You may be aware of illuminated manuscripts-gloriously decorated and written Bibles created in the Middle Ages in France and Germany and Spain. You may have seen the decorated pages of Persian manuscripts with their tiny, detailed paintings. The Jews also have a tradition of illuminated manuscripts. We will learn about our own styles and create our own illuminated letter, in particular the "grotesque," a style of the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry.
This is a hands on workshop.
Limited to 15
Although often thought of as solely concerned with spiritual uplift, the kabbalistic tradition is actually focused on the inextricable relationship between darkness and light, evil and goodness, the holy side and the “other side,” the Gods and the Devils, or, in more modern terms, between Eros and Thanatos. In this session, we will explore this tradition through study of texts from the Zohar, kabbalah’s central work, as well as experientially through exercises drawn from the tradition.
Collage with everyday objects is a playful and inclusive method of art creation. You don't need to be an artist to do it or to have any special talent. Every object has meaning and brings a set of metaphors, associations, and inspirations to a group discussion. The color, humor and playful silliness of creating art from very mundane objects foster free, honest and flexible dialogue.
In this session we will work in groups making collages and then discussing possible uses of collage in the educational and professional worlds.
Join three professional foodies from very diverse backgrounds talking about what drew them to the field; the intersection of food, religion, culture and identity; food and spirituality; and the extremely controversial question of bacon-wrapped matzoh balls.
In an age when choosing an identity is as simple as putting on a mask, how do we create an identity that is meaningful? "Why Judaism" addresses that and other questions. What is special that we offer and how exclusive is our offering, both for ourselves and for non-Jews? How are we different from Buddhism or other theologies? If part of our exclusivity is ethnicity, does this make our Jewish journey more special or more burdensome? Are mitzvot (commandments) personal enrichment or commanded by God?
Come join us for a screening and discussion of the film Killing Kasztner. Please note that this session will start eariy due to the film's lenth.
Rezso Kasztner, known as the Jewish Schindler, negotiated face to face with Adolf Eichmann, rescuing 1,700 Jews on a train to Switzerland, and may have saved tens of thousands more lives. Yet Kasztner was condemned as a traitor in his adopted country of Israel; accused as a collaborator in a trial and verdict that divided a nation and forever stamped him as the "man who sold his soul to the devil." It was a verdict overturned by Israel's Supreme Court but too late for Kasztner. He was ultimately assassinated by Jewish right wing extremists in Tel Aviv in 1957.
