Join us for a night of interactive learning, thought provoking topics and hands-on activities! We are planning for this night of learning to take place in-person* at Beth Or. However, we will be flexible to convert to on-line learning if needed. 

*All Beth Or COVID-19 protocols for in-person events will be followed.

RSVP by March 3.  All who RSVP will receive an email with the most up-to-date information regarding protocols and/or how to access the class(es) they sign up for prior to March 8. Please check your email.

Contact Barbara Murtha with any questions. 

(NOTE: There is also another Beit Sefer Cafe - completely on-line, with a different set of topics and instructors - on Tuesday, March 22. Find details & RSVP form here.)

View/Download Beit Sefer Cafe Brochure

Tonight's classes and instructors (scroll down for class descriptions)

1st Session: 6:30pm

• Say What? False (Yet Popular) Accusations Against Israel and How to Respond - with Rabbi Jason Bonder
• Israel's Changing Collective Identity - with Dr. Fred Lazin
• Cooking with Gass: Memories Part 1 - with Alyson Gass
• This, too, is Torah: Jewish Views of Sex - with Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi
• Book Review: Eternal - with Clarissa Bencan and Connie Berman

Break: 7:30pm - 8pm

• Relax and schmooze with your Beth Or friends and the Beit Sefer Cafe instructors.

2nd Session: 8pm

• Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: A Giant of our Time - with Rabbi Jason Bonder
• Jews in American Politics: Past, Present & Future - with Dr. Fred Lazin
• Cooking with Gass: Memories Part II - with Alyson Gass
• Behind Closed Doors: A Conversation About Kosher Sex - with Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi

Class Descriptions

Say What? False (Yet Popular) Accusations Against Israel and How to Respond

• Instructor: Rabbi Jason Bonder
• The internet, social media, and college campuses are relatively new and murky battlegrounds in which we must defend the Jewish State. We’ll examine some of the false claims made against Israel. We will identify why they are bogus, and how we can inform those who are truly seeking to learn about Israel. This class will be based primarily on Noa Tishby’s book, “Israel: A Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth.”

Israel’s Changing Collective Identity

• Instructor: Dr. Fred Lazin
• The Israel of today is far different from the country of Ben Gurion. Tech start-ups and right-wing nationalists have replaced the kibbutz and Labor Zionists. The ultra-Orthodox control religious institutions and religious conflict between Jews intensifies. Israel now stretches from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea with Jews becoming a minority. Knowing the real Israel and understanding the complex challenges it faces are essential for those who cherish her. 

Cooking with Gass: Memories Part I & II

• Instructor: Alyson Gass       
• What do these foods remind you of? Some foods can trigger a favorite holiday growing up, a family member who has passed or even a special time in your life. Come cook with Alyson and share some memories! (This class takes place over both sessions.)

This, Too is Torah: Jewish Views of Sex

• Instructor: Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi
• The Babylonian Talmud recounts a story about the third-century sage Rav Kahana sneaking under his master’s bed in order to observe him having sex with his wife. He was discovered, rebuked and ordered to leave at once.  Rav Kahana defended his actions, saying that it – sex – “is Torah, and I must learn” (Berachot 62a).  Follow Rav Kahana’s example and through text study, discover morsels from our tradition about sexual activity between consenting adults—without having to hide under anyone’s bed!

Book Review: Eternal

• Discussion Leaders: Clarissa Bencan and Connie Berman
• Author Lisa Scottoline’s historical fiction book, Eternal, tells the story of three close friends who navigate love, loyalty, hope and survival as World War II descends on Italy. Along the way, readers visit Rome’s historical sites. Read this interesting book and then come prepared for an in-depth discussion.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: A Giant of our Time

• Instructor: Rabbi Jason Bonder
• Join Rabbi Bonder for a discussion of the life of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, including some controversial points such as his negative attitude towards the Reform Movement. We will focus on his final major work, “Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times.” Rabbi Sacks contributed so much through his voice to our world. Will we listen? And should we?

 Jews in American Politics: Past, Present & Future

• Instructor: Dr. Fred Lazin
• The United States of America, the Goldene Medina for generations of American Jews has changed in recent years. The talk deals with Jews as outsiders in the 1930s dealing with the threat of Hitler and German Jewish refugees and Jews as insiders and mainstream in the 1970s and 80s working to save Soviet Jewry. It discusses increased conflicts around race, immigration, and American identity and the rise in anti-Semitism in the Presidential campaign of 2016. Today, white supremacists are becoming mainstream. Will the American Jewish experience remain positive and unique? Will our children and grandchildren continue to thrive? Will the community and individual Jews continue to thrive?   

Behind Closed Coors: A Conversation About Kosher Sex

• Instructor: Rabbi Hanna Yerushalmi
• Following a presentation about modern challenges facing intimacy in today’s world, including Jewish views on pleasure, masturbation and pornography, Rabbi Yerushalmi will answer basic questions people ask about sex and Judaism.  Please note: questions must be submitted in advance to protect anonymity and follow the Jewish values of t’sniut, modesty.