Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Temple Israel is proud to bring another quality adult education program to the local Jewish community with ScholarStream. Two four-part Zoom series throughout November and December give communities the opportunity to learn from the world's leading Conservative movement scholars and engage deeply with Jewish texts and traditions. ScholarStream is an initiative of the Rabbinical Assembly, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Jewish Theological Seminary, and Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of American Jewish University.

"Hidden Histories and Untold Stories" will be presented on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST. This series follows leading JTS scholars as they uncover the hidden context around biblical figures and important eras in Jewish history.

On Nov. 10, Dr. David Fishman discusses how religious pre-Holocaust Eastern European Jews actually were, or weren't, with "The Tevye Syndrome: How Religious Were East European Jews?"

The following Tuesday, on Nov. 17, Dr. Alan Cooper focuses on stories about Moses and his family from the book of Exodus and why Jews stopped caring about Moses's descendants with "Whatever Happened to Moses's Family?"

On Dec. 1, Dr. Sarah Wolf will ask "Where Did the Beit Midrash Come From?" and explore how foreign the concept of the beit midrash (house of study and learning) would feel to the early rabbis.

On Dec. 8, Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky will discuss what the Bible really had against Jezebel, how her story reflects biblical anxieties towards women, and why Jezebel has intrigued and terrified readers for generations with "The Breakable Queen Jezebel: The Making and Breaking of the Bible's Greatest Villain."

On Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST, top Ziegler faculty will explore issues related to race, gender equality, intersectionality, and building a democracy of the future in the series, "Equity, Forgiveness, and Intersectionality."

To begin, on Nov. 11, Rabbi Cheryl Peretz will examine the centuries-old Jewish march toward gender equality and justice with stories from the Talmud and Midrash.

The following week, on Nov. 18, Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff will explore the concept of communal forgiveness and to what extent guilt and responsibility are transferred from one generation to another for acts in which one group harmed another.

On Dec. 2, Rabbi Dr. Gail Labovitz will discuss what Exodus has to teach us about identity, oppression, and intersectionality through the story of a much maligned group of people who left an oppressive society together with the Israelites.

Finally, on Dec. 9, Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Cohen will consider how we can create a mamlekhet kohanim vegoy kadosh, or a more perfect union, by building a multiracial democracy during this historic moment, repairing four centuries of racist exploitation of Black people, mitigating xenophobic immigration policy, and not continuing to overpolice and underprotect those who have suffered the most from white supremacy, and white racism.

Both series are free, thanks to the generosity of Temple Israel members Lori Pearson-Wise, Daniel Wise, Susan Lackman, and Richard Knapp, but additional sponsorships are needed to continue bringing these exceptional programs to the community. If you are interested in offering a $50 sponsorship, please contact Natan Brener at natanbrener@gmail.com or 407-435-8613.

To start your registration, email office@tiflorida.org or call 407-647-3055. You will then receive a coupon code to enter on the payment page to finish registering for free. You may attend as many of the sessions as you wish. The Zoom link for live participation will be included in your registration confirmation email, and a reminder email message will be sent each week that also includes the Zoom link. All sessions will be recorded and available to registered participants.