Adult Education

Adult Education

There’s a lot going on in Adult Education.  Please join us for any or all of the following programs.

JSpaceCanada
Monday, January 16 7:30 p.m. at the First Narayever Congregation

Join us to learn about JSpaceCanada, a recently-formed progressive, pro-Israel, pro-peace organization.  It was created as a place for progressive Canadian Jews to express support for Israel and its right to exist in safety and, at the same time, to be able to criticize particular actions of the Israeli government.    It sees itself as an alternative to both the hard-line pro-Israel right and the anti-Israel left. JSpaceCanada supports a two-state solution, arrived at through negotiation and dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, and based upon mutual respect, tolerance and equality of all citizens.

Issie Lyon and Lesley Turner, who are founding members of JSpaceCanada and active members of the Narayever will make a presentation and then lead a discussion.

Constitutional Crisis in Israel: Assault on Israeli's Democratic Foundation
Shabbat, January 21 Post-Kiddush 1:30 pm with Professor Lorraine Weinrib

Lorraine E. Weinrib is Professor of Law at U of T, where she teaches constitutional law, including a course on the constitutional law of Israel. She participated in the legal work that led to the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom in 1982. In the early 1990’s,when Israel adopted its rights-protecting Basic Laws (modeled on the Canadian Charter), Professor Weinrib lectured extensively in Israel to members of the senior judiciary, lawyers in the Justice Department, and a number of leading civil rights NGOs.  

Film Night at the Narayever: The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (1973)
Saturday, January 28, 7:00 pm, at the shul

Director: Gerard Oury
Get out of the January cold and warm up to some zany laughs as France’s beloved cinematic clown gets the kosher treatment in this classic madcap comedy. Practice your French at the same time (English sub-titles)!

Victor Pivert (Louis de Funes), an obnoxious Parisian factory owner and world-class bigot, learns a lesson or two about multiculturalism when he gets entangled with Arab rebel Mohamed Slimane (Claude Giraud). On the run from both police and assassins, the duo end up posing as Rabbis Jacob and Zeiligman, newly returned from a 30-year sojourn to the United States. Pivert’s jealous wife (Suzy Delair), soon-to-be-married daughter (Miou-Miou), and the real Rabbi Jacob (Marcel Dalio, born Israel Moshe Blauschild), join the fray to propel a rapidly escalating series of gag-filled comic mishaps.

Jewish Ethics and Kosher Meat in the 21st century
Shabbat, Feb.4, Post-Kiddush 1:30 pm with Professor Aaron Gross

Aaron S. Gross, Ph.D. is the CEO of Farm Forward, an organization devoted specifically to creating alternatives to factory farming. He has played a leadership role in a wide variety of national and international farmed animal welfare campaigns in the Americas, South Asia, and the Middle East since the mid-1990s. Gross also serves as a professor of Jewish Studies at the University of San Diego and co-chairs the American Academy of Religion’s Animals and Religion Consultation.
The forgotten mourners: Jewish responses to bereaved children
Sunday, February 12 11am – 12:30pm with Rabbi Rena Arshinoff , MNjcc

How can you help grieving children in a Jewish way? Adapting Nichum avelim, the mitzvah of comforting the bereaved, for children.
 
Rabbi Rena Arshinoff was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in May 2008.   Prior to that she trained as a nurse in Montreal and obtained a Masters of Health Science specializing in Epidemiology at the University of Toronto.  After 20 years in epidemiological research, she now combines her interests in health care and rabbinics as a chaplain at Toronto Western Hospital in the Neuroscience program.  Rabbi Arshinoff serves as a volunteer facilitator and professional advisor for the Children's program and a facilitator for the Infant Loss Program at Bereaved Families of Ontario. She also does community work with the elderly at Jewish Family and Child and freelance congregational work and teaching. She recently received the credential of Specialist in Pastoral Care from the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care and is the second rabbi in Canada to hold this designation.

This program is presented as a partnership between the MNjcc &The First Narayever Congregation.

Jews and Arabs in Israel: The challenge of living together
Shabbat, February 25, Post-Kiddush 1:30 pm with Jeffrey Stutz,
Chair UJA Toronto Committee on Israeli Arab issues

As one in five Israelis is an Arab, they are the most important minority in the country. The aim of this talk is to highlight this important aspect of Israeli life and to point out opportunities for advancing the integration of Israel's Arab citizens into Israeli society. Jeffrey will present this program along with an Arab Israeli guest.

Engaging Israel with Rabbi Elkin                                                                                                                                                                                          Feb. 6, 13, 27; Mar. 5, 12

Our first round of five classes this fall on the relationship between Diaspora Jews and Israel was a great success. Registration is now open for the second set of five classes, which will take place on Monday nights Feb.6, 13, 27, March 5 and 12 from 7-9 pm. We will be covering issues such as morality on the battlefield, the nature of democracy in the Jewish state, religious pluralism, and human rights. As in the first round, the classes will be structured around text study of Jewish sources in small groups, as well as large group discussion led by Rabbi Elkin and screening of lectures on the relevant themes by Rabbi Donniel Hartman of the Shalom Hartman Institute. Those who participated in the fall series are welcome to continue, but newcomers also have a chance to join for the second series. Participants receive a sourcebook compiled by the Hartman Institute. The cost for continuing students who already have a sourcebook is $25 for Narayever members and $40 for non-members. The cost for new students is $45 for shul members and $60 for non-members. To register, please phone the shul office at 416.927.0546.

Come out and participate!