ADULT EDUCATION 5786
Download the entire booklet here.
Ongoing Learning
Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class
Cantor Lauren Goodlev, together with Rabbi Beth Kalisch, Rabbi Elisa Koppel and other teachers Tuesdays, 7:00 – 8:00pm, beginning November 18 Did you miss the opportunity to become b’nai mitzvah as a child? Or perhaps you became b’nai mitzvah, but want to enhance your own Jewish knowledge? Maybe you want to feel more comfortable in synagogue or educated about Jewish customs? Or maybe you want to join a community of learners every week to deepen your connection to Judaism and learn from an adult perspective? If so, then sign up for our Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class! This course will include introductory and intermediate level learning about Judaism with Cantor Goodlev, Rabbi Kalisch, and Rabbi Koppel, as well as weekly online small group Hebrew tutoring, culminating in a group b’nai mitzvah service on May 15, 2027. Learners of all levels are welcome, Registration fee applicable.
Sign up here or Email Cantor Goodlev if you are interested; lgoodlev@bdavid.org
NOTE: If you are not Jewish, or if you prefer a more basic overview of Judaism without a Hebrew component, we recommend the Introduction to Judaism course as seen below.
Introduction to Judaism: A Main Line Collaboration
Rabbi Beth Janus 18 Tuesdays, 6:00 – 7:15pm, beginning December 2 $100 for Members (Individuals or Couples); $360 for Non-Members Beth David is delighted to be hosting the Union for Reform Judaism’s Introduction to Judaism Class this fall/winter, which we offer in collaboration with Brith Achim and Beth Chaim of Malvern. The course is taught by Rabbi Beth Janus, with Rabbi Kalisch, Cantor Goodlev, and other local clergy serving as guest teachers. Whether you are part of an interfaith couple, considering conversion to Judaism, want to learn more about your own faith on an adult level, or are simply curious to learn about another religion, this 18-week class will offer you a basic foundation in Judaism. Individuals are welcome to bring a Jewish friend, partner, or family member to support their learning at no additional charge.
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN – CLICK HERE
Contact Rabbi Kalisch; bkalisch@bdavid.org for more information
Liberal Zionism for the 21st Century
Rabbi Beth Kalisch
6 Thursdays, 12:00pm – 1:30pm:
November 13 and 20; December 4; January 15, 22, and 29
1 Saturday, January 10, 11:00am – 12:00pm as part of Shabbat Kehillah
(Community Shabbat)
Explore the core tensions and values of liberal Zionism as we grapple with the dominant critiques of Israel and Zionism in a post-October 7 reality. Together, we’ll explore frameworks for holding moral complexity and talking about Israel with courage, compassion, and clarity. Students are encouraged to register for the entire series, but participation in individual sessions is also possible – please reach out to Rabbi Kalisch. Brown bag lunches (kosher style) are welcome!
This course is based on the iEngage curriculum from the Shalom Hartman Institute, which seeks to elevate the existing discourse from a crisis-based focus to one rooted in Jewish values and ideas. The Shalom Hartman Institute is a leading pluralistic center of research and education in Israel and North America that is redefining the conversation about Judaism in modernity, religious pluralism, Israeli democracy, Israel and world Jewry, and the relationship with other faith communities.
Sign up here.
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Grandma: Interfaith Grandparenting In Children’s Literature
Rabbi Leah Berkowitz
Wednesdays, 12:00 – 1:30: March 11, 18, and 25
In 1970, Judy Blume published her well-known coming-of-age novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.While the book is best known for its descriptions of puberty and early adolescence, it also portrays Margaret’s experience as the child of an interfaith couple, including the spiritual tug-of-war between her Jewish and Christian grandparents. In the decades that followed, many new stories have emerged about multifaith and multicultural families. Come explore what Margaret’s grandparents and other fictional characters can teach us about the promise and the pitfalls of building our own multifaith and multicultural families. Brown bag lunches (kosher style) are welcome!
Rabbi Leah Berkowitz is a Philly-based freelance teacher and writer. She currently serves as the Senior Jewish Educator for Hillel at Temple University, and also teaches in many local and national settings. She recently completed the Rukin Rabbinic Fellowship with 18 Doors (formerly Interfaith Family) and is the author of three picture books and the co-author of middle-grade midrash collection Maybe It Happened This Way: Bible Stories Reimagined.
Sign up here.
