Sunday, January 31, will be one of our most exciting Community Learning Days ever. We are excited to offer sessions with three special guests, as well as a few others. Judith Black, the storyteller postponed from Jan. 3, will offer two sessions: one special session for younger children and another for older kids and adults. We have a special guest from Nishmat Hayyim guiding us through Jewish meditation. And Alex Woodle, a representative from the Jewish Genealogical Society, will be teaching us how to begin a search for our Jewish roots.

About TBA’s Community Day of Learning

The Community Learning Days are designed to bring all generations of our congregation and the greater North Shore Jewish Community together to enjoy educational programming. The program is free and open to the public. Generally, our Community Learning Days feature one or more special guests complimented by individuals from our community that have an expertise, skill, interest or talent they want to share with others.

This program is generously sponsored by the Alan Kaplan Memorial Enrichment Fund.

January 31 Featured Guests

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Judith Black, storyteller

On Sunday, January 31, we are excited to have storyteller Judith Black to facilitate two exciting programs.  The first of the two programs will be for adults and young people grade 5 and up.  The second will be for younger listeners.

Judith’s stories include explorations into the mythic and dissections of the minuscule, with traditional and original material available for all age groupings. Well-known for stories sculpted from her own observed life, subjects such as patient (or the attempt at it) parenting, disasters in dating land, and even helping elders through their last journey, are no strangers to her repertoire.  As a post-feminist, vegetarian pacifist, her son’s path through the ranks of football playing and into the U.S. Marines has been the source of much comedy and a template for human growth and development. One of these tales appears in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and many of them are on her recordings. These all can be found both in her adult repertoire and stories for children and families.

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Seth Castleman, Introduction to Jewish Meditation

Seth Castleman is co-founder and guiding teacher of Nishmat Hayyim: Breath of Life Jewish Meditation Collaborative of New England. Seth has taught meditation for 12 years locally and nationally. He has been formally trained as a meditation teacher, pastoral counselor and chaplain and is a published author and a critically acclaimed storyteller. He will be introducing concepts of Jewish Meditation and guiding participants through a meditative session as a prelude to minyan at 9:45 AM.

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Alex Woodle, Introduction to Jewish Genealogy

Alexander Woodle is a member of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston and former director of the New England Historic Genealogical Society’s (NEHGS) circulating library. He has published articles on Jewish genealogy and presented talks at local, regional and international genealogical conferences. He currently is a professional genealogist. Alex will introduce participants to Jewish genealogy using his own search as an example.

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Schedule of Learning Activities

(Schedule is subject to change)

Detailed descriptions of each of the sessions can be found below the schedule.  If you want to reserve a space in any of the sessions, or you have a question, please leave a comment.

	8:45-9:00	9:00-9:45	9:45-10:30	10:15-11:00	11:00-12:00
Social Hall	Breakfast and Welcome everyone
Chapel		Choir Age 7 to adult	Sunday Minyan		Jewish Genealogy Gr. 5 and above with Alex Woodle
Sanctuary		Jewish Meditation Gr. 6 and up with Seth Castleman	School Minyan all grades	Story Telling for Adults and Older Kids grade 5 to adult with Judith Black	Story Telling for Youngsters preschool to grade 4 with Judith Black
Library		Light and Creation grade 2 to adult with Lauren Goldman
1st Floor Classroom		Kids, keep your parents safe on the Web! grade 5 and up with Jeff Schutzman		Holiday Workshop (preschool) Craft and Music under age 6 with Lauren Goldman and Allison Wolper
Classroom 1					Preparing for Sheldon Low gr. 5-7 with Marcy Yellin
Kitchen		Hamentaschen Baking grades K-1 with Elizabeth Schlein		Hamentaschen Baking grades 2-4 with Elizabeth Schlein	Hamentaschen Baking grades 5 and up with Elizabeth Schlein

Session Descriptions

Storytelling with Judith Black

This storytelling program for grades 5 to adult will explore the delights, challenges, and hopes engendered by living in community. Come join us for a joyous celebration of Jewish family, community, and culture. This storytelling performance program for grades 5-8 and the adult community of B’nai Abraham will explore the delights, challenges, and hopes engendered by living in community.  From the tightly knit one aboard Noah’s ark, to the European shtetles of our forebears, to NYC’s lower East Side where our people poured into this land, we will sing, laugh, and listen to the heartbeat of our people.

For pre-K to grade 4, sing, chant, clap and listen to tales that bring alive our Jewish heritage, community, and lives. From the very first story ever told to a the life of a tailor searching out a treasure in Eastern Europe, these stories will infuse you with an energy and appreciation of this Jewish community we thrive in.

Introduction to Jewish Meditation with Seth Castleman

Seth will introduce concepts of Jewish Meditation and guide participants through a meditative session as a prelude to minyan at 9:45 AM.

Introduction to Jewish Genealogy with Alex Woodle

Alex will introduce participants to Jewish genealogy using his own search as an example.

Choir

Do you like to harmonize when we pray? Marcy Yellin continues working with us to develop a choir. No previous experience required. Newcomers welcome!

Hamentaschen in the Kitchen

Bake hamentaschen with Elizabeth Schlein for shalach manot — Purim is coming at the end of February!

Holiday Workshop (preschool) Craft and Music

Join Lauren Goldman and Allison Wolper as they teach the littlest ones about Tu B’Shvat.

Kids, Keep Your Parents Safe on the Web

Jeff Schutzman will show kids what they can do to help keep their parents safe on the World Wide Web.  Using TBA’s web site as a live example, kids can create their own safe page to show their parents how they use the internet safely.  If you have a wireless-capable computer, feel free to bring it to class. Parents and grandparents are also welcome to participate.

Light and Creation Activity

Lauren Goldman guides the group in thinking about light at this dark time of year.

Preparing for Sheldon Low

Marcy Yellin guides soloists and those interested in learning the music of Sheldon Low in preparation for his visit in March.