by dan pine
staff writer
Just when you thought you were over all that holiday gorging, along comes another tempting feast. Unlike those others, this one is a feast for the mind.
The Bureau of Jewish Education’s annual “Feast of Jewish Learning: Peninsula Night of Unity” is back, offering an evening of classes and community. It brings together hundreds of Jews of every age, denomination and level of scholarship.
The event, co-sponsored by the Albert L. Schultz Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto and many local synagogues and Jewish agencies, takes place Jan. 26 at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. As always, the Feast of Jewish Learning is free.
With Israel’s 60th anniversary coming up, the theme for this year’s feast is “Movement of the People: Israel@60.” That puts a decidedly Israeli spin on the more than 30 courses offered, some taught in Russian or Hebrew.
“It’s one of my favorite events,” says David Waksberg, the executive director of the S.F.-based Bureau of Jewish Education, and one of the evening’s teachers. “There are so many instances in the Jewish community where we divide ourselves. What’s neat about this for me is the diversity and pluralism in a context of unity, all of us learning together as Jews. It rarely happens in the Jewish world.”
The evening begins with a community Havdalah ceremony marking the end of Shabbat. After a little shmoozing and noshing, it’s time to learn. Some of the Bay Area’s most astute rabbis and scholars will be on hand to teach.
Waksberg, along with Congregation Etz Chayim’s Rabbi Ari Cartun, will co-teach a class on Israel’s declaration of independence. Beth Am’s Rabbi Micah Citrin will teach “Rebellious Youths of Ancient Israel.” Congregation Kol Emeth’s Rabbi Shelley Lewis, a veteran of the Soviet Jewry movement, will co-teach a class called “How a Million Soviet Jews Made Aliyah.”
Rabbis won’t be the only ones teaching at this year’s feast. Other teachers on tap include the Israel Center’s executive director, Neal Levy, with a class on the Israeli-Arab peace process, and P’nina Griss of the San Jose Jewish Film Festival, who will share her knowledge of new Israeli cinema. AIPAC’s Charlie Kirschner will discuss the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
And for any hoofers among the throng, Rachel Tischler will teach a class on Israeli folk dancing.
The event “underscores the idea that learning is a big part of being Jewish,” Waksberg adds. “Anyone can learn at any time. It’s just a taste. [People] see they like it and go on to take more serious ongoing classes to learn more.”
Though Waksberg has attended this event for most of its 15-year history, he never tires of it.
“It’s cool to see people from Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Hillel and Chabad. We don’t all have to think the same way, but we can still be together.”
Feast of Jewish Learning: Peninsula Night of Unity takes place 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Jan. 26 at Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills. Admission is free. Information: www.paltoaltojcc.org.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California