Finding Inner Jewish Identity (FIJI)
These texts are for students taking a class for those considering becoming Jewish at Temple Beth El. The texts support active discussions about Jewish identity, creating a Jewish home, celebrating Jewish holidays, and more. The class is taught by clergy and special guest speakers. There are several points of entry into F.I.J.I., and registration is required. This class is held year-round (except for certain holiday weekends.)
Some helpful FIJI resources:
Blessings for food and more - From Kol Haneshamah: Songs, Blessings and Rituals For the Home, pp. 108-‐117
Shabbat Blessings, Recordings and more from the URJ - Shabbat Stuff
More information about conversion with Temple Beth El can be found here.
The conversion process around the mikvah can be found here.
Unit Heh – Shabbat & Purim
– 3 class sessions (February 2013)
February 2, 2013 – Shabbat and Jewish Time – Preparing and Doing
What we do & how we do it: Shabbat
Resources: Blessings for Shabbat Audio
Reading:
Strassfeld, A Book of Life, pp. 103-134 – Shabbat: A Day for Walking Softly Through the World
February 16, 2013 – Shabbat at synagogue and at home – rituals and prayers
What we think: Sacred Time
Reading:
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, pp. 13-24, A Palace in Time
How we do it – Kabbalat Shabbat – the Reception of Shabbat:
Reading: L’chah Dodi and Shalom Aleichem from Mishkan T’filah, pp. 138-139, 142
February 23, 2013 – Purim – joy that Spring is coming soon
What we do & how we do it: Role Reversals, the Book of Esther, Purim Shpiels, Hamentaschen, and Schnapps
Reading: Strassfeld, A Book of Life, pp. 293-297 – Purim
Recommended Temple Beth El experiences:
- 70th Anniversary Lifelong Learning Weekend Workshop – Saturday AM, February 9, 2013
- Purim Celebration – Saturday evening, February 23, 2013
Unit Daled – Tikkun Olam
3 class sessions (January 2013)
Full syllabus right here!
January 5, 2013 – Tikkun Olam Introduction
What we do: Community and Tikkun Olam
Readings:
1) Elliot N. Dorff, Love Your Neighbor and Yourself, pp. 29-32, “The Community, Social Action and the Messianic Future, Not in the Heavens”
2) Abraham Joshua Heschel, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity, pp. 3-11, “To be a Jew, what is it?”
How we do it:
o Create a Tikkun practice – how can we focus ourselves on repair this January?
January 12, 2013 – Jews and Contemporary Activism
What we do: The Reform Movement and Social Action
– sources, reasons, struggles – from committees to actions
Readings:
1)
Albert Vorspan and Eugene J. Lipman, Justice and Judaism: The Work of Social Action, pp. 3-25
2) Biblical background - Haftarah for Yom Kippur from Isaiah 57:14-58:14, Book of Jonah
How we do it:
- MLK Shabbat
- Mi Chamocha
Readings:
- Mi Chamocha in Mishkan Tefillah
o Journal assignment – How are social justice and social action expressions of your Judaism?
January 19, 2013 – Tikkun Review and Tu biShvat
What we do: Tu biShvat
Reading:
Strassfeld, A Book of Life, pp. 290-292 – Tu Bishvat
How we do it: Tu biShvat Seder
Reading:
Ari Elon, Naomi Mara Hyman, Arthur Waskow, Trees, Earth, and Torah: A Tu B’Shvat Anthology, pp. 343-360 – on the Tu biShvat Seder
o Journal assignment – How are Jewish rituals and holidays connected to social justice and social action?
