Adult Jewish Learning

Community-Wide Yom HaZikaron Ceremony
Sunday, May 12, 8:00-9:30 PM | SAR High School

Yom HaZikaron, Israel's memorial day, holds deep significance for Jewish communities worldwide. This year, the observance carries increased significance in the aftermath of the tragic events of October 7.

Join the Riverdale Jewish Community Partnership for a Yom HaZikaron Ceremony.

Registration closes Friday, May 10 at noon.

RSVP HERE

Pirkei Avot: Ethics of Our Ancestors 
Wednesday, May 15, 22, 29, 10:30 AM | Zoom
(Note:  May 29, in person, last class)
What wisdom is worth passing on to the next generation? The rabbis asked this question thousands of years ago, and the result is a text that continues to inspire us with its moral and ethical insight. This year, join Rabbi Katz and Rabbi Greenberg to study the last half of chapters four and five of the book together. We will look at classical and modern commentary by women and men. No experience is necessary. All texts are provided in English along with Hebrew. 

Sponsored by the CSAIR Sisterhood.

Scholar-in-Residence Weekend with Dr. Michal Raucher
Sponsored by the Helen and Leonard Tureff Memorial Fund

FRIDAY, MAY 17
Our Stories, Our Choices: Jewish Experiences of Abortion
For the last few years, people who have had abortions have bravely shared their experiences. In this session, we will read narratives our speaker collected from Jews who have terminated pregnancies in the United States. Their experiences reflect the experiences of many people in the US, but there are also important differences. As we read these texts together, we will consider what these experiences teach about Jewish perspectives on abortion.

This session is for adults and mature teens. There will be supervised play for kids ages 5-10 during the lecture.

Kabbalat Shabbat services, 6:00 PM
Dinner 7:15 PM.
Reservations are required for dinner. RSVP by noon on Wednesday, May 15.
Lecture 8:00 PM
Join us for the full evening or just the lecture.

SATURDAY, MAY 18
Religious Perspectives on Abortion, following Kiddush

Religious groups have been a part of the American legal discourse on abortion since the late 1970s. While initially the religious discussion was dominated by a few Christian groups that were opposed to abortion, today many more religious groups have taken positions on the issue. In this session, we will read some of the diverse position statements from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim organizations released in the last few years as the abortion landscape has changed significantly in America. We will explore how different religious groups consider the morality of abortion, what sources they use, and what values they reflect.

This session is for adults and mature teens. During the lecture, supervised play will be provided for children ages 5-10.

About Dr. Michal Raucher
Michal Raucher is an Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Michal is a scholar of women in contemporary Judaism, reproductive ethics, and religious authority. Michal’s first book, an ethnography of Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish women’s reproductive ethics, titled, “Conceiving Agency: Reproductive Authority among Haredi Women” was published by Indiana University Press in 2020. Michal is writing her second book, The New Rabbis, an ethnography of the ordination of women in Orthodox Judaism in Israel and America. Currently, Dr. Raucher is researching abortion and religion. She is interviewing Jews who have had abortions in America since 1973.  Dr. Raucher earned her PhD in Religious Studies from Northwestern University. She also has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, The Jewish Theological Seminary, and Columbia University.