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My great-uncle Benno had one rule while I was growing up: The moment the children learn to talk, they learn to sing. Azoy Mus Sein (“So it Must Be”). Benno learned this Yiddish song while he was imprisoned in the Riga Ghetto. He brought it with him from the Ghetto to the Camp, to the Soviet Union, to Siberia, to Berlin, and finally to the United States. Hundreds of survivors like my great-uncle have attested that even in circumstances where every breath wasted precious energy, singing was essential. In this class we will listen to and read music composed by Jews during the Holocaust in different languages and genres. We will explore the possible functions of these songs as tools of dignity and resistance in the midst of horror.

In this talk, Dr. Fruman will propose a reading of three distinct responses to the thought of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and to the theological foundations of Religious Zionism, as they emerge in the work of three contemporary thinkers: Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, Rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg (Shagar), and Rabbi Menachem Froman. All three draw, in different ways, on Hasidic and kabbalistic sources. Yet they use these traditions to rethink the relationship between mysticism and politics—sometimes in continuity with Kook, and at other times in tension with, or even in opposition to, his thought. Dr. Fruman will suggest approaching these responses through a threefold typology: anti-Kook, post-Kook, and hyper-Kook.

Although traditionally, through the centuries, Jewish prayer books were written, gathered, and redacted by men, for men to use in communal prayer, women have participated in the making of specific religious books in several ways starting probably in the sixteenth century and continuing into the present moment. Our class will look at key instances of such participation of women in the making of Jewish prayer books. These key examples share, besides the unexpected breaching of gender boundaries within the tradition, an impulse to express worship through identity in the form of translation, adaptation, and composition in the vernacular (Yiddish or English), rather than, or in conjunction with Hebrew/ Aramaic, the sacred language of Jewish prayer.

Opening the day with mindfulness can change everything, helping us live our lives with more clarity, kindness, and ease. Join us Friday mornings as we open our doors early and practice together. Each session starts off with a teaching rooted in the Jewish calendar and ends with a chant. The rest is simply guided, silent meditation. No prior meditation experience necessary; everyone is welcome. Please plan on arriving between 8:20 AM and 8:30 AM so that we can start promptly at 8:30 AM. Stay afterwards to co-work in our space, replete with coffee and snacks (day passes are available for non-members). This session is free for members. $5 for non-members.