Lectures, Panels, and One Time Learning
Moon Amulet Mosaic Workshop: Celebrating Rosh Chodesh
Rabbi Gila Ruskin
Sunday, October 19, 10:00 – 12:30pm
Create your own piece of Jewish art to mark the beginning of each month, while learning about the mystical and practical meaning of Rosh Chodesh, the new moon, a Jewish celebration traditionally associated with women. A bright side of the moon will be assembled from pearls, glass mosaic pebbles, or glass mosaic tiles of your choice. The “dark side” of the moon will be assembled from mosaic tiles, stained glass, beads, or found objects. You are welcome to bring small (3/4 inch or less) objects such as beads, stones, baubles, jewelry to be incorporated into the amulet if you have them. $30 material fee includes use of plenty of tiles of all kinds, jewelry, beads, glue, and pliers to remove backing from jewelry, nippers to cut tiles, paintbrushes, and paint. No prior experience necessary. Rabbi Gila Colman Ruskin is a mosaic artist and Rabbi Emerita of Temple Adas Shalom in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
Sign up here.
Sustainable Living in a Climate-Changing World
Sunday, October 26; 10:00 – 11:30am
For those who care deeply about their environmental legacy to their children and grandchildren yet are unsure how to be a good steward of their own homes, let alone the planet, this program will speak to you. Our four panelists will help us consider how as a community, as a congregation, as households, and as citizens we, too, can reduce our carbon footprints, become good stewards of the environment, and take action in this pivotal moment for our earth.
Panelists:
Jane Horwitz, Science and environmental educator with a certificate in Climate Change from the University of Pennsylvania; Jane is the President of Beth David’s Board of Trustees. Now retired from Penn, she grows vegetables and raises chickens in her Havertown backyard.
Larry Levine is a Senior Attorney at Natural Resources Defense Council, where he focuses on ensuring access to safe and affordable drinking water. He is married to Rabbi Kalisch and is a proud parent in the Religious School.
Sara Michelsen has a background in sustainable agriculture (B.S. from College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University and 13 years as a farmer in Vermont). She is a volunteer at Master Watershed Steward, a Penn State Extension, and co-leader of Beth David’s Climate Action Team. Sara is a member of Beth David’s Board of Trustees, and a Religious School parent.
Nancy Winkler, Nancy is a Former City Treasurer, City of Philadelphia; Member and former Chair, Lower Merion Township’s Environmental Advisory Council; co-founder of Climate Action Lower Merion; and co-founder of the Friends of Cynwyd Heritage Trail.
Moderator: David Richman, Former member of Lower Merion Township’s Environmental Advisory Council; Lawyer (Retired). David is a longtime Beth David member who serves on the Adult Education Committee and co-chairs the Climate Action Team.
Sign up here.
Lincoln and the Jews
Rabbi Lance Sussman, PhD
Sunday, November 16; 11:30 – 1:00pm Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, had an excellent relationship with the Jews of the North. He had several Jewish friends, a Jewish doctor and most importantly, reversed an expulsion order requested by the military in 1862. Join Rabbi Sussman to learn more about this fascinating relationship!
Lance J. Sussman, Ph.D., is Rabbi Emeritus of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, and a past chair of the Board of Gratz College. Trained as an historian of the American Jewish experience, he is a prolific author and has taught at a number of colleges including Princeton, Binghamton and Hunter College.
Sign up here.
Challenges to Public Health and the Assault on Vaccines
Sunday, December 14, 10:00am – 11:30am
The past few years have taught us the critical importance of strong public health policies. Vaccines have proven a strong weapon to assure public health. Our illustrious panel of Beth David members will explore the state of public health today and the challenges to vaccine research, acceptance and availability.
Panelists:
Dr. Emily Blumberg, MD, is Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and serves as the Program Director, Infectious Disease Fellowship and Director, Transplant Infectious Diseases. She is a longtime member of Beth David, served on the congregation’s medical committee during the COVID pandemic, and is most recently the grandmother of two of Beth David’s youngest members.
Dr. Amy Leader, DrPH, is Professor, Jefferson College of Population Health, Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, and Associate Director, Community Outreach & Engagement, Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Amy is a member of Beth David and also serves as the co-coordinator of Family Promise (formerly IHN).
Dr. Swati Gupta, DrPH, Johns Hopkins and MHP, Yale University, is Vice President, Emerging Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at IAVI, a global non-profit research organization dedicated to developing vaccines and biomedical innovations to meet global health needs. Swati is a member of Beth David and the mother of three recently b’nai mitzvah.
Moderator -Donald Friedman, MD, is a retired Rheumatologist, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Adjunct Faculty, Jefferson and Drexel Medical School. He is a longtime Beth David Member who serves as the co-chair of the Adult Education committee.
