2nd Saturday April 11th, after services, 12:00-1:00 pm, JCC and on Zoom. With bagels and coffee!!
For the past couple of years, we’ve held a monthly “pop-in” Torah study session on Zoom. The intention was simple: to create an accessible space for Jewish learning, reflection, and conversation.
Although participation has been modest, we are hearing from individual members and from our Annual Members Meeting about a strong desire for deeper intellectual engagement and for a place to wrestle with big questions: textual, spiritual, philosophical, moral and ethical.
Perhaps the issue is simply one of timing – 3rd Wednesday evenings at 7 pm may not be ideal or convenient. Or perhaps people are longing to gather in person rather than on Zoom.
So, we are pleased to announce that, beginning in April, we will be moving our study session from 3rd Wednesday on Zoom to the 2nd Saturday of the month, following Shabbat morning services. The study session will take place at the JCC and will begin at 12 pm. This will be a hybrid offering – in person and on Zoom. [Please note that we will not have a Torah study in May or June due to B-mitzvah events.] To sweeten the deal there will be BAGELS and coffee!!
This change is also responding to another clear yearning: many of us want to engage more directly with what is happening in the world—socially, politically, ethically – through a Jewish lens. The 2nd Saturday Torah study will invite that kind of discussion, as our tradition does not shy away from diving into complexity and asking difficult questions. It invites argument, nuance, and wrestling—machloket l’shem shamayim, disagreement for the sake of heaven. It asks us to think, to question, to challenge, and to be challenged.
This shift is not meant to replace broader opportunities for political conversation or engagement in our community. A healthy community needs a variety of gathering opportunities. We are complex people who need different things at different times. And many of you have stepped up to facilitate and organize gatherings that address those needs. I hope that continues.
At the same time, I think it is important to emphasize that our Shabbat services are, and will remain, a space for healing. They are not designed to be arenas for debate or for the release of political frustration. In a world that is already loud, reactive, and polarized, the sanctuary allows us to hold something different. A place for prayer, music, quietude, and re-centering.
I also hope we continue to make room to simply be together, to enjoy one another’s company, to laugh and to connect. That matters too.
I am grateful for all the lay leadership, for the generous feedback and the multiple voices that shape this community.
Let us continue to build this community together, and lean into the multifaceted spirit of our evolving Jewish tradition.
Chag Pesach Sameach,
Rav Gav
