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Beit Sefer Café  March 24, 2020  FREE Classes  Register Today! www.bethor.org/rsvp-portal LEARN  SHMOOZE  CONNECT  STUDY  MINGLE  DISCOVER  EXPLORE  EXPERIENCE  SOCIALIZE

CLASS SESSION 1  6:30 PM R Centering Women: Gender, Family and Community in the Book of Ruth Instructor: Elsie R. Stern, Ph,D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, RRC The book of Ruth is one of the only biblical books with female protagonists. In this session, we will explore how the book and character of Ruth were part of a live conversation about gender, family and community identity in R What Happened at Sinai? And Should You Care? Texts on the antiquity and what the authors of the book might have been telling us about Revelation at Sinai and How it Affects our Judaism Every Day these perennially thorny questions. Instructors: Rabbi Jason Bonder and Aaron Nielsenshultz R What happened at Mount Sinai? Did Moses receive the 10 Cooking with Gass: Part 1 commandments? The written and oral Torah? Did anything get Instructor: Alyson Gass transmitted at Sinai? Is it all just a myth? Come explore the Sinai event Join Alyson Gass for another wonderful evening cooking and sharing family and ask what you believe to be true. What you learn and believe about stories and recipes. This class will focus on the wonder of salads. How the Sinai event will likely influence the Jewish choices you make. Note: we can plant our own veggies, and create delicious meals with all natural This class is repeated in 2nd session. Please only sign up once. ingredients. We will whip up some main meal salads, side salads & dessert salads. Note: This class will be one class in two parts. Please sign up for R Israeli Poet Yehuda Amichai As You’ve Never Read Him Before both sessions when selecting this class. Instructor: Janine Jankovitz Pastor, Rabbinic Intern, RRC BREAK  7:30 PM Discover Yehuda Amichai’s work and learn more about the deep Jewish R GPS: Guided Prayer Session references he employs for the poetry that made him one of Israel’s most Instructor: Janine Jankovitz Pastor, Rabbinic Intern, RRC Gather in the Spain beloved poets and, perhaps, most misunderstood. Take a deeper dive into prayer with Jewish wisdom, stories, poetry, and Lobby between rabbinic text. All levels and practices welcome! R Jews Telling Jokes classes for a light Instructor: Rabbi Gregory Marx R Jews and Comedy dinner and chat with At the beginning of the 19th century, a sense of humor was not associated Instructor: Rabbi Gregory Marx your instructors and with Jewishness. Hermann Adler, the chief rabbi of London, felt impelled What do Woody Allen, Morey Amsterdam, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, fellow participants. to write an article in 1893 in which he argued against the view that Jews Shelley Berman, Joey Bishop, Victor Borge, David Brenner, Fanny Brice, have no sense of humor. It is perhaps interesting to note that not only Albert Brooks, Mel Brooks, Lenny Bruce, Art Buchwald, George Burns, Jews but non-Jews as well consider today “a good sense of humor “ as one of the notable characteristics of Jews. Red Buttons, Sid Caesar, Eddie Cantor, Jack Carter, Myron Cohen, Irwin  Corey, Rodney Dangerfield, Jules Feiffer, Totie Fields, Rube Goldberg, CLASS SESSION 2 8 PM Harry Golden, Shecky Green, Dan Greenburg, Buddy Hackett, Goldie This class will look at what it means to be funny and Jewish. We will view Hawn, Joseph Heller, Abbie Hoffman, Lou Jacobi, George Jessel, Mickey R Cooking with Gass Part 2 the well-known video, Jews Telling Jokes, and analyze it as an answer to Katz, Danny Kaye, Alan King, Robert Klein, Bert Lahr, Norman Lear, Sam Instructor: Alyson Gass existentialism. Levenson, Jerry Lewis, The Marx Brothers, Jackie Mason, Bette Midler, Alyson’s cooking class focusing on preparing delicious salads continues. Zero Mostel, Jan Murray, Gilda Radner, Carl Reiner, Don Rickles, The Ritz Note: This class is a continuation of the 1st session class. Please sign up R What Happened at Sinai? And Should You Care? Texts on the Brothers, Joan Rivers, Leo Rosten, Philip Roth, Mort Sahl, Soupy Sales, for both when registering. Revelation at Sinai and How it Affects our Judaism Every Day Dr. Seuss, Dick Shawn, Allan Sherman, Phil Silvers, Shel Silverstein, Neil Instructors: Rabbi Jason Bonder and Aaron Nielsenshultz Simon, Smith and Dale, David Steinberg, the Three Stooges, Larry Storch, R Even Weirder: Esther in the Rabbinic Imagination What happened at Mount Sinai? Did Moses receive the 10 commandments? Sophie Tucker, Gene Wilder, Ed Wynn and Henny Youngman all have in Instructor: Elsie R. Stern, Ph,D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, RRC The written and oral Torah? Did anything get transmitted at Sinai? Is it all common? A study in what makes some jokes Jewish and why humor is With its beauty pageants, buffoonish king and crazy coincidences, the book just a myth? Come explore the Sinai event and ask what you believe to be so essential to Jewish culture. of Esther is one of the wackiest books of the Bible. In comparison to the true. What you learn and believe about the Sinai event will likely influence rabbinic riffs on the story collected in the Talmudic tractate Megillah, the the Jewish choices you make. Note: This class is a repeat of the earlier biblical book looks tame. In this class we will explore these midrashim on session. Please sign up for one or the other. Esther and consider why the rabbis imagined Esther and her role as they did.

2 ways to register by March 18: Online via the RSVP portal on www.bethor.org home page or contact Barbara Murtha, 215-646-5806, ext. 220.