Sign up here.
Bridging the Divide: Teaching Perspectives on Israel/Palestine
Dr. Michal Raucher
Sunday, February 1, 11:00am – 1:00pm
How do we best educate ourselves about topics as polarizing, and emotionally and politically charged, as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Professor Michal Raucher will share how she approaches this challenge teaching a large lecture class in a diverse campus, helping students engage with a wide range of perspectives through tools like a comparative news analysis. Join us for a conversation that explores not only what students are learning on campuses today, but also how all of us might better understand each other across deep divides.
Dr. Michal Raucher is an Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University, where her teaching includes a course on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She recently completed her second book, The New Rabbis, an ethnography of women rabbis in American Orthodoxy.
Sign up here.
Portraits of Jewish Africa: Reflections on Diasporic Identity, Practice, and Belonging
Dr. Peter Decherney
Sunday, February 8, 10:00 – 11:30am While antisemitism rises globally, Jewish communities across Africa are expanding. Where did these communities come from? What do they find in Judaism? What is their relationship to Israel? How can their stories help us understand Jewish identity and combat antisemitism?
Peter Decherney is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, fine art photographer, and author who has partnered with African Jewish communities to celebrate the diversity of global Judaism. He holds the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Chair in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is Professor of Cinema & Media Studies and Director of the Penn Global Documentary Institute. Peter’s films include Dreaming of Jerusalem, a Discovery+ Original about Jewish life in Ethiopia, two award-winning films about Uganda’s Abayudaya communities, and a forthcoming documentary road movie about the Lemba Jews of Southern Africa.
Sign up here.
Jews By Law: A History of Individual Rights and Struggles for Group Recognition
Dr. Lila Corwin Berman
April 12, 2026; 10:00 – 11:30am Throughout US history, Jews sought one primary thing from the law: equal protection as individuals. Yet even in their quest for individual rights, some Jews wondered if individual equality actually guaranteed group equality. In this talk, Berman mines history to expose the dilemmas American Jews face today when they rely on the law to protect them—as a group—from discrimination.
Lila Corwin Berman is the Paul & Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History at New York University, where she directs the Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish History. Her new book, Who Is American? Belonging and the Question of Jewish Citizenship, will be published by Princeton University Press in April 2026.
Sign up here.
Supporting the Israel We Wish To See: A Yom Ha’Atzma’ut Gathering/ In Partnership with the New Israel Fund
Featuring Mickey Gitzin
Tuesday, April 21, 7:00pm
This Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Israeli Independence Day, marks 78 years since the birth of the State of Israel. At this challenging time and critical juncture, how do we support the vision and build the future of the Israel we want to see? Beth David hosts Mickey Gitzin, the Director of the New Israel Fund in Israel.
The New Israel Fund (NIF) helps Israel live up to its founders’ vision of a society that ensures complete equality to all its inhabitants. Its aim is to advance liberal democracy, including freedom of speech and minority rights, and to fight the inequality, injustice and extremism that diminish Israel. From Israel’s first rape crisis centers, to fighting discrimen-ation, NIF-funded organizations have driven positive social change and furthered justice and equality. NIF has provided over $350 million to more than 950 organizations since its inception in 1979. Today, NIF is a leading advocate for democratic values, building the coalitions and empowering the activists that can drive meaningful social change in Israel.
Mickey Gitzin is the the Director of the New Israel Fund in Israel. Prior to joining NIF, Mickey was the founding director of “Israel Hofsheet” (Be Free Israel), a leading grassroots organization fighting for separation of religion and state in Israel. Previously, Mickey was the spokesperson for MK Ilan Gilon and the Associate Director of “Festival BeShekel,” an organization advancing arts and culture in Israel’s geographic and socioeconomic periphery. After completing his military service as an intelligence officer, he served as a shaliach (emissary) in South Bend, Indiana for the Jewish Agency for Israel. Mickey holds a Master’s in Public Policy from University College-London, for which he received a Chevening Scholarship from the British Foreign Office and the British Council.
Sign up here.
Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women’s Pre-World War II Activism
Dr. Melissa R. Klapper
Sunday, May 3; 10:00 – 11:30am
American Jewish women have always been involved in a variety of social and political causes. Come learn more about their long history of involvement in making change in the world around them.
Dr. Melissa R. Klapper is Professor of History and Director of Women’s & Gender Studies at Rowan University. She is the award-winning author of many books about American
Sign up here.