History Through Text with Rabbi Kulwin

LIVINGSTON, NJ — TBA’s Congregational Learning offers classes in History Through Text with Rabbi Kulwin throughout the year at Temple B’nai Abraham, 300 E. Northfield Road, Livingston. Taught in blocks of several weeks, each class will also be a stand-alone unit so that an inability to attend all or even most of the sessions will not be an impediment to an enjoyable and stimulating learning experience. All sessions are free and open to the community.​

Rabbinic Judaism will be explored on Thursday, Feb. 8, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. While some ancient sects, notably the Karaites and the Samaritans, still exist, Rabbinic Judaism, formulated by the rabbis of the Talmud, prevailed. The basis of what is today called Orthodoxy, Rabbinic thought created rules of interpretation so rabbis could systematically apply Biblical teachings not only to worship but to daily life. Study of several Talmudic passages will illustrate core beliefs of Rabbinic Judaism.

Judaism Before Modernity will be discussed on Thursday, Feb. 15, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jewish prayer books from 9th-century Germany, 13th-century Spain and 17th-century Poland may have looked similar, but the minhag, the worship customs of each community, differed, sometimes greatly. The Hasidim and the Mitnagdim, for example, were all observant, but threatened each other with excommunication and worse.

To register, visit www.tbanj.org. For information, call 973-994-2290.

  Temple B’nai Abraham