Hashivenu V’Nashuva: Return Us, and We Will Return

At the start of the pandemic last year, our Temple transformed almost seamlessly and almost overnight from a community that gathers physically to a community that meets only virtually. We regularly came together to pray, learn, meditate, mourn, and rejoice. We didn’t skip a beat and actually added to our adult education offerings.

We discovered the many wonders of offering classes in a virtual setting. With the benefit of Zoom technology, we brought in speakers from as far away as Tbilisi, Georgia, and Israel, and tapped into the well of knowledge from speakers in our own community. Regular attendees joined from England, South Africa, Europe, and all over the United States. We learned from each other and reveled in the learning that different perspectives offered. Our monthly Kiddush Conversations revealed new stories of our fellow congregants – recent and veteran - as we learned about family, career, hobbies, and history.

As we begin the year 5782, we are elated to be ‘returning’ to our synagogue building for in-person gatherings. Hashivenu V’Nashuva! With our return, we hope to take the best of what we learned last year, while creating opportunities for us to gather in person. We have scheduled programs with speakers from all over the world and hope to continue providing learning opportunities for those who live outside our general area. While a few programs may be offered only in-person, we plan to offer the vast majority of our programs via Zoom, or in-person with a Zoom component for those who prefer to or can only participate remotely.

We will be learning as we go and ask for your patience and your feedback along the way. Please make sure to read ‘ComingUp@Aliyah’ and ‘The Sunday Scoop’ for the latest information on dates, times, and venues. Also be sure to share your views and  suggestions about current and future programming with me and others involved with Adult Education at Temple Aliyah.

In a community as involved as ours, it is challenging to acknowledge everyone’s contribution to our programming efforts. As always, a special thanks to the committees whose programs appear in this booklet. And a special Todah Rabbah to  Rabbi Perkins, Cantor Gloth, Kayla Reisman (Director of Congregational Learning and Engagement), and Melissa Rudman (Executive Director) and her staff. The Adult Education Committee (Aviva Jezer, Ricki Nickel and Michele Wolfman) helped shape close to fifty disparate programs into this year’s Adult Learning and Spiritual  Practices Opportunities Booklet. We are a great team!

I hope that each of you spends some enjoyable time browsing this catalog and that  you come to at least one - and hopefully many - classes that interest you.

Best wishes for a healthy and sweet 5782!

B’Shalom,

Susan Kesner, Adult Education Committee Chair