Introduction to Judaism:
For Those Who Know and Those Who Want To Know More

Reform Congregations of the Merrimack Valley
Tuesdays, September 10, 2019–January 21, 2020

Course Instructors
Cantor Vera Broekhuysen, Temple Emanu-El, Haverhill
Rabbi Robert Goldstein, Temple Emanuel, Andover
Rabbi Shoshana Perry, Congregation Shalom, Chelmsford
Rabbi Robin Sparr, Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley, Lowell

Course Syllabus

Date	Session	Topics	Faculty/Location
9/10	1	Welcome and Introductions What is Judaism? Who are the Jewish People? Introducing the Alef-Bet	All Faculty ​Andover
9/17	2	What Do Jews Believe? God and Humankind, Beliefs and Values, ​Hebrew	Broekhuysen ​Haverhill
9/24	3	The Jewish Calendar The High Holidays and Shabbat	Sparr ​Lowell
	4	Rosh Hashanah* (9/30–10/1) Yom Kippur* (10/9)         Sukkot* (10/14–10/15) ​                               *Holidays begin at sunset the evening before	Explore a High Holiday service
10/15	5	The Three Festivals:   ​Sukkot and Simchat Torah, Passover, Shavuot	Sparr ​Lowell
10/22	6	The Hebrew Bible	Goldstein ​Andover
10/29	7	Raising Children: Birth, B’nai Mitzvah, Religious Education	Goldstein ​Andover
11/5	8	Justice and Judaism	Perry ​Chelmsford
11/12	9	Prayer, Music, and More	Broekhuysen ​Haverhill
11/19	10	Sacred Jewish Literature and the Jewish Historical Experience	Perry ​Chelmsford
12/3	11	Marriage/Partnership, ​Death and Mourning	Perry Chelmsford
12/10	12	The American Jewish Experience, Streams of Judaism, and Tapestry of Jewish People	Goldstein ​Andover
12/17	13	Visit to Mayyim Hayyim Community Mikveh in Newton, Mid-Semester Reflections, ​Light Dinner    Chanukah* (12/23–12/30)	Sparr
1/7/20	14	Responses to Modernity: Chasidism, Reform Judaism, Zionism and Israel	Perry ​Chelmsford
1/14/20	15	Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust	Broekhuysen ​Haverhill
1/21/20	16	“Ask A Rabbi or Cantor,” Seeing Yourself in the Jewish Story	All Faculty ​Andover

If needed because a class has been cancelled due to inclement weather, another class may be scheduled on January 28.