Tikkun Olam
3 sessions - January through February 2016
January 30, 2016 – 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?”
3) Additional reading: The History of Tikkun Olam, by Jill Jacobs
How we do it:
o Create a Tikkun practice – how can we focus ourselves on repair this January?
February 6, 2016 – 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?
February 13, 2016 – 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 - here's a version to look at.
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?
Other TBE Events
Please save the date for our Scholar-in-Residence weekend, February 19-21, with Rabbi Amy Scheinerman, including Friday evening services, Saturday morning learning, and a Sunday morning brunch - details at www.templebethel.org