Days of Learning Fall 2021

Want some fun? Mental stimulation? Interaction? Information? Profound connections? This fall’s online Days of Learning has it all: sports talk, musicians and music, a virtual visit to Israel, adult children of Holocaust survivors, the redefined post-pandemic workplace, talented teens, as well as adult congregants you know and ones you haven’t met yet. It’s all here through a Jewish lens--except for YOU. Join in from November 15 to 19 for as many or as few of our nine classes as fit your schedule—led by our clergy and congregants sharing their personal stories and expertise. Feel free to invite friends. Register on the RS website and pay what you wish. 

Questions? Contact Gail 'Malka' Meister or Ellen Poster.          

Days of Learning Planning Group: Ben-Zion Friedman, Howard Green, Avi Katz, Marc Lowenstein, Jeffrey Saunders,
                                                               Jerry Silverman; and Co-Chairs: Gail 'Malka' Meister and Ellen Poster

Click here to see our class schedule at a glance.  

Click here to learn more about our moderators and presenters. 

Classes

Monday, November 15

Greeting on Broad
7:00 to 8:00 PM
David Fischer and Heshie Zinman

Every RS member has the opportunity to provide the engaging first welcome that we all want to experience here and to extend to each person who comes to RS. This class will offer some practical techniques to help you fulfill this important piece of our mission.

Tuesday, November 16

Jews on Broadway from Then to Now
10:00-11:30 AM
In this installment of our continuing Days of Learning series on Jews and music, we will hear and learn about Jewish Broadway stars like Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Ethel Merman, Harvey Fierstein, Barbara Streisand, Zero Mostel, Bette Midler, Idina Menzel, Mandy Patinkin, Ben Platt, and more. A little bio, a little film, and a LOT of music! Broadway is BACK...and so are Jon Broder and Louis Bernstein!

Surprising Young RS Lives
6:00 to 7:00 PM
Jennifer James, moderator

You may never get a chance to meet some of the amazing and accomplished people at RS who happen to be in middle and high school. That is, unless you sit down virtually with just a few of them and Jennifer James, director of youth education, who will help us get acquainted.

RS Players On and Off the Field
7:30 to 8:45 PM
Ethel Goldberg, Michael Hess, Kenny Holdsman, and Brian Seltzer; Rabbi Jill Maderer, moderator

Maybe it’s only a game but some congregants take sports seriously. Meet professionals and dedicated amateurs: a competitive golfer, an organizer of a youth basketball league, a sportscaster for Penn and digital media developer for the 76ers, and a blogger about all Philly sports. Tune in to RS’s own sports talk Zoom to learn how they found their way into these careers and avocations, what they actually do, and how Jewish values play a part.

Wednesday, November 17

Redefining the Post-Pandemic Workplace
4:30 to 5:45 PM
Lloyd Brotman, Andrea Degutis, Rabbi William Kuhn, and Tiffani McDonough Solomon; Aaron Weiss, moderator

The pandemic has changed the way we work, including expectations, relationships, boundaries, and opportunities. Presenters with expertise in organization development, HR, legal affairs, psychology and leadership, and Jewish values will help us explore shifts in what ‘workplace’ has come to mean and how we can approach these new ways of working Jewishly. Bring your ideas and experience to the conversation.

Thursday, November 18

Musicians Among Us
12:00 to 1:15 PM
Jonathan Fink, Matthew Fleisher, and Marjorie Goldberg; Cantor Brad Hyman, moderator

There are musicians among us, including our cantor and two members of Ani Kinor whom you may recognize by sight (or sound) from their leading in worship. They’re joined by a recent RS ‘alumnus’ who performs nationally as an operatic basso profundo. Cantor Hyman will frame the Jewish values involved in making and appreciating music. All will discuss their lives in music and make some music for us.

Trauma and Resilience: Adult Children of Holocaust Survivors Speak Out
7:00 to 8:30 PM
Caren Schiffman, Jeffrey Strauss, and Karen Wisnia; Ira Brenner, moderator

Few Holocaust survivors are left. Yet something of their struggles and triumphs lives on in their children and children’s children. What legacies do RS children of survivors inherit? How do they understand their unique personal histories and how should we?

Friday, November 19

Everyday Israel: A Day in Or Yehuda
10:00 to 11:00 AM
Galit and Jason Poster

Visit Or Yehuda, a small Sephardic suburb near Tel Aviv--without leaving home! Yes, Israel is our home, too, but it is another country. See what’s the same and what’s different with Galit and Jason Poster, residents of Or Yehuda and daughter-in-law and son of RS’s Stanley and Ellen Poster, as our guides.