Recommended TBE Experiences:
MLK Shabbat - Friday, January 18
Tu biShvat Seder – Saturday, January 26
Unit Gimmel – Jews as a Minority
4 class sessions (November & December 2012)
Syllabus Gimmel - click for syllabus
November 17, 2012 - Jews and Americans - Jewish American Rituals
Reading:
From The American Judaism of Mordecai Kaplan, Emmanuel S. Goldsmith, Mel Scult, Robert M. Seltzer (eds.), pp. 25-26
Family Blessings, from Kol Haneshamah: Songs, Blessings, and Rituals for the Home, pp.4-5
Readings for Thanksgiving, from Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat and Holidays, pp. 824-826
December 1, 2012 - Jews in a mixed culture - the history of Chanukah
Reading:
Strassfeld, A Book of Life, pp. 284-289 - Hanukkah
Chanukah Blessings and Songs, from Kol Haneshamah: Songs, Blessings, and Rituals for the Home, pp. 100-107
December 8, 2012 - December Dilemma and other questions - living with families from multiple traditions
Reading:
Rabbi Jonathan on December Issues
Supplemental material - A look at Judaism Today, by Seymour Rossel
Unit Bet – Jewish History:
How we got here in the last 1,000 years
5 class sessions (October & November 2012)
Syllabus Bet - click for syllabus
October 13, 2012 – Review of the High Holidays & Intro to studying Jewish history
Reading: Jonathan B. Krasner, “What Was Driving Force Behind Jewish History: New Book Argues It Was Literacy, Not Persecution,” Forward.com, August 31, 2012
October 20, 2012 – Jewish History – Medieval & Early Modern
Under the Cross, under the Crescent – Ashkenaz & Sefardic Jewry
Reading: From Robert M. Seltzer, Jewish People, Jewish Thought, pp. 325-‐342, 350-‐372,
File 1, File 2, File 3, File 4, File 5
Audio: Morning Blessings (Nisim b'chol yom - pgs. 198-202 in Mishkan Tefilah)
Audio 1, Audio 2, Audio 3
Reading: Morning Blessings from Mishkan Tefilah
October 27, 2012 – Jewish History – Post-Emancipation Europe
Mendelssohn, the Haskalah, Reform Judaism, Reactions lead to Orthodoxy
Reading: From The Jew in the Modern World, pp. 68-‐69, 161, 167-‐169
The Ba’al Shem Tov and Hasidism
Reading: From Elie Wiesel, Somewhere a Master – Hasidic Portraits and Legends, pp. 202-‐221
Mourner’s Kaddish in our prayer services
Audio: Oseh Shalom Audio, Mourner's Kaddish Audio
Reading: Mourner's Kaddish (Mishkan Tefliah pg. 598),
Mourner’s Kaddish (alternate)
November 3, 2012 – Jewish History – Kristallnacht & Anti‐Semitism
The tragedy of early 20th Century German Jewry
Reading: From Amos Elon, The Pity of It All: A Portrait of the German-Jewish Epoch 1743‐1933, pp. 1--12
Mourning Rituals
Reading: Strassfeld, A Book of Life, pp. 441-‐463 – Deuteronomy/Devarim: Death
November 10, 2012 – Jewish History – Emancipation in America – Unit Review
The differences between American and European Judaism
Reading: From The Jew in the Modern World, pp. 457-‐459, 468-‐469
Blessings over food – an introduction
Reading: From Kol Haneshamah: Songs, Blessings and Rituals For the Home, pp. 108-‐117
Recommended Temple Beth El experiences:
-‐ Book Club, The Aleppo Codex – Sunday, October 14, 4pm
-‐ Congregational Shabbat – Saturday morning, October 20, 11am
-‐ Sisterhood Wellness Weekend – Friday‐Sunday, October 26-‐28
-‐ Look for – Uptown and South Park Talmud Study over lunch, and Saturday afternoon Jolt for Judaism.
Unit Alef – The High Holy Days, The Days of Awe
5 class sessions (August & September 2012)
Syllabus Alef - click for syllabus
August 4, 2012 – Overview
Reading: Strassfeld, A Book of Life, pp. 260-‐273 – Chapter on the High Holidays
August 11, 2012 – Rosh HaShanah
August 18, 2012 – Yom Kippur
Reading: Strassfeld, A Book of Life, pp. 260-‐273 – Chapter on the High Holidays
August 25, 2012 – Sukkot and Simchat Torah
Reading: Strassfeld, A Book of Life, pp. 274-‐283 – Chapters Sukkot, Simcat Torah, and Shemini Atzeret
September 8, 2012 – Review of the High Holy Days