Adult Education

Dates: Wednesdays — March 4, March 18, April 15, April 29, May 6, May 20 Time: 5:45 – 7:00 pm Mode: In-Person Only Faculty: Hazzan Jessi Roemer Fee: $18 Prerequisites: Fall 2025 Torah Leyning Course or equivalent demonstration of leyning skill; intention to participate in group B’nei Mitzvah service on October 24, 2026. Are you an adult who never celebrated becoming B’nei Mitzvah? If so, are you ready to mark the next stage in your Jewish journey with the support of your Society Hill Synagogue community? In this six-session course,

Dates: Thursdays (weekly) at 6:30 – 7:30 pm Mode: Zoom Only Faculty: Marc Schwartz Fee: Included with Society Hill Synagogue Membership • $54 for General Public Beginning: We are offering this class again to help our congregants learn (or re-learn) how to read Hebrew. We use the National Jewish Outreach Hebrew Reading Crash Course, which has provided more than 215,000 North American Jews with the skills to read Hebrew. The course focuses on the Hebrew alphabet and basic reading skills, including learning some basic vocabulary and grammar. No prior knowledge

Dates & Topics: BREAD: A Case Study in Jewish Folk Practice, Magic, and Superstition — Tuesday, September 16 and Monday, October 27 ‘Tis the Season: Bringing Jewish Perspectives and Practice on Tz’dakah into the Holidays — Thursday, December 11 Sanctuary in Time: Creating Meaningful Shabbat Practice at Home — Thursday, January 22 Mishlo’ah Manot Making and Communal Obligation as Joyful Practice — Thursday, February 12 Amulets in the Jewish Home: A Brief Historic Overview and Crafting Workshop — Thursday, May 7 Mode: In-Person Only Faculty: Caroline Kamesar Fee: Included with

Dates: Tuesdays — October 21, November 11, December 9, January 13, February 3, February 24, March 24, May 5, May 26 Time: 7:00 – 8:15 pm Mode: Hybrid Faculty: Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Fee: $18 for Society Hill Synagogue Members • $108 for the 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

Dates: Mondays — February 2, February 23, March 16, March 23 Time: 5:00 – 7:00 pm Mode: In-Person Only Faculty: LilyFish Gomberg Fee: $18 for Society Hill Synagogue Members • $72 for General Public This class is a deep dive into sex, sexuality, and Jewish tradition. We’ll explore ancient and modern Jewish texts — from Torah and Talmud to contemporary responsa — to ask big questions about desire, consent, health, relationships, and the body. Each session will blend textual learning with practical wisdom and joyful curiosity. Topics include stigma around

Dates: Sundays — January 25, February 1, February 15, February 22, March 1, March 22, March 29, April 5 (Hol Hamo’ed Pesah) Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Mode: In-Person Only Faculty: Tim Cravens Fee: $18 for Society Hill Synagogue Members • $108 for General Public Seeds of Mussar will introduce a method that focuses on refining our attributes so that they enable us to serve others with greater and greater joy. The Torah introduced the idea of loving our neighbor as ourselves thousands of years ago; this Mussar program

Dates: Tuesdays — October 28, November 18, December 16, January 20, February 10, March 10, April 14, May 12 Time: 7:00 – 8:15 pm Mode: Hybrid Faculty: Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Fee: $18 for Society Hill Synagogue Members • $108 for General Public Story has always been a central medium of Jewish life, and stories about the ancient rabbis who laid the foundation for the Judaism we know today have transmitted the core values, spiritual insights, and religious practices of Jews to each generation. In this course, we’ll closely study the

Dates: Wednesdays — March 25, April 22, May 13, May 27 Time: 7:00 – 8:30 pm Mode: In-Person Only Faculty: Rabbi Avi Winokur Fee: $18 for Society Hill Synagogue Members • $72 for General Public Christian nationalism is a potent and dangerous force in the U.S. Katherine Stewart’s The Power Worshippers reveals its radical vision, deep networks, and infiltration of political power. As she wrote in the New York Times: “Breaking American democracy isn’t an unintended side effect of Christian nationalism. It is the point of the project.” This course

Dates: Thursdays — October 16, 23, 30; November 6, 13, 20 Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm Mode: Zoom-Only Faculty: Rabbi Marjorie Berman Fee: $18 for Society Hill Synagogue Members • $72 for General Public In 1947, just after World War II, Martin Buber gave a series of lectures interpreting Hasidic stories for Dutch religious socialists. Later collected as “The Way of Humanity,” these talks highlight the spiritual depth found in everyday encounters. Buber’s luminous insights, grounded in Hasidic wisdom, encourage hope, compassion, and equanimity in complex times. Together we’ll study

Dates: Wednesdays — October 22, November 5, November 19, December 10, January 7, January 21 Time: 5:45 – 7:00 pm Mode: In-Person Only Faculty: Hazzan Jessi Roemer Fee: $18 for Society Hill Synagogue Members • $72 for General Public Prerequisite: Basic-Intermediate Hebrew decoding skills. Open to all, required for Adult B’nei Mitzvah Cohort (unless otherwise arranged with Hazzan Jessi). This six-session course is an introduction to the Ashkenazi system for leyning (chanting) Torah. Participants will gain initial skills to become independent Torah leyners. We will cover the basics of Torah

Dates: Tuesdays — November 4, December 2, January 6, January 27, February 17, March 17, April 28, May 19 Time: 7:00 – 8:15 pm Mode: Hybrid Faculty: Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Fee: $18 for Society Hill Synagogue Members • $108 for General Public PLEASE NOTE: This class has reached full capacity, and registration is closed. Not in recent memory has antisemitism felt more central to our collective discourse than it does today. This course will explore antisemitism — its roots and history and its manifestation in the present: where does it

Dates: Sundays — October 12, November 9, December 7, January 11, February 8, March 8, April 12, May 10 Time: 11:00 am – 12:30 pm Mode: In-Person Only Faculty: Rafi Licht Fee: $18 for Society Hill Synagogue Members • $72 for General Public The Talmud, comprising the Mishnah and the Gemara, is the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism — and therefore of Judaism as we know it today. Compiled between 200 CE and 500 CE, it reflects the shifting centers of Jewish life from Israel to Babylonia. While often called “oral