Learning is not just for kids at Congregation Agudas Achim. We are a community of curious people, and every year we offer different programs to help nourish our continued Jewish learning. Adult education offerings are guided by congregants’ interests. In recent years, for example, we hosted a three-part series of “hard conversations” to give our community the means to productively talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amongst ourselves and with family and friends. Current interest groups include a book club which meets monthly to discuss books by Jewish authors.
We have hosted guest speakers on topics such as Jewish genealogy, parenting, and environmental awareness, and taken trips to the Boston Jewish Film Festival and to see Fiddler on the Roof. Members have taught other members to read Hebrew and to leyn Torah.
Members of the congregation are encouraged to add their voices to the discussion and to suggest or organize a class or speaker that they think will interest the community.
Each year our rabbi offers a multi-session educational program on a different topic of interest. Recent topics have included Exploring the Amidah; Exploring God; Makhloket L’shem Shamayim, or Controversy for the Sake of Heaven; and Practice in Place. Sessions typically occur on Sunday afternoons. The group explores different texts about the topic and then engages in a group discussion about how these topics might be relevant in our personal or communal lives.
