view the full MakomDC booklet.

MakomDC
Torah: Living, Learning & Exploration
@ Adas Israel Congregation
Welcome to MakomDC
A preview of the 2015/16 season in the Adas Israel Biran Beit Midrash
This season in the Biran Beit Midrash we will
spend our months Reclaiming The Religious Heart.
What does it mean to be as inclusive as God would want us to be? Is there
a Jewish ethic for healthy disagreement? Does our tradition offer us insight
into how our eyes and ears can be extensions of God’s love in the world?
Are boundaries still relevant in our world, and if so, who decides which ones,
and how are those decisions made? In other words, we’re going to get to
the heart of religious life this year.
Though Judaism provides a depth and beauty for meaningful life that we
at Adas Israel strive to present, too often our religious tradition is hijacked
by polarized discourse. But we know deep down that our unique and
grounded vision of Torah asks us to look beyond the binary in search of a
robust, dynamic, and holistic religious experience, one that respects and
celebrates the edges, but also prides itself on exploring the textured chasm
between them.
October - Hearts Wide Open
February - Elasticity
Reclaiming the religious heart.
Maximizing the boundaries of thought, practice & identity.
November - Sacred Conflict
March - Hubris & Humility
Disagreeing for the sake of heaven.
Living with both self-worth and humility.
Scholar: Adas Clergy
Scholar: Rabbi Brad Hirschfield
Scholar: Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer
Scholar: Rabbi James Jacobson Maisels
December - Seeing
April - Imagination
Seeing the world through God’s eyes.
Revering the past, living in the present & dreaming the future.
Scholar: Rabbi Brad Artson
Scholar: Rabbi Benay Lappe
January - Listening
Ongoing Learning
Listening is more than hearing.
Special guests, recurring classes, and more!
Scholar: Rabbi Ebn Leader
Special MakomDC Programming
MakomDC is a space Adas Israel created
to transcend the expected & elevate the
white spaces between the black letters.
Open
The first Tuesday of the month will offer an Open Beit Midrash, a place to sit across the table from
fellow seekers and explore the rich, sophisticated, sacred texts that have animated our people for so
many years. We’ll question together, grapple together, and passionately talk through the uplifting
and challenging ideas these ancient and modern texts provide. These sessions will be led by the
Adas Israel clergy, along with Rabbi Elianna Yolkut.
2
The second Tuesday of the month will offer a keynote experience, featuring a dynamic scholar and
master-teacher to explore the month’s topic. Be prepared to have your mind expanded as the texts
covered in the first week will be given new meaning and further depth.
3
The third Tuesday of the month will offer exploration of our texts as well, but this time our hands
will be the primary avenue for engagement. We’re going to transform the Biran Beit Midrash into an
experiential extravaganza. You’ll paint, sing, write, and learn communication skills that will transform
the way in which you access Torah in your life.
1
Week
Week
Scholar
Week
Experience
This year we’ll dedicate each month to a “pod” of learning on a topic that
cuts to the core of who we strive to be in the world as a faith community.
Each session will stand on its own, but in combination you’ll also have the
chance to experience a soulful Judaism of the heart, head, and hands.
Our Beit Midrash is a space for innovation and exploration, and that’s what we’ll be doing.
Sunday
Sunday Sessions with Senior Rabbi Gil Steinlauf:
One Sunday morning a month, join Rabbi Steinlauf in the Biran Beit Midrash for an in-depth learning
session, using the month’s theme as a catalyst to go deeper into various critical Jewish texts and
concepts. Sessions will take place in the Biran Beit Midrash. For the full schedule, please turn to the
Ongoing Learning page in the back of this book.
Shabbat
MakomDC’s Shabbat learning has been expanded this season:
On four Shabbatot over the course of the year, (3rd Saturdays) Rabbi Alexander will give a text-based
class, after kiddush in the BBM, using halakhah (Jewish life and living) as a prism with which to
access our monthly topic. This year we will also be continuing our Mendelson Shabbat scholar series
after kiddush. Please keep an eye out for the upcoming scholars and dates TBA.
October - Hearts Wide Open
November - Sacred Conflict
Conflict is a natural and necessary part of our lives.
November learning is generously co-sponsored by the Annie Bass Yellen Scholar Fund.
It is present no matter how hard we try to avoid difficult situations. Conflict isn’t a question of “if,”
but “how” we engage. Our lives hold deeper meaning when we have discipline and when we can
interface and disagree with each other with dignity. In this month we’ll explore the concept of
machlocket shem shamayim: disagreement for the sake of heaven.
Reclaiming the religious heart.
A religious heart is meant to be ever expansive and open to the diversity of all of God’s creations.
Yet it doesn’t happen without first understanding that capacity, and then cultivating the ways in
which we can nurture that expansiveness. This month will offer both the Jewish framework for an
open heart, and techniques to actualize that vision.
Simchat Torah
1
Week
Dancing with the
Torah scrolls
October 5th
Chag
2
Week
3
Experience
1
Week
with Rabbi Alexander
October 24th
Shabbat
2
Week
3
Week
Experience
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, author &
president of CLAL, ranked as Newsweek’s
“50 Most Influential Rabbis”
November 10th
Scholar
Conflict Resolution Workshop
Post-Kiddush Halakhah Class
“An Open Halakhah”
with Sabrina Sojourner
October 20th
with Rabbis Alexander,
Holtzblatt & Yolkut
November 3rd
Open
Scholar
Diversity Training
Week
Shiur w/ Adas Israel Clergy
October 13th
Scholar:
Open Beit Midrash
Scholar:
Post-Kiddush Halakhah Class
“Multiple Truths in Halakhah”
”The Practical Skills We Need to
Disagree with Dignity”
with Jewish Council for Public Affairs
November 17th
November 21st
Shabbat
December - Seeing
January - Listening
Our eyes are quick to play tricks on us.
