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Jewish Learning Events


Twin Cities Jewish Book Fair beginning November 7, 2009



Dead Sea Scrolls - Community Lecture Series

Tuesday, February 16 - March 9, 7:00pm
$36 series; $10 individual lecture
Open to members and the community
March 2, Beth Jacob
March 9, Temple of Aaron

An exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls opens at The Science Museum of Minnesota on March 12. This is a rare opportunity to be able to see this unique treasure of significance not only to Judaism, but also to other faith traditions including Christianity. The Dead Sea Scrolls comprise a collection of around 900 documents discovered in eleven caves in the Judean Desert of Israel beginning in 1947.

Dead Sea Scroll

These documents have been rightly regarded as revolutionizing scholarly understanding of the composition and transmission of the Hebrew Bible, Jewish history and belief in the late Second Temple period (third century B.C. E.-first century C.E.) and the background of later rabbinic Judaism and Christianity.

Dead Sea Scroll

In conjunction with the exhibit Professor Alex Jassen will be teaching a four session series where participants will learn how to read the texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls (in translation) and engage with the scholarly discussions regarding their significance. Come gain first-hand knowledge of these important historical documents and understand what exactly they are, where they come from, when they were composed, why they have become scandalous, and what they really contribute to our understanding of the Bible, Judaism, and Christianity. Dr. Jassen is Assistant Professor of Early Judaism, Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota.
To register for the series, visit www.stpauljcc.org or call 651.698.0751.

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Passover-for-All
Help provide Passover for those in need.

Seder Plate

You can help by donating to the Passover Food Drive. Your contributions will help provide gift packages of Kosher for Passover food for those who may not otherwise be able to afford it. Our goal is to provide more than 100 holiday packages, which will be confidentially distributed by the St Paul JCC and other St Paul Jewish organizations and synagogues.
Each package will contain a variety of Kosher for Passover food items and a Haggadah (booklet telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt).
Deadline for donations is March 19.
Donations can be made at the JCC front desk or mail your check to the JCC.
Co-sponsored by Jewish Family Service of St. Paul.



For more information contact:
Rabbi Sharon Stiefel, Jewish Education Director: 651-255-4737

"The Unanswered Question"  Symphony Orchestra Concert kicks off Friends of the Symphony campaign.


Prominent Local Jewish Women in Conversation with Orli Gil,
Consul General of Israel to the Midwest
Thursday, March 11, 7:00pm
Free
St. Paul JCC

Orli Gil

Join us as we celebrate International Women's Day by welcoming Orli Gil, Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, to the St. Paul JCC. Ms. Gil will give us an update on current events in Israel as well as the status of women in Israel today. Ten prominent local Jewish women, from a wide variety of professional disciplines, will join the conversation. The first place winner of the Beyond Golda: Celebrating Women in Israel Essay Contest will also be honored that evening.

View the Beyond Golda Winning Essay (PDF)

Orli Gil assumed her post as the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest in July 2008. She is a career diplomat who has served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 22 years. She served in the Israeli Air Force and earned a degree from Hebrew University in English and Hebrew literature. Her goal in her current position is to talk about the real Israel, to show Israel as a vivid, diverse society with a beautiful culture.

This program is sponsored by the St. Paul JCC, United Jewish Fund & Council of St. Paul, Minneapolis Jewish Federation, Sabes JCC, The Jerusalem Post, US Airways, Hadassah, the Minneapolis and St. Paul sections of NCJW, Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest and MASA. Media sponsor is the American Jewish World.
Beyond Golda Flyer (PDF)

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Special Israeli television series screening at the St. Paul JCC
Watch "Betipul" (In Treatment)
Thursdays, March 18, 25, and April 8 at 7:00pm
Free and open to the community

The wildly popular and ground-breaking Israeli drama series "Betipul" (In Treatment) that was a viewer favorite, a critic's darling and a full-fledged cultural phenomenon in Israel is back at the St. Paul JCC. The series is uniquely Israeli and a critically acclaimed drama following a psychotherapist and his patients. The New York Times called it "One of Israel's most successful and talked about dramas ever." Ma'ariv called the show "addictive." In fact, HBO discovered it two years ago and has created an American addiction. Screenings will take place in two-episode blocks led by our shlicha Alisa Warshavsky.
In Hebrew with English subtitles.


View the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th Century
The Dead Sea Scrolls at the Science Museum of Minnesota

Thursday, March 18 at 7:00pm
Ages 4-12, $18.00, Ages 13-59, $22.00, 60 and over, $18.00

An exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls opens at The Science Museum of Minnesota on March 12. This is a rare opportunity to be able to see this unique treasure of significance not only to Judaism, but also to other faith traditions including Christianity. The Dead Sea Scrolls comprise a collection of around 900 documents discovered in 11 caves in the Judean Desert of Israel beginning in 1947. These documents have been rightly regarded as revolutionizing scholarly understanding of the composition and transmission of the Hebrew Bible, Jewish history and belief in the late Second Temple period (third century BCE - first century CE) and the background of later rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. In addition to being one of only a few museums in the United States to host the scrolls and related artifacts from the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Science Museum also announced that it will be the first museum to display three sets of five scrolls each during the run of the exhibition, for a grand total of 15.

