Kane Street Synagogue

About

A weekly opportunity to study Jewish texts, hear live Jewish music, and enjoy good food.

Story

A weekly opportunity to study Jewish texts, hear live Jewish music, and enjoy good food. Tuesdays beginning Oct. 16. 6:45 P.M. -- light repast; 7:15 P.M. -- your choice of four, engaging classes; 8:45-10 P.M. -- live Jewish music by the Joey Weisenberg Ensemble. Cost is $10 per evening, or you may purchase a Beit Midrash subscription for the year.

Joey Weisenberg Ensemble “Atzeret and Transformation of a Nigun”

After sharing dinner and enlightening study with friends, why rush away? Every Tuesday night, the Beit Midrash concludes with “Atzeret” (Hebrew for “staying back”). We join in the Sanctuary Choir Loft and listen to the inspiring spiritual improvisations of the Joey Weisenberg Ensemble. The acoustics are gorgeous and the music is transformative. Atzeret is the perfect antidote to the pressures and rush of our busy New York lives. 8:45-10:00 P.M. every Tuesday. Try it. You may stay for as much, or as little as you like.

For this series, the
band will feature:
Joey Weisenberg: Mandolin, Guitar, Vocals
Sam Weisenberg: Percussion
Myk Friedman: Lap Steel
Yoshie Fruchter: Bass, Harmony Vocals
Jake Shulman-Ment: Violin
Mattisyahu Brown: Harmony Vocals

Mission

The Open Beit Midrash is for learners of all levels. We value diversity. Come whether you have studied Jewish texts for 20 years or are a complete novice. Madrichim, learning guides, will roam the Beit Midrash to welcome students and help them find an appropriate level of study.

Products

Classes January to May:

Foundations of Jewish Life (Jason Gitlin)
Study the fundamentals of Jewish thought and practice as we explore the Shabbat, holidays, prayer, theology, mitzvot, Israel and life cycle events, and engage with texts that form the foundation of Jewish life in the home and synagogue.
January 8 – March 19

The Weekly Torah Portion and Its Many
Commentators (Rabbi Sam Weintraub)
Giving special attention to ethical wisdom embedded in the text, we will explore the Torah text with commentaries from Talmudic Midrash (0-700 C.E.), medieval Biblical exegesis (1000-1400 C.E.), Chasidism (1770-1920) and modern Jewish feminism.
January 8 - February 26

Take Three Psalms (Rabbi Simkha Weintraub)
This three-session class will look at three liturgically important psalms, and explore their meanings, their place in the prayer book, and spiritual possibilities in reciting/chanting them.
January 8, 15, 22

Capital Punishment: Threats Without Substance (Dan Greenwood)
Jewish law prescribes the death penalty but then makes it all but impossible to inflict the sentence. Explore possible answers for why the death penalty is more of a principle than a practice in the Jewish tradition.
January 8

Visual Images in Yehuda Amichai’s Poetry (Hai Knafo)
Among Israeli poets, Yehuda Amichai is readily translatable because of his clear, direct language and frequent use of visual imagery. This three-part series will analyze his poems and their imagery through works that engage the themes of love, Jerusalem and religion.
January 15, 22, 29

Leading Weekday Shacharit (Rena Schklowsky)
Learn how to lead the daily morning minyan.
January 29, February 5, 12

The Synagogue of Dura Europos (Fred Terna)
Built in antiquity, and discovered and excavated in the 1920's in Syria on the Euphrates River, three of this synagogue’s remaining walls are covered with murals depicting Biblical themes. Learn about these images and their themes, as we explore a period when visual representation in synagogues was embraced by some communities.
February 5

The Folio of This World: Shakespeare and the
Hebrew Bible (Noah Millman)
In this class, we will explore archetypes that appear in the Bible and discover how they manifest themselves in the works of Shakespeare.
February 12

Talking about God: "What Jews Believe," What You Believe. (Gella Solomon)
This class aims to engage students in a dynamic give-and-take regarding our own diverse theologies and where our thoughts, beliefs, and notions about God are located within the tradition. Material will include classical and modern Jewish texts. This class is geared toward helping adults find a language with which to talk about their ideas about The Divine.
February 19

Medicine and Halakha (Dr. Rebecca Shiffman)
Investigate how Jewish Law has sought to understand and guide individuals and communities regarding end-of-life issues, organ transplants and other medical concerns. All the while asking: if God is the supreme healer, what is the role of physicians?
February 26, March 5

