several notions of God as posited by 3 radical theologians over the past century.  The sessions will delve into the beliefs, backgrounds and crucial concepts of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Rabbi Mordechai M. Kaplan, and theologian Martin Buber and touch upon questions and crises of faith, connection, identity and peoplehood.  Come, let’s explore the expansive vocabularies of faith, God, and Judaism together.
 
The Torah of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel – A Prophetic Call to Action 
Saturday, October 21 at 12:00 pm
Click here to register for this program

The Torah of Rabbi Mordechai M. Kaplan – A Living, Breathing, Modern Rational Judaism
Sunday, October 29 at 9:15 am   
Click here to register for this program

The Torah of Martin Buber – Everything is Relational
Sunday, November 5 at 9:15 am
Click here to register for this program

The Lost Books of Tanakh
with Rabbinic Intern Madeleine Fortney

We often study Torah and hear it chanted in the synagogue, but what about the other books of Tanakh? Many of them hold surprises and treasures that you may not otherwise have an opportunity to learn about. Together we will uncover the richness of some of the lesser-known books through an exploration of Job, Jonah, and Judges. Come along on our journey as we examine themes of divine justice and suffering, prophecy and repentance, sinning and redemption. We will go deep into the belly of Jonah’s whale, through Job’s haunted visions, and more.

Job – An Exploration of Divine Justice and Suffering
Sunday, December 3 at 11:15 am
Click here to register for this program

Jonah – Prophecy and Repentance from the Belly of the Whale
Saturday, December 9 at 12:00 pm
Click here to register for this program

Judges – The Cycle of Sinning and Redemption
Sunday, December 17 at 11:15 am
Click here to register for this program

Raising Humanistic Questions in Midrash Sefer HaYashar 
with Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Norman Cohen, Ph.D.

Sefer HaYashar provides an engaging rendering of Genesis, the beginning of Exodus, along with the books of Joshua and Judges.  This midrashic collection seeks to further develop biblical characters from a modern perspective, especially the female characters, which become more fully emotive, human and strong.  These dynamic characters speak to us as modern readers and challenge us in a myriad of ways.  

The Early life of Abraham and Sarah; in Egypt and in the land of Israel
Sunday, March 17 at 12:00 pm
Click here to register for this event

A Rewriting of the Akedah (Binding of Isaac), especially the role of Sarah and the personality of Isaac
Sunday, March 24 at 12:00 pm
Click here to register for this event

The Seduction of Joseph by Potiphar’s Wife, as found in Genesis 39
Sunday, April 14 at 12:00 pm
Click here to register for this event

Peace, Politics and Plutonium: An Insider’s Look at the Internal and External Challenges Facing Israel and How they Can be Overcome
Sunday, October 15 at 2:30 pm
with HonestReporting Executive Director, Gil Hoffman
Click here to register for this program