Adult Jewish Education Program
Adult Jewish Education at the Jewish Community Centre is a program of interactive, seminar-style Adult Jewish learning. Topics include the full range of Jewish experience: belief, philosophy, arts, culture, history, Israel, and the interface between Judaism and the rest of the world. The courses are pluralistic in nature and provide a comfortable and stimulating environment for Jews from all different backgrounds.
The Halakha of Suffering: Death and the Duty to Heal in Jewish Tradition
Tuesdays 9:30am-11:00am: January 29th; and February 5th, 12th & 19th 2019
Early Bird Special: Register early and save! Please note that places are limited and will be reserved on a ‘first pay, first served basis’. All reservations received and accepted by January 22, 2019 will get a $10 discount. The Early Bird fee for this 4-week course is $75/student (regular fee $85).
Rabbi Debra Dressler has been the spiritual leader of Temple Israel since 2010, following her ordination from Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati in 2009. Originally a native of Lansing, Michigan, Rabbi Dressler graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and worked in magazine circulation and non-profit direct marketing before beginning her career in the Jewish community in 1997. In addition to her work at Temple Israel, Rabbi Dressler has been deeply involved in the London interfaith community, in particular the Muslim and Christian communities, establishing such programmes as the London Interfaith Peace Camp.
The Halakha of Suffering – Death and the Duty to Heal in Jewish Tradition
Jewish tradition has spoken in clear terms about the prohibition to cause death under any circumstances, from murder to suicide. However, human suffering is not considered a means of redemption, and one is not allowed to delay death artificially. In this class, we will explore the concepts of “life,” “death,” “suffering,” and “healing” in Jewish law as they are addressed in the source texts. We will then consider how to frame a response to contemporary issues such as Medical Assistance in Death in light of those halakhot. In our final session, we will review the Jewish customs around death and mourning, and the impact of a loved one’s death on those who are left behind.
Jewish Issues on Film: Changing and Complex Realities
Tuesdays 11:30am-1:00pm: March 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th; and April 2nd & 9th, 2019
Early Bird Special: Register early and save! Please note that places are limited and will be reserved on a ‘first pay, first served basis’. All reservations received and accepted by February 26, 2019 will get a $10 discount. The Early Bird fee for this 6-week course is $99/student (regular fee $109).
Shlomo Schwartzberg is a film critic, teacher and arts journalist based in Toronto. He regularly teaches film courses at Toronto’s Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre and Ryerson University’s LIFE Institute, among other venues. He has written for a number of publications, including The New York Times, The Jerusalem Report magazine, The South China Post, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and the Canadian Jewish News, and was also the Canadian correspondent for Box Office magazine and Screen International. Shlomo was Director of Programming for the Toronto Jewish Film Festival from 1996 – 2004 and the Chair of the Toronto Jewish Film Society from 2008-11. He is a co-founder of, and writes for, the noted online cultural website Critics at Large (www.criticsatlarge.ca).
Jewish Issues on Film: Changing and Complex Realities
This course will examine how issues pertinent to the Jewish community, including: support for Israel to the effects of the Holocaust; anti-Semitism to inter-faith and inter-religious relationships; and others, have been portrayed in movies from America and around the world. From ‘Exodus’ to ‘Les Patriotes’; ‘A Stranger Among Us’ to ‘Keeping the Faith’; ‘Angry Harvest’ to ‘The Pawnbroker’; we will also look at how those depictions have changed over the years and what they often reveal about the Jewish (and sometimes non-Jewish) creators and stars of these often famous and iconic films.