MRT’s Adult Education Committee plans and presents programs and events that enrich our understanding of Jewish life in the 21st century, that inspire our desire to learn more about Jewish history through past and current writings and that encourage us to gain new insights as we delve more deeply into Torah . These goals are accomplished throughout the year with special programs.
Adult Education Programs
2019-20 Programs
Special Programs:
Guest Speaker: Prof. Debra Caplan from Baruch College in NYC, Sunday afternoon October 13, will present “Make Them Laugh”, a program about Molly Picon, the Yiddish theater star and comedienne.
Trips: A group tour on January 30, 2020 is scheduled at Chhange, the Holocaust center on the Brookdale campus, to learn about the Armenian genocide.
Discussions regarding a trip to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are ongoing.
Shabbat Kallah: Rabbi David Ellenson, Chancellor of Hebrew Union College, will address us on February 28, 2020, with a presentation: “Sources of Jewish Spirituality Then and Now: Parashat Terumah and American Jewish Writings on Spirituality Today.” On Saturday, February 29, “Peoplehood” will be one of his topics.
Scholar-in-Residence: Rabbi Jonathan Slater, of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality in NYC, will join us on April 17, 2020, to offer an introduction to Kabbalah. On Saturday, April 18, meditation experiences which are described in remaining Hasidic texts, though much was lost in the Holocaust, will be discussed. This will be joined with mindfulness meditation, imported from Buddhist practice but engaged to connect with classical Jewish teachings.
Ongoing Programs:
Monmouth Reform Temple Tuesday morning study group continues to engage a group of men and women who learn, with Rabbi Marc Kline, about religious texts and their relevance to modern life. The group, open to all, meets Tuesday mornings from 9:45am-11am.
The Tuesday morning group has been meeting in the MRT Library to watch the Netflix series “Shtisel”, an interesting Israeli show which focuses on Orthodox Jews dealing with work, romance, and family under the constraints imposed by their Orthodox community.
Members meet on select Saturday mornings with Rabbi Kline for “Torah Talks” to explore Jewish texts.
Men’s Club Bible discussion meets with Rabbi Kline, periodically on Sunday evenings.