Finding Your Place in the Shabbat Morning
Sanctuary Service (Rabbi Sam Weintraub and Joey Weisenberg)
Focusing on the Torah and Musaf services, this three-part series will help you find personal meaning in the Shabbat morning service at Kane Street. We will study the meaning of the prayers, as well as the structure and spiritual goals of these services. Special attention will be placed on service choreography and customs at Kane Street, as well as learning popular prayer melodies. The class will include time to reflect and develop our own relationship to Jewish prayer, faith, and community. No prior familiarity with the prayer service or Hebrew literacy is required. We only require a sincere desire to learn.
March 5, 12 and 19

Tumultuous Time Keeping (Bob Marx)
How the Jewish cosmic clock came into being tells a story that offers profound insight into how the Jewish people evolved. Through studying texts, and a little bit of astronomy, we will get a glimpse into how the Jewish calendar reflects the unique and imaginative life that Jews have created over these last several millennia.
March 5

The Passover Bunny: Rabbit Hunt Illustrations in the Haggadah (David Grupper)
Starting in the Middle Ages, images of rabbit hunting have appeared in illuminated and printed Haggadot. We will explore reasons for this motif, touching on rabbinic explanations, pagan origins of spring-time holidays, Jewish/Christian relations, mythology, and symbolism
related to rabbits.
March 12

Basic Torah Rituals (Rena Schklowsky)
From reciting the blessings before reading the Torah to performing Hagbah, the raising of the Torah, get a grasp on the rituals surrounding our holy Scrolls.
March 12

Jewish Stories Parents Can Retell to Their Children (Rabbi Valerie Lieber)
Hear a couple of wonderful Jewish stories and reflect on their values and how stories work to move us. Then we will explore some sources for good stories and consider how these tales have evolved over time to reflect the agenda of the tellers. Parents will learn how to address their children's hopes and fears through stories.
March 19

Medical Ethics of Maimonides (Eric Gold)
Are doctors obligated first and foremost to their patients? The public? Their employers? To science, God or law? We will debate classic and timeless case studies by Maimonides (Rambam), who in addition to compiling the great codes of Jewish law was also one of the foremost physicians of his day.
March 19


The Art of the Jewish Paper-cut (Deborah Ugoretz)
Discover the history, applications and meanings of this folk-art tradition. For hundreds of years, Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews have been engaged in this art form, creating beautiful pieces out of simple materials as a way to sanctify God. We will explore some historical examples and the artist will demonstrate her craft.
April 9

Talmud for the Timid (Bob Marx)
You may think of the Talmud as an archaic document with little relevance to the aching questions that bedevil modern society -- but look again. Through examining a few selections of Talmud, we will better appreciate how this often refreshing and revolutionary text laid the foundations for much of Jewish life and rippled through all of Western civilization.
April 9

Shabbat at Home (Joey Weisenberg)
Learn and practice the basic rituals of the Shabbat table, as well as some beautiful Shabbat melodies.
April 9

The Meaning of Israel in Our Contemporary Jewish Lives (Rabbi Reuven Greenwald)
Using texts from Israeli popular culture, we will enter into Israel today and think about what it means to us as individuals and how we can learn to talk about Israel’s complexity as a community.
April 16, 23, 30, May 7

The Herodian Temple (Fred Terna)
The Herodian Temple, destroyed by the Romans, except for a small section of its western wall, remained but a memory until recent times. Explore the ample evidence we now have of its former glory.
April 16

A Shmek Literatur: Yiddish Poetry Across Centuries and Continents (Ross Perlin)
Ashkenazi poets the world over have worked in Yiddish as modernists and postmodernists, writers of religious verse, folklorists, and “sweatshop poets”. After a whirlwind introduction to this tradition, we will discuss three short poems (in original and translation -- no Yiddish knowledge required, but certainly welcome!) from very different times, places, and
genres.
April 23

Amud HaTefillah/The Pillar of Prayer (Ben Resnick)
Drawing on the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, the Gerer Rebbe and others, we will explore classical Hasidic approaches to prayer, mindful of their contemporary resonances and their potential application to the contemplative life.
April 30

The Oven of Akhnai (Dan Greenwood)
Explore this Talmudic story in which the rabbis outvoted the voice from Heaven, overruling God in a legal dispute, and consider its impact on the origins of Jewish atheism.
May 7