Adult Education

Beginning Hebrew
with Peggy Littmann
Sundays, 10:00 a.m.

Intermediate Hebrew
with David Hull
Sundays, 10:00 a.m.

Torah, Society, and Politics
with Michael Zemel
Sundays, 11:00 a.m.

Kiddush and Kabbalah (Jewish Mysticism)
with Arnold Schwarzbart
Following Kiddush on Shabbat

Saúl Levy Morteira
The Chief Rabbi of the Sephardim in 17th Century Amsterdam
with Dr. Greg Kaplan - UTK Professor of Spanish
Interim Head, Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures
Sundays, March 4th and 11th, 10:00 a.m.

This mini-course, which is projected to take place over two class periods, will focus on the 17th century Jewish Amsterdam as seen through the eyes of its chief rabbi, Saúl Levy Morteira (c. 1590-1660). Morteira served for some forty years as the spiritual leader of a Jewish community that flourished in one of Europe’s most prosperous commercial ports. Morteira was widely known for his fiery sermons and his work as a teacher (one of his students was Baruch Spinoza), and his fame extended beyond the Jewish community (he appears in at least one painting by Rembrandt). Morteira’s congregants were descendants of Spanish and Portuguese conversos (forced converts from Judaism to Catholicism), who had come to Amsterdam in order to return to Judaism and establish a community within a more tolerant Dutch culture. Morteira’s efforts to guide this community and his convictions about Judaism and Jewish practices are documented in his magnum opus, the Providencia de Dios con Israel (The Providence of God with Israel), a collection of his sermons housed today in the library of Amsterdam’s Portuguese Synagogue. Professor Kaplan, who will lead these classes, has recently begun the first translation to English of Providencia de Dios, and these sessions will be dedicated to discussing the content of several chapters from this work. Background readings will be provided on the conversos and the Jewish community of Amsterdam. Class participation in the interpretation of Morteira’s Providencia de Dios will be strongly encouraged.

Introduction to Judaism Classes
with Heska Amuna Rabbi Ferency, Temple Beth El Rabbi Schwartz and others
Thursdays, February 2nd through May 3, 7:00 p.m.

Contact the synagogue for locations and registration.

Additional classes will be forthcoming. Please check the website for more info, as well as your mailbox and email. Contact Adult Education Coordinator Rich Adlin for suggestions and questions (680-2774, or richadlin@gmail.com).