We often see an image and assume something to be true, rather than intuitively understanding
that which is in front of us. What does it mean to see the world through God’s eyes? What does
our tradition offer for recognizing the image before us through not just our eyes, but our hearts
and our neshamas (souls) as well.
Open Beit Midrash
1
Week
with Rabbis Alexander,
Holtzblatt & Yolkut
December 1st
Open
3
Experience
Open Beit Midrash
Scholar:
2
Week
Rabbi Brad Artson, celebrated
speaker, teacher & theologian
December 8th
1
Week
Uncovering the
Talmud’s Hidden Texture
The Biran Beit Midrash will be
turned into a paint studio, everyone
leaves with a piece of Jewish art!
December 15th
with Dr. Aaron Amit, part of the
Mendelson Shabbat Scholar Series
December 12th
Shabbat
with Rabbis Alexander,
Holtzblatt & Yolkut
January 5th
Open
Scholar
Paint Night
Week
Every single day we use our ears.
We hear so much… but how much do we actually listen? Hearing is easy. Listening is hard. The
Torah offers us a blueprint for the practice of listening and invites us to hone those skills within
the framework of our textual tradition and the practical skills that bring them to life.
Scholar:
2
Week
Scholar
Post-Kiddush Halakhah Class
“The Middle & the Margin,
Heard Together”
Drum Workshop
3
Week
Experience
Rabbi Ebn Leader, author & authority
in the Neo Hasidic Wisdom Tradition
January 12th
The Biran Beit Midrash will become
a drum studio for the beginner &
advanced alike, with Alan Yellowitz.
January 19th
with Rabbi Alexander
January 23rd
Shabbat
February - Elasticity
March - Hubris & Humility
The world is presented to us in binaries: black and white, good and bad, pro and con, good and
evil. Jewish elasticity maximizes the boundaries of thought, practice, and identity to elevate the
Torah without losing its timeless truth. Together we’ll learn to read the Torah in this way, and
conceptualize these ideas for our own growing religious awareness.
Open Beit Midrash
1
Week
with Rabbis Alexander,
Holtzblatt & Yolkut
February 2nd
Open
2
Week
3
Experience
Yehuda Kurtzer, author & president
of Shalom Hartman Institute
February 9th
1
Week
Post-Kiddush Halakhah Class
“Between the Ideal & the Real”
The Biran Beit Midrash transformed
into a coffee-roasting shuk, with
Rabbi Alexander.
February 16th
with Rabbi Alexander
February 20th
Shabbat
with Rabbis Alexander,
Holtzblatt & Yolkut
March 1st
Open
Scholar
Scholar:
Open Beit Midrash
Scholar:
Coffee Roasting 101
Week
It’s so easy to feel both ever important and ever unnecessary all at once.
But how do we find the balance between self-worth and self-negation? The Torah wants us to
live with both - grand self-worth and a realistic humility. This month stretches us to achieve a
healthy religious balance.
2
Week
Scholar
Post-Kiddush Purim Torah Study
“Upside Down, Inside Out”
Meditation Practice
3
Week
Experience
Rabbi James Jacobson Maisels,
co-founder of OR HALEV: Center for
Jewish Spirituality & Meditation
March 8th
with Rabbis Steinlauf & Holtzblatt
March 15th
with Rabbi Holtzblatt
March 19th
Shabbat
April - Imagination
The very first creative words of the Torah are “let there be.”
That is the Judaism we live in, explore deeply, and own as an eternal legacy and vision. In this
month, we’ll learn to revere the past, live in the present, and dream the future.
Ongoing Learning
We are committed to teaching Judaism, from basic principles & Jewish skills, to advanced concept
exploration. It is our hope that 0ngoing Jewish learning and literacy become an important and
prominent part of each of our members’ lives. A few highlights include:
MakomDC Learning
Scholar:
Open Beit Midrash
1
Week
with Rabbis Alexander,
Holtzblatt & Yolkut
April 5th
Open
2
Week
3
Experience
Rabbi Benay Lappe, founder & Rosh
Yeshiva of Svara: A Traditionally
Radical Yeshiva
April 12th
Beginner’s Hebrew
Sunday mornings (monthly)
Boker Or Shabbat Study
Saturday mornings
Pesach Prep Questions & Answers
The Biran Beit Midrash becomes Adas’
version of a coffee house poetry slam.
April 19th
with Rabbis Alexander,
Holtzblatt & Steinlauf
April 16th
Shabbat
God’s Love Story: Exploring the Zohar
October 25th
Making Torah Personal
November 15th
Judaism & the Problem of Evil
December 20th
Scholar
Poetry/Torah Slam
Week
Delve into the month’s theme
with Senior Rabbi Gil Steinlauf
Friday Parsha Study
with Rabbi Holtzblatt
Intro to Judaism
with Adas Clergy
dates & details @ adasisrael.org/makomdc
The Shema: Using this Text to Find Connection
January 31st
What is Jewish Identity in the 21st Century?
February 28th
The Chasidic Story: Having a Jewish Soul
March 6th
The Midrash: The Creative Heart-Center of Judaism
April 3rd
Adas Israel Congregation
2850 Quebec St. NW · Cleveland Park Metro
202.362.4433 · facebook.com/adasisraeldc
adasisrael.org/makomdc