Now is the time to participate in this powerful and important lifecycle event. If you have never had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, our Adult B’nai Mitzvah program can help you reach a new level of learning and action in your life. Anshe Emeth’s two year program includes studies in Jewish rituals, holidays, theology and prayer. Students will learn to chant Torah and will enjoy the experience of a lifetime. Our Adult B’nai Mitzvah program is taught by all of our clergy, and builds a community of learning and joy as we grow together in Jewish knowledge.

Anshe Emeth is blessed to be one of the elite Reform congregations with a regular class in Talmud. Each Tuesday at 12:30pm, a dozen or more adults gather for nourishment for the body and soul and create a community of learners as they study Talmud. This year, the class will look at Masechet Bava Metzia, which discusses business ethics. No prior Talmud study or Hebrew knowledge is necessary. Each week we will gather to study our ancient tradition while also developing our own voices and views. Join us for this interesting and inviting treat over the noon hour. Newcomers are always welcome.

This year we will be studying Reform Jewish Thinkers who inspired and enlightened Jewish life in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Some of those thinkers will be Rabbi Wise, Rabbi Low, Rabbi Baeck, Rabbi Lilienthal, Rabbi Leeser and Rabbi Einhorn. Come and have a taste of those sages who had a dream in the 19th century and that dream gave birth to our way of being Jewish, today.

MAP is a wonderful program. There can be no better way to spend Shabbat morning than this special opportunity to study with Rabbi Miller and other Temple leaders. While designed primarily for new members, it is open to anyone in our congregation. Those interested in joining should contact MAP Coordinators Jesse Crosson, Laura Gordon or Andrea Schon.

Torah Study

Saturdays 9:30 AM Year-round

Tanach is the proper Jewish term for the book which others refer to as the Bible. We are all familiar with the Torah. This class will explore the books of history, prophecy, poetry, and prose which make up the rest of the Tanach. Historical context, traditional Jewish interpretations, and modern biblical scholarship will be included. We will be continuing our study with Second Kings, Chapter 18. This class is taught by Debbie Cohn. No Hebrew ability is necessary.

How can you be or “do” Jewish when you don’t know where to start? Learn the basics, from how to light Shabbat candles or put up a mezuzah, to how to build a sukkah or make a seder. And by the way what is a mezuzah? What is really involved in keeping kosher? What do you need to know to participate in Torah study? Come ask about things that have been puzzling you and be empowered to start “doing Jewish.”

Join us for this informative and spiritual class on Shabbat mornings. We’ll spend time each week learning new prayers, exploring the meanings of prayers, and picking up a few new tunes for the prayers. No prior experience is necessary. Come and be a part of this wonderful opportunity to grow and learn with others each Shabbat! Taught by David Gronlund Jacob.

What is tikkun olam? Together we will explore a mix of history and philosophy, current events and issues, as well as scholarly articles and Rabbinic sources. We will discuss this core Jewish value and dive into how it motivates us personally and what ‘repairing the world’ means to us as Jews in contemporary American society. The semester will culminate in identifying what the group sees as a most pressing social issue, and ways to address it. Taught by Deborah Cherniss and Debbie Schlossberg,

Makhelat Anshe Emet has been singing the songs of Anshe Emeth since 1975, with some of the original members still proudly active. They sing monthly at Shabbat Services, special music presentations, and choral festivals in and outside of the Temple. Their twice-weekly rehearsal schedule enables them to maintain a level of excellence that is unique among synagogue choirs, and to perform quality Jewish music of all periods and genres. Rehearsals are held on Wednesday evenings 8-9:30 PM, and Sunday mornings 10:45-12:15. Our first rehearsal where we welcome our full membership, plus any new members, will be Sunday, October 12. If you think you might be interested in joining, please contact Cantor Ott at the Temple.

This ensemble offers singers in grades 7-12 the opportunity to explore and enjoy the riches of our Jewish choral tradition. They sing at Shabbat morning services as well as other programs in and out of the Temple, including Special Music Shabbat programs and the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service with Makhelat Anshe Emet. As an official Hazamir ensemble, the highlight of the Shirei Emet year is the Hazamir Festival, where they will join with other Hazamir groups from all over the US, Canada, and Israel in singing a wide variety of Jewish choral music with our finest conductors. They will meet periodically with other teen choirs for informal fun singing as well. Please contact Cantor Ott at the Temple if you are interested.

This year’s Hazamir events will be:

Regional Intervisitation, Sunday, January 18 - Monday January 19 in Bergen County, NJ

Spring Festival, Friday March 20 - Sunday March 22 at the Hudson Valley Resort & Spa in Kerhonkson, NY, culminating in a concert in New York City on Sunday March 22.

