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May 2004 Iyar 5764
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SUMMER STUDY: RECHARGE YOUR JEWISH BATTERIES

[When] two sit together and exchange words of Torah, then the Divine Presence dwells with them.

Pirkei Avot 3:2

Each year at this time, we bring to your attention an assortment of summer Jewish learning opportunities from the Union for Reform Judaism. As a board member of your synagogue, it is incumbent upon you to improve yourself Jewishly, and there is no more fulfilling way to do this than through study. And as you can see below, the Union offers a potpourri of prospects.

Attend a Union-Sponsored Kallah (Retreat).
For five days, experience

  • An intense immersion in Jewish texts and ideas with outstanding teachers
  • An experiment with dynamic, innovative worship
  • A vibrant community of committed learners
  • An unparalleled opportunity for spiritual renewal

This year’s theme is HeChalutz: The Pioneer—Where and When Jews Have Reinvented Judaism. Choose from two locations: University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, July 7–11, 2004 (which features an Educators Track), and Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, NH, July 21–25, 2004. Enjoy full days of study and spiritual growth, including six sessions of a limud (text-based study seminar), plus additional workshops and learning opportunities. The entire kallah community meets for daily worship and meals, entertainment, singing, and socializing. For more information, visit the Kallah website, or contact the Union’s Department of Lifelong Jewish Learning by e-mail at educate@urj.org or by phone at 212.650.4087.

Take advantage of three opportunities to Study with Song, sponsored by the Union’s Department of Worship, Music, and Religious Living.

  • Hava Nashira Song Leader’s Institute, June 2–6, 2004, OSRUI, Oconomowoc, WI, is the Reform Movement’s primary training ground for song leaders. To register, visit the Institute's web page, e-mail osruiprograms@urj.org, or call 847.509.0990, ext. 12.
  • Mifgash Musicale for Synagogue Musicians, August 1–5, 2004, HUC-JIR, Cincinnati, OH, is designed for synagogue musicians who have some experience leading worship but want to engage in more in-depth study. Participants must be affiliated with a Union congregation and be members of the Guild of Temple Musicians. To register, visit the Mifgash Musicale web page, e-mail worship@urj.org, or call 212.650.4193.
  • The 15th Annual North American Jewish Choral Festival, July 11–15, 2004, Hudson Valley Resort and Spa in the Catskill Mountains, Kerhonkson, NY, draws hundreds of Jewish music lovers each summer, who gather for large-group community choral singing. To register, visit the Festival's web page, e-mail worship@urj.org, or call 212.650.4193.

New This Summer! The Outreach Fellows Program for Interfaith Family Certification, July 28–August 1, 2004, to be held at HUC-JIR, Cincinnati, OH, prepares lay leaders to support, educate, and encourage interfaith couples and families to make Jewish choices. Taught by faculty from the Union and HUC-JIR, participants will address the challenges of couples who are in an interfaith relationship and learn some of the skills of group facilitation and support. The Outreach Fellows Program for Conversion Certification, which will be held in the summer of 2005 at HUC-JIR, Cincinnati, OH, teaches participants how to counsel, support, and lead groups for those on the path toward Judaism. For more information on both programs, visit the Outreach Fellows Program web page, or contact the Department of Outreach and Synagogue Community by e-mail at outreach@urj.org or by phone at 212.650.4230.

Become a Sh’liach K’hilah/Synagogue Associate and learn to lead worship services, teach Judaica and Torah study, assist with bikur cholim and services at a house of mourning, develop a religious school curriculum, and represent the congregation to the broader community. For more information about the two-level program—Level I, July 11–18, 2004; Level II, July 18–25, 2004— at HUC-JIR, Cincinnati, OH, visit the program's website, or contact the Department of Worship, Music, and Religious Living by e-mail at worship@urj.org or by phone at 212.650.4193.

Join the Union’s Adult Mitzvah Corps for an intensive week of social action, study, and worship as you spend August 15–21, 2004, building a house in Orange County, CA. Each workday will begin with worship and end with study. For more information, visit the Adult Mitzvah Corps web page, or contact Rabbi Marla Feldman at the Union’s Commission on Social Action by e-mail at csarj@urj.org or by phone at 212.650.4160.

Travel with Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, the executive director of ARZA, Association of Reform Zionists of America, on a North American Reform Movement Delegation to Israel, May 30–June 7, 2004, get an insider’s view of Israel and Reform life, and learn about issues from political, academic, and military experts, while visiting places that the average tourist never sees. For more information, visit the Web site, e-mail sshaldag@urj.org, or call 212.650.4280.

As you plan for yourself, please also remember to consider NFTY in Israel for your teens. Now more than ever, it is important for our young people to solidify their connection to the Jewish people, and NFTY is offering its classic L’dor V’dor, From Generation to Generation five-week Israel and Europe program. For more information, visit the NFTY website, e-mail nftytravel@urj.org, or call 845.987.6300, ext. 6351.

Or just stay home and read a good book. Consider the summer 2004 recommendations in the Significant Jewish Books series.

  • Scattered Among the Peoples: The Jewish Diaspora in Twelve Portraits by Allan Levine (Overlook Press) is a spirited history of Jews in Europe from the Spanish expulsion to modern times and asks the question, How have Jews survived as a people through centuries of persecutions, forced conversions, and massacres?
  • Tikva Frymer-Kensy’s groundbreaking new study of women in the Bible, Reading the Women of the Bible (Schocken), sweeps away many of our assumptions about the images of women in the Bible and provides a new lens with which to read the text.

For more information, visit the Significant Jewish Books website, or contact Francie Schwartz, Adult Learning Coordinator of the Union’s Department of Lifelong Jewish Learning, by e-mail at fschwartz@urj.org or by phone at 212.650.4081.

We hope that you will take advantage of these opportunities to travel, have fun, learn, and take back to your congregation information and skills that will enhance your performance as a board member.