Adult Bet Midrash

Weekly Adult Classes will be offered 9:00 - 10:00am every Shabbat morning throughout the school year.

Rabbi Ariann
1st Shabbat of the Month

Constructive Conflict
Jewish texts are replete with conflict - some handled constructively, and some handled much less constructively. Through text study, contemporary case studies, and the tools for argument championed by Jewish tradition, we will build learning and skills needed to engage in makhloket l'shem shamayim - arguments for the sake of heaven.

Rabbi Elliott
2nd Shabbat of the Month

Making Prayer Happen: Learning to Pray all levels!
This class is for anyone who would like to develop a more regular prayer practice and/or
experience prayer more deeply during services. We will uncover the structures of our Jewish
liturgy, explore specific techniques for enlivening prayer and introduce a wide variety of prayer
practices.

Coming soon. . . Days and Times TBD:
Adventures in Prayer
This class is designed for the spiritually adventurous. Together we will explore a wide landscape of prayer and meditation practices. Some of these practices will require taking a deeper dive
into Jewish tradition and prayer, others will stretch the boundaries of current Jewish practice. This is a cohort and participants are asked to commit to eight classes over the course of eight
months. Participant will also be assigned a hevruta – study partners to meet, review and practice with between classes.

Chanting with Melissa Schaffer
(Dates TBC)

When we join together as individuals in community to chant sacred phrases from our Jewish liturgy, we support each other in accessing our ancient selves and selves to be, in achieving old and creating new dreams, in examining and helping our sorrows and celebrating our joys. In chanting together we find inspiration and intention for the day, the week, the month, and are greatly awakened by the discovery of our own voice and the voices surrounding us.

This might sound challenging but...it's rather simple. You come, you learn a Hebrew or English phrase, you repeat it. The chants become more comfortable as we practice them; they become a form of meditation. We feel more connected to the pathways of the Torah, to each other, to ourselves.

Melissa Schaffer leads Hebrew chant based on Jewish sacred texts for transformative spiritual growth. Melissa has been studying with Rabbi Shefa Gold since 2008 and completed an 18 month chant leadership course in 2010.

Talmud Class
Every Shabbat
Come dip your feet into the Talmud, the 2000-year-old discussion of Jewish Law that is studied daily in Yeshivos around the world.

This year, our group is learning  Berakhot, laws of prayer.

No prior Talmudic experience needed. We can help you jump right into the 2000-year-old conversation.

Class Series - Sign up Required

Intro to Judaism with Rabbi Elliott and Rabbi Ariann

Two shabbats a month at 9:00am, in person at BK

Introduction to Judaism provides an introduction to contemporary Jewish experience through learning, questioning, and celebrating Judaism in the context of everyday life and Jewish history.  The course is appropriate for anyone interested in exploring and sharing Jewish experience, regardless of background.  People encouraged to join the class include those considering or working toward conversion, together with partners if appropriate, parents who want to share their children's growing involvement and knowledge of Judaism, and those who would like to deepen their own understanding of Jewish practice and history.
The class will be taught approximately two Shabbat mornings a month, and will be co-taught by Rabbi Ariann and Rabbi Elliott. Free for members, $250 for nonmembers. Register here

Ongoing Learning Opportunities

Women's Rosh Hodesh Group

The Rosh Hodesh group at Bnai Keshet is an open, warm, social and friendly group for all women in the community. The group meets in the evening closest to the new moon to celebrate the coming month, exploring the spirituality of the month by discussing the upcoming holidays and the theme of the month. Together the group chants, sits quietly, sometimes engages in some easy stretching or even dancing and then an exercise centered on the theme of the month, leaving the participants with words, thoughts, and intentions for the month to come.
Contact Mindy Rosenthal for more info.

Lunch and Learn

Characters in the Midrashic Imagination
This year, we will explore several "biblical" characters who either appear exclusively in midrash (rabbinic stories) or whose existence is mostly fleshed out in the midrash. Characters we will be studying include: Lilith, Naamah (wife of Noah), Batya (daughter of Pharoah), Serach bat Asher (a granddaughter of Jacob), and more.
See 2022-23 dates on BK's calendar.