Tauber Spark! — Ignite Your Jewish Learning

Allow yourself to dive into our tradition and Spark your imagination. Take part in this innovative community-wide Jewish learning experience — a mini university experience. Let your heart be moved by Torah; be open to a transformative and mind-opening journey. This year we are offering outstanding and renowned educators to share their expertise with this community. Select one course to explore for three weeks and enjoy the Spark!

Please contact Ariana Estoque ([email protected]) with any questions about our Spark program.

2023 Dates TBD – Stay Tuned!

Course Offerings for 2022 were

Option 1: The Jewish Family: Past, Present and Future
Taught by Rabbi Dvora Weisberg, Ph.D.

This session will explore the biblical and rabbinic constructs of family. We will follow the evolution of the family from the tribal and clan-based vision of the Torah to the household or nuclear family described in the Talmud.

Session 1: The Jewish Family in Formation
This session will explore the biblical and rabbinic constructs of family. We will follow the evolution of the family from the tribal and clan-based vision of the Torah to the household or nuclear family described in the Talmud.

Session 2: The Jewish Family in Tradition: The Real and the Ideal
Classical Jewish texts offer statements about ideal relationships between parents and children, between spouses, and with other family members. At the same time, we have stories that suggest the ideal was often supplanted by real life conflict and tension. This session will offer a contrasting view of law and stories about family relationships.

Session 3: A Multitude of Jewish Families: A Contemporary View
We live in world where our definitions of and ideas about family are challenged by changing societal norms. This session will focus on ways that Judaism can continue to expand its understanding of family and what values can guide us in creating Jewish families.

Rabbi Dvora Weisberg is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Rabbinics; HUC-JIR Rabbinical School Director and Rabbinical Program Director in Los Angeles. She received her B.A. from Brandeis University and her M.A. and her Ph.D. in Talmud and Rabbinic Literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Before coming to HUC-JIR, Dr. Weisberg taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the College of William and Mary, and the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Weisberg is the author of Levirate Marriage and the Family in Ancient Judaism, which explores the ancient rabbis’ understanding of family and familial relationships, and Tractate Menahot: A Feminist Commentary (2020). Dr. Weisberg teaches frequently in informal settings, including adult education programs in congregations, several summers at the URJ Kallah and sessions for the CCAR and its regional conventions.

Option 2: Why it’s our Obligation to Take Care of Mother Earth (The Torah Says So)
Taught by Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz and Dr. Barak Gale

Session 1: To Till and to Tend the Earth (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz presenting)
Join Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz in exploring one of Judaism’s central tenets, to till and to tend the Earth. Our interest in the environment has deep roots! We’ll look at some traditional texts together to ground ourselves in ancient wisdom, and perhaps expand our own concept of sustainability to include some radical ideas around rest, release and justice.

Session 2: The Shmita of Shmitas – Jewish and Climate Time Coincide at 100 Seconds Before Midnight (Dr. Barak Gale Presenting)
Not just a routine Shmita year, no nothing like it. The Shmita of Shmitas has dreadful warnings like “Code Red for Humanity.” Word has it that understanding the science of Climate Upheaval will not extract us from this existential threat – too bad, Dr. Barak Gale loves talking thermodynamics. This session will cover Jewish values, art, poetry, ritual, stories, successes, and yes, some science as well. Barak will persuade you how fun it is to share a poem or sing, say, Olam Hesed Yibaneh, if you testify at a hearing! We look forward to hearing from you and how you engage with your gusto, your heart and your faith. Make it fun. Make it prayer. Make it Tikkun Olam.

Session 3: Ethical Kashrut (Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz presenting)
What is the relationship between ethics and kashrut in the 21^st century? What are the trends occurring now? Learn Jewish texts with Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz about Jewish perspectives and explore new models of Jewish activism.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the President & Dean of the Valley Beit Midrash (a national Jewish pluralistic adult learning & leadership center), the Founder & President of Uri L’Tzedek (a Jewish Social Justice organization), the Founder and President of Shamayim (a Jewish animal advocacy movement), the Founder and President of YATOM, (the Jewish foster and adoption network), and the author of 21 books on Jewish ethics. Newsweek named Rav Shmuly one of the top 50 rabbis in America and the Forward named him one of the 50 most influential Jews.

Born in Haifa, Dr. Barak Gale “owned” his name, following the first SF Emanu-El Israel trip for his Confirmation Class, a lifetime ago in 1971. His Temple connection and regular family outings to beautiful places in nature, like Muir Woods, largely shaped his childhood. Retired as a Doctor of Optometry, today Barak is a Volunteer Climate Reality Project Leader, trained by Vice President Al Gore and The Climate Reality Project. He has served as Mentor at six global trainings and serves as Chair of the Green Team at his Olympia Temple, where he also leads occasional services and chants Torah. He has given presentations to Jewish and other Faith communities, high schools, and Lions Clubs throughout the U.S. and Canada. One of his favorite projects was organizing and facilitating a “mini climate summit” of Middle School classes in New Delhi and Olympia.

Option 3: Essential Jewish Philosophers: Hillel, Maimonides and Spinoza
Taught by Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan

Sessions 1 – 3: Hillel, Maimonides and Spinoza
Leo Strauss (d. 1973) provocatively suggested that “modern Judaism is a synthesis between rabbinical Judaism and Spinoza.” We can draw a line back in time from Spinoza to Maimonides to Hillel. Each are located in liminal moments in the lifeline of the developing Jewish people: Hillel and Rabbinic Judaism beyond sovereignty and territoriality, Maimonides systematizing Jewish philosophy and law, and Spinoza’s critique of unearned authority and the pursuit of reason.

Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan came to the Bay Area to teach art at UAHC Camp Swig and study at the San Francisco Art Institute. After a decade of creating Ketubbot, he attended the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, receiving his MAHL and Rabbinic Ordination. From 1990 to 2010, he served Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco as a Rabbi and Educator. In 2002, he was awarded the Covenant Award as “An Exceptional Jewish Educator who has had a significant impact on others, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the transmission of Jewish knowledge, values, and identity.” In 2010, he joined the Senior Faculty at Lehrhaus Judaica, where he created the Bay Area Community Talmud Circles that continue today in partnership with New Lehrhaus. Since leaving full time Jewish labor in 2020, he has re-opened his printmaking studio.

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The Tauber Jewish Studies Program is made possible by The Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation, reflecting the dynamic, generous, and enduring spirit of Dr. Laszlo N. Tauber.