Adult Education

We believe that learning is a lifelong endeavor, and our adult education classes are thought-provoking, engaging, and a wonderful way to build new connections – with the material and with your fellow participants!

All classes are meeting in person and/or via Zoom. Links and passcodes are provided on the synagogue’s Zoom master schedule and in eNews editions. If you would like access to our master schedule, please email our Executive Director, Sahar Oz.
While we welcome drop-ins at many of our adult education classes and programs, advance registration is always appreciated, either for an entire series or individual sessions. Please see the class descriptions below and use our quick and easy online form here to register for any adult education classes. You are also welcome to contact our Office Administrator, Leanne Bendetti, by email or phone and register: 215-922-6590.
Click below to browse classes by category:

INTRODUCTORY CLASSES ON JUDAISM AND HEBREW

Nuts & Bolts: A (Re)Introduction to Judaism • CLASS IS FULL

Dates: Tuesdays – Oct. 10, Nov. 7, Dec. 5, Jan. 16, Feb. 6, Mar. 5, Mar. 26, Apr. 16, May 21 Time: 7:00 pm-8:30 pm Faculty: Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Fee: $18 SHS Members • $108 General Public
Nuts & Bolts is both for students new to Judaism and for students looking to re-examine and reinvest in their relationship to the foundational elements of Judaism and Jewish living. This includes an exploration of different Jewish conceptions of God and God’s role in the world; Torah and other sacred Jewish texts; prayer and how it fits in Jewish life; Jewish holidays and the Year Cycle; Shabbat, our weekly day of rest; the Jewish life cycle, from birth through death; Jewish history; and more.
This is a monthly nine-session course, with readings assigned between classes, and then an open discussion of the readings and further resources in each class session. An emphasis is placed on each student’s personal formulation of a relationship to the material, to be discussed with their peers as desired.
The class will meet approximately one Tuesday evening per month (two in February) from October through May.

Learn to Read Hebrew

Dates: Wednesdays on Zoom – Weekly, starting Oct. 11 Time: 6:00 pm-7:00 pm Faculty: Marc Schwartz Fee: Free for SHS Members • $72 General Public
We are offering this class again to help our congregants and guests learn (or re-learn) how to read Hebrew. We use the National Jewish Outreach Hebrew Reading Crash Course, which has given more than 215,000 North American Jews the skills to read Hebrew. The course focuses on the Hebrew alphabet and basic reading skills, including learning some basic vocabulary and grammar.
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EXPLORING THE MYTHOLOGY OF JUDAISM AND JEWISH MUSIC

Sacred Legends: God, Angels, Creation, and More
Dates: Tuesdays – Oct. 17, Nov. 14, Dec. 12, Jan. 23, Feb. 13, Mar. 12, Apr. 2 Time: 7:00 pm-8:30 pm Faculty: Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Fee: $18 SHS Members • $108 General Public
Judaism does not shy away from what some scholars call mythology, which author Howard Schwartz defines as “a people’s sacred stories about origins, deities, ancestors, and heroes.” Judaism has a rich trove of sacred stories, some of which are considered part of the canon, that is, the formal body of works that help form core Jewish religious understandings; others are extra-canonical: stories that help to provide accents and illustrations of Jewish mythical creativity over the ages.
We will explore these works through Howard Schwartz’s book, Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism. Exploring such topics as God, creation, angels, the Messiah, and exile, participants will be asked to read a number of short stories between each class, identify stories they would like to explore more deeply with the class, and then, class will focus discussion on a selection of the assigned stories, with an eye toward asking how these stories can deepen our understanding of life.
The class will meet one Tuesday evening per month from October through April.

Friday Night Levites

Dates: Fridays – Sep. 15-May 24 Time: 5:15 pm-5:45 pm Faculty: Hazzan Jessi Roemer Fee: Free for SHS Members and the General Public
Join the Society Hill Synagogue Friday Night Levites! Every Friday from September through May is TGIShabbat, with musicians and spirited singing at our 6:00 pm Kabbalat Shabbat service! Come at 5:15 pm and join us to delve deeply into a few Shabbat melodies before services and enhance the ru’ah (spirit) during services by “leading from your seats” with your voices! The Levites will gather with musicians in the Sanctuary at 5:15 pm on most Fridays, September 15-May 24, and spend some time on that evening’s melodies – reviewing familiar tunes, trying out harmonies if desired, and getting familiar with newer tunes.
You do not need to be a professional singer, just someone who enjoys singing with others! While frequent attendance helps, it is not required every week. In addition to signing up, you can email Hazzan Jessi with questions or interest.

