Learning

"Surely this instruction which I give you this day is not too difficult for you nor beyond your reach. It is not in heaven, so distant that you must ask, 'Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and do it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ No, the thing is very near you. It is already on your lips and in your heart..." (Deuteronomy 30:10-14)

Jewish Education can happen anywhere. On the street, when you pass a JCC, or see a Chanukah menorah in a  window. In your home when you light Shabbat candles. On the bus, when you sit next to a guy wearing a yarmulke. In the supermarket, in the Passover aisle. In the synagogue, maybe when you are praying, maybe when you are listening to the Rabbi, and maybe when you are talking to a friend. In a classroom. On a family retreat. At a Passover Seder. When your kid comes home singing a Hebrew song from the school. When your partner reads a Jewish book. 

At City Shul, we will use many forms of learning. Some will be frontal: a really good speaker or lecture. Some will be participatory: a hot topic being discussed. Some will focus on family. Some on 20's/30's folks. Some on young kids and some on teens. Some on Jewish holidays and some on Jewish identity. Or tikkun olam, the Jewish imperative to repair the world. We'll watch films that challenge us. We'll delve into Torah portions with commentaries that surprise us. We'll teach you Hebrew and history, cooking and customs. What does Judaism say about...you fill in the blanks. The aim is to start where you are and take your further.