At Emanu-El, we are an active community of lifelong Jewish learners — in the endless pursuit of spiritual growth and exploration. As Jews, we are compelled to question and debate. These conversations energize us as we gain new perspectives and challenge our own long-held beliefs. Our shared desire for knowledge and for community enriches us as individuals and bonds us as a congregation. Emanu-El thrives when we are learning together. We hope you will find time on your calendar and in your mind to join us on a thought-provoking and powerful Jewish journey.
To inquire about adult education, please contact Ariana Estoque, Director of Member Experience, at (415) 750-7552 or [email protected].
Scroll down to view our current Adult Education offerings:
2022 Offerings
SAVE THE DATE – Charles Michael Scholar-in-Residence, DARA HORN
Join us for an extraordinary Shabbat with author, Dara Horn.
Friday, October 21 – 6:00pm Shabbat Service – “People Love Dead Jews”
Friday, October 21 – 7:15pm Dinner and Discussion – Deep dive into “People Love Dead Jews” with the author, followed by Q&A.
Saturday, October 22 – 9:15am – Maimonides and More: “Guide For The Perplexed”
Registration to be posted shortly
Dara Horn is the award-winning author of six books, including the novels In the Image (Norton 2002), The World to Come (Norton 2006), All Other Nights (Norton 2009), A Guide for the Perplexed (Norton 2013), and Eternal Life (Norton 2018), and the essay collection People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present (Norton 2021). One of Granta magazine’s Best Young American Novelists (2007), she is the recipient of two National Jewish Book Awards, the Edward Lewis Wallant Award, the Harold U. Ribalow Award, and the Reform Judaism Fiction Prize, and she was a finalist for the Wingate Prize, the Simpson Family Literary Prize, and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Her books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books, Booklist’s 25 Best Books of the Decade, and San Francisco Chronicle’s Best Books of the Year, and have been translated into eleven languages. Her nonfiction work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, and The Jewish Review of Books, among many other publications, and she is a regular columnist for Tablet Magazine. Horn received her doctorate in comparative literature from Harvard University, studying Yiddish and Hebrew. She has taught courses in these subjects at Sarah Lawrence College and Yeshiva University, and held the Gerald Weinstock Visiting Professorship in Jewish Studies at Harvard. She has lectured for audiences in hundreds of venues throughout North America, Israel, and Australia. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and four children.
This program is sponsored by the Charles Michael Lecture Endowment Fund
Hebrew 101 (for beginners) with Yaffa Tygiel
Tuesday evenings on zoom: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
$100 for members; $136 for nonmembers
Dates: October 25 – December 13; no class the week of Thanksgiving
In this class students will study to speak basic modern Hebrew by communicating with each other, reading texts, poems & songs and writing short paragraphs in Hebrew. We will be using the book “Hebrew from Scratch”.
The course also offers a first introduction to Jewish and Israeli culture as well as the Jewish traditions, using music, food and art.
Ms. Yaffa Tygiel, a very experienced native speaking teacher who has taught at USF and SFSU for decades. She is an excellent teaching who makes learning Hebrew easy and fun.
Contemporary Jewish Ethics: Examining Our World’s Issues from a Jewish Perspective
Tuesdays evenings, 7:00 – 8:30pm, at Congregation Emanu-El
Free to members and nonmembers
Dates: October 25, November 1, 8, 15
Come and explore all of the latest headline topics, such as going to war, reproductive rights, addiction, and even perjury, under a Jew lens. What do our sages have to say? What does Reform Responsa say? How do we navigate these challenging times while keeping our faith and tradition? This course will be taught by Rabbi Jonathan Singer with special guests along the way.
Introduction to Judaism
When: Tuesday Evenings, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Where: First session of each trimester will be held in person at Emanu-El; subsequent sessions will be on zoom for ease of accessibility.
Cost per trimester: Emanu-El Member $72; Non-Member: $118
Dates: Fall 2022 – Oct 25; Nov 1, 8, 15, 29; Dec 6, 13
Winter 2023: Jan 10, 17, 24, 31; Feb 7, 10*, 14, 21, 28
Spring 2023: Apr 18, 25; May 2, 9, 12*, 16, 23, 30
Join Emanu-El clergy to learn about the breadth and wonder of Jewish tradition. This class is a pathway for the adult learner who wishes to discover or deepen Jewish knowledge, non-Jews who are marrying a Jewish partner, and those who are considering conversion to Judaism. Participants register for each trimester separately.
*Shabbat Dinner experience at the Temple.
Click here to view the 2022-2023 syllabus.
Shabbat Morning Torah Hevra with Emanu-El Scholar Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
This year Rabbi Kushner will be using Arthur Green’s Speaking Torah: Spiritual teachings from around the Maggid’s Table (Genesis-Leviticus).
Zoom meetings, Saturday mornings, 10:00 am – 11:00am
First session: Saturday morning, September 24, 2022
No class, Thanksgiving weekend
Dec 24, Dec 31 Winter recess
Jan 7 resume weekly calendar
Jan 21 no class
Classes will continue thru May 2023
To register, please contact [email protected] to have your name & email address added to the Zoom invitation list.
Weekly Torah Study with Emanu-El Clergy
When: Every Saturday, 9:15 – 10:00 am
Where: Via Zoom
Each week, a member of our clergy leads a group in Torah Study followed by Mourner’s Kaddish and Healing Prayer.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Shabbat Shuvah Service
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm | Join us for In-Person Shabbat Shuvah this Friday, September…
Clergy-Led Torah Study (10/1/2022)
9:15 am - 10:15 am | Torah Study with a member of our Clergy, followed…
Shabbat Morning Service - Ethan Pearlmutter (Main)
10:30 am - 12:00 pm | Join us for In-Person Shabbat Morning Services in our…