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SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHIES, JUDAISM DISRUPTED, AND LOVING THE STRANGER

Spiritual Autobiography Workshop • CLASS IS FULL

Dates: Tuesdays – Oct. 24, Nov. 28, Jan. 9, Jan. 30, Feb. 20, Mar. 19, Apr. 9, May 7 Time: 7:00 pm-8:30 pm Faculty: Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Fee: $36 SHS Members (Course available only to members)
In this unique opportunity, participants will be guided through composing their own “spiritual autobiography,” a reflection on the participant’s unfolding relationship to their religion and spirituality.
Note: Due to the need to devote appropriate time and space to each participant, there will be a cap of 12 students in this course. If there is sufficient demand, the course will be offered again in subsequent years until demand is met.
Over the course of the first two monthly sessions, participants will explore the mode of composing a spiritual autobiography; over the course of the final six, two participants per session will distribute their autobiography to the other participants and then hold a dialogue about their composition so that participants can go deeper with one another in exploring their spirituality, theology, and religion.
The class will meet approximately one Tuesday evening per month from October through May.

A Future for American Judaism – Michael Strassfeld’s “Judaism Disrupted: A Spiritual Manifesto for the 21st Century”

Dates: Thursdays – Nov. 9, Nov. 30, Dec. 7, Dec. 14, Dec. 21, Jan. 4, Jan. 11 Time: 7:30 pm-9:00 pm Faculty: Rabbi Avi Winokur, Rabbi Emeritus Fee: $18 SHS Members • $72 General Public
Rabbi Michael Strassfeld is the editor of the acclaimed three-volume, The Jewish Catalog (1973, 1976, 1980), the ubiquitous The Jewish Holidays (2001), and more. Rabbi Emeritus of Manhattan’s Society for the Advancement of Judaism, he and Rabbi Avi Winokur were ordained together by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1991. As much or more than anyone, Rabbi Strassfeld has had his pulse on the state of American Judaism for the past half century.
During those decades, Rabbi Strassfeld has been at the center of many, if not the majority, of the most exciting developments in American Judaism. When we think about the future of Judaism for ourselves, our children, and grandchildren, arguably no one is better positioned to help us chart a constructive path forward.
Rabbi Strassfeld will be the Scholar-in-Residence at Society Hill Synagogue for Shabbat on November 17 and 18, so come to class on November 9 to learn more about him, join us for this special Shabbaton with Rabbi Strassfeld, and join our class to delve deeply into Judaism Disrupted and continue the conversation.

Loving the Stranger: Stories of Exile, Journey, and Homecoming

Dates: Sundays – Oct. 15, Nov. 5, Dec. 3, Jan. 7, Feb. 4, Mar. 10, Apr. 14, May 5, Jun. 2 Time: 10:30 am-12:00 pm Faculty: Rabbi Marjorie Berman Fee: $18 SHS Members • $72 General Public
We have always been a wandering people. From Abraham to the Exodus, from our deportation to Babylonia to shiploads of immigrants from Eastern Europe coming to the Goldena Medina, stories of exile, journey, and homecoming have shaped our religious, spiritual, mystical, social, and political imaginations. We are a nation of boundary-crossers and bridge-builders with a deep sense of peoplehood.
Throughout our banishments, our wanderings, and our many attempts to create a sense of home and safety, the narrative of loving the stranger has shaped our identity. We have been strangers in many lands, and we have worked to welcome the strangers in our midst from Biblical times to the present. We do this in order to follow the mitzvah of loving the stranger, something we are commanded to do more than any other injunction in Torah. And we do it because of how the Passover Seder tells the foundational story of our people.
We have been expelled from many countries, and yet, we have carried our culture on our backs in the form of Torah and the rest of our sacred library. We have used Shabbat as a holy island of time that allows us to create home wherever we are. Our stories of displacement, of being outsiders, and of creating a sense of belonging despite it all have shaped the character of the Jewish people.
In this class, we will look at the rich collection of stories our tradition offers around the themes of exile, journeying, and homecoming, as well as hear each other’s stories and consider their impact on our spiritual, political, and psychological understanding of ourselves and our communities.

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INTERMEDIATE HEBREW

Intermediate Hebrew

Dates: Thursdays on Zoom – Weekly, starting October 12 Time: 6:00 pm-7:00 pm Faculty: Marc Schwartz Fee: Free for SHS Members • $72 General Public
Students will have the opportunity to hone their Hebrew reading skills using the Siddur (prayer book), the Torah, and simple stories. This class is for anyone who would like further practice in their Hebrew reading skills and wants to expand their Hebrew vocabulary and understanding of Hebrew grammar.
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