Chanting from the Torah is an exciting opportunity to be an active participant in the worship experience, as well as one that links us with past generations and Jews all over the world. The symbols of cantillation are the oldest form of musical notation still in common usage. It’s impossible to describe the feeling one gets from chanting directly from the Torah scroll, using this ancient system of melodic motifs. Why not find out for yourself? Then you will have the opportunity to chant at any of our Shabbat services. The ability to read Hebrew smoothly and fluidly is a prerequisite for this course. Please contact Cantor Ott at the Temple if you are interested.

Look around you and see all the opportunities at Anshe Emeth for leading a congregation in the songs of prayer: Family Services, Religious School Tefillah, Adult Minyan, 6th Grade Retreat, Family Retreat. All you need is your voice and a guitar!

This year’s class will be for guitar beginners, both adults and children in 8th grade and up. You will quickly learn all the chords you need to know to play the entire Anshe Emeth repertoire, and will then learn the art of songleading. You must provide your own guitar. Please contact Cantor Ott at the Temple if you are interested.

In Psalm 150 we are urged to “praise God with blasts of the horn, with harp and lyre, with timbrel and dance, with lute and pipe.” The Awesome Band does just that! An irresistible mix of adults and teens, professionals and amateurs, this varied ensemble blends their diverse talents in accompanying the Junior Choir at our Family Services and other special events. They take the music of the service and lift it to another realm.

Adults and post-Bar/Bat Mitzvah teens who are students “in good standing” in our Religious School are warmly welcomed. Some ensemble experience is required. If you would like to be part of the fun, Cantor Ott will write parts geared to your ability. Rehearsals are one Monday night per month, usually right before a Family Service. Please contact Cantor Ott at the Temple if you are interested.

Junior Choir

Cantor Anna Ott

Syril & Dr. Norman Reitman Scholar in Residence

Dr. Gary Zola
Friday, December 5 through Sunday, December 7

Dr. Louis Schrager Memorial Lecture

Dr. Wendy Zierler
Rereading Midrash: Rabbinic versus Modern Feminist Interpretation
Sunday, November 16 • 10:00 AM

What interpretive methods characterize rabbinic midrashic interpretation? To what extent do modern feminist writers adopt or reinvent rabbininc modes of reading? This lecture will analyze rabbinic midrash side by side with poetry by modern Hebrew women writers as a mean of exploring the idea of feminist midrash and the ways in which modern Jewish literature can serve as a tool for interpreting our classical sources.

Dr. Wendy Zierler is Associate Professor of Feminist Studies and Modern Jewish Literature at HUCJIR in New York. Prior to joining HUC-JIR she was a Research Fellow in the English Department of the University of Hong Kong. At HUC she teaches courses on Modern Hebrew and American Jewish Literature, Holocaust Literature, Literature of the Holidays, Reel Theology (with Eugene Borowitz), in addition to courses dealing with Gender and Judaism.

She received her Ph.D. and her MA from Princeton University, and her BA from Yeshiva University, Stern College. She also studied at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Michlelet Bruria in Jerusalem. Dr. Zierler is currently working towards an MFA in Fiction Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Her book, And Rachel Stole the Idols: The Emergence of Hebrew Women’s Writing was published in 2004 by Wayne State University Press. Together with Carole Balin, she is editor of the Collected Writings of Hava Shapiro, (Resling Press, 2008). Other publications include a Feminist Haggadah commentary in My People’s Haggadah (Jewish Lights, 2008), and To Speak her Heart, an illustrated anthology of Jewish women’s prayers and poems, edited by Leslie Golumb and Barbara Goldman, to which she contributed the introduction, several translations, and an original poem. She also was chosen as consulting editor for two issues of the Jewish feminist scholarly journal Nashim (Spring and Fall 2008) dedicated to the subject of women and books.

Rabbi Nathaniel Keller Memorial Lecture

Rabbi Andrew Davids
Politics and People: Israel after 60 Years

Friday, March 13 • 7:30 PM

Rabbi Andrew Davids, who currently serves as Executive Director of ARZA, the Association of Reform Zionists of America, has been involved in Jewish organizational leadership and informal education for more than twenty years. Ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Rabbi Davids also holds a Master of Public Administration degree with a focus in non-profit management and B.A. in film and video. In the past, he has served as a Director of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Youth Division, a resident and day camp director, and organizational management consultant. A frequent lecturer and writer on Israel and Diaspora relations, Jewish history and effective change management within organizational life, Rabbi Davids is recognized as a leading speaker and educator in the Jewish community and beyond. He lives in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. and is the father of three sons who enjoy reading, bicycle riding and playing with dinosaurs.