The St. Paul JCC along with St. Paul synagogues has arranged for a group visit to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit with tickets at a discounted rate for Thursday, March 18 at 7:00pm. Tickets must be reserved and purchased through the St. Paul JCC no later than Friday, March 12. These tickets are not refundable after March 12 and can only be used to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls on the date listed.

Register online at www.stpauljcc.org, at the St. Paul JCC front desk, or call 651-698-0751.

For transportation to and from the Museum from the JCC, contact:
Beth Gendler Adult Department Program Supervisor, 651-255-4736.


2010 Twin Cities Annual Yom HaShoah Holocaust Commemoration

Sunday, April 11, 7:00pm
Mount Zion Temple in St Paul
Free and open to the community


Grandparents Circle

The Grandparents Circle is a program for Jewish grandparents who have grandchildren being raised in an interfaith home. This one-of-a kind program, developed by the Jewish Outreach Institute, will help Jewish grandparents of intermarried children pass their heritage on to the next generation.

Highlights:
If you or someone you know is interested in this important program, please contact:
Rabbi Sharon Stiefel, Jewish Education Director, 651-255-4737, to register or for more information.
Co-sponsored by the Talmud Torah of St Paul.

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Jewish Heritage in Spain: Controversies over Reclaiming Medieval Jewish Sites

Wednesday, April 14, 7:00pm
FREE

In the past three decades, there has been a growing resurgence in interest in Jewish Medieval sites such as synagogues, Jewish quarters, and cemeteries in Spain and Portugal. Although this genuine interest is not new and can be traced back to the first decades of the 20th century, visiting Spanish scholar Javier Castaño will illuminate for us how the Commemorative events of 1992 have coincided with some new developments. First, there has been an increasing interest in exploiting the possibilities for Jewish tourism of this rich heritage, which has resulted in a virtual reconstruction of a Jewish past. In some few cases this reconstruction has been questionable. A further development is related to the attention given by the media to allegedly Jewish medieval graveyards, and the actions taken by Haredi organizations against archaeological digging, as well as the political implications of these actions.
Reception to follow.
Co-sponsored by the University of Minnesota's Center for Jewish Studies


Yom HaZikaron Observed April 19

Monday, April 19, 7:00pm
Free and open to the Community

The community is invited to take part in out Yom HaZikaron (Israel Memorial Day) observance at the Sabes JCC in St Louis Park. Our own community shlicha Alisa Warshawsky will help lead this moving remembrance of Israeli soldiers who have lost their lives in defense of the State of Israel.
Call 651-698-0751 for more details.


Birobidjan: the Jewish Homeland before the Jewish Homeland

Mondays, April 19 and 26, 7:00pm
Tuition is $30 for a St. Paul JCC member and $45 for a non-member
Register by Tuesday, April 13.

Did you know that there existed a 'Jewish State' over a decade before the founding of the state of Israel? Did you know that Yiddish was once spoken and taught somewhere as the de jure language? No, we're not talking about Michael Chabon's 2007 fictional novel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, we're talking about a real homeland established for the Jews 76 years ago: Birobidjan, otherwise known as the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, located in Siberia. As we celebrate Israel's 62nd birthday this month, come learn about this area's bizarre past and present.
Raysh Weiss is currently a third-year doctoral student in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Minnesota, a regular writer for www.jewschool.com, a contributor for www.myjewishlearning.com and was a 2006-2007 Fulbright Research Fellow in Germany.
For more information, contact:
Rabbi Sharon Stiefel, St Paul JCC Jewish Education Director, 651-255-4737.


Celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut with Shira Betzibur

Tuesday, April 20, 7:00pm

Join us as we celebrate Israel's 62nd anniversary and be transported to the hum of Israel with Shira Betzibur, a sing-a-long, Israeli style. We will sing the folk songs that remind us of the early days as well as the Israeli songs of today.
Leading the Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration in song will be two visiting musicians from our Partnership 2000 (P2K) region in Israel, the Sovev Kinneret. Evyatar Edri is from Kibbutz Ma'agan and is the lead singer and guitarist for the Israeli rock band, Haktzizot Shel Lidia (Lidia's Meatballs). Or Cohen, a recent law school graduate from Netanya Academic College, is from the town, Poriyya Elite, and is a song leader and guitar teacher.
Israeli folk music originated in the early 20th century. Patriotic composers, convinced that there should be music that would unify the various immigrant groups, invented a "new" folk tradition, writing songs to inspire the young nation. If Arik Einstein, Shalom Chanoch, Naomi Shemer, HaParvarim, Noa, and Sheva get you nostalgic, you belong with us on Israel Independence Day. There is nothing like a good sing-a-long!
Bring your family for this fun Yom Ha'atzmaut event.
Previous knowledge of Hebrew is not necessary.

For more information, contact:
Alisa Warshavsky, Shaliach, 651-255-4753.

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