Jewish Values: Searching for Personal Meaning

Monday evenings, 5:30 – 7:00 PM

Six sessions: Feb. 5, Feb. 12, Feb. 26, March 5, March 12, March 19
(No class: Feb. 19.)
Tuition: $115/JCA members, $130/General public

Free childcare will be provided. Stories and age-appropriate activities from the JCA's PJ Library program will engage the children around the theme of Jewish values. Advanced registration required.
Registration deadline: Friday, January 26.

Why be Jewish? What are the values of the Jewish way of life? How do we share these values with our children? Our text for addressing these big topics is, A Letter in the Scroll: Understanding our Jewish Identity and Exploring the Legacy of the World’s Oldest Religion by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of Britain. Rabbi Sacks wrote this volume as a wedding gift for his son and daughter in law. While Rabbi Sacks acknowledges the impact of the multiple tragedies the Jewish people has experienced over the millennia, his message focuses on the beauty and strength of Judaism and his central theme is that “Judaism is not a theory, a system, a set of speculative propositions, an ‘ism.’ It is a call, and it bears our name.”

In this course, there will be a specific emphasis on Jewish values both in our own lives, and the choices we make on what Jewish values we transmit and how we transmit them to our children. The class will be oriented towards parents with young children, and childcare will be provided. Outside reading will be kept to a minimum.

Required text: A Letter in the Scroll: Understanding our Jewish Identity and Exploring the Legacy of the World’s Oldest Religion by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.