For a description of how to login to Zoom, click here. For our calendar of events, click here.
– – – – –
Books and Bagels and The Rabbi’s Book Club Online
Sundays, 10am
Next Rabbi’s Book Club: June, 2021
Next Books and Bagels: May 23, 2021
We alternate months! For Books and Bagels, we discuss books of Jewish interest; bring a book to present or come to discuss the books that others bring. For The Rabbi’s Book Club, we discuss a single book chosen by Rabbi Drorah Setel in advance.
To login via Zoom, click here. To connect via phone, call 1-929-205-6099 and use meeting ID 853 0537 9410.
Board of Trustees Meeting Online
3rd Tuesday of each month, 7pm – next meeting: May 18, 2021
Our Board meetings are open only to Temple Emanu-El members; any Temple Emanu-El member may attend. To join the meeting via Zoom, click here: Board. To login by phone, call 1-929-205-6099 and use meeting ID 861 9396 1776.
Brunch Speaker Series Online
Sundays, 11am
May 9, 2021: Shane Wiegand will give a presentation on Redlining and Resistance in Rochester. Shane writes, “This talk examines how federal and local policies like redlining, racially restrictive covenants, and urban renewal segregated Rochester, built wealth for its white citizens, and disenfranchised people of color. It explores how local civil rights leaders like Howard Coles, Alice Young, and many others fought back. Finally, it connects these past policies to the disparity and inequality we see in Rochester today, and invites us to learn from and apply the activism of Rochester’s past to its present.”
Shane Wiegand is a fourth-grade teacher in the Rush-Henrietta School District and the Co-lead of the Antiracist Curriculum Project. He has researched, compiled, and taught Rochester’s history of structural racism and resistance in his classroom for the past eight years. Starting with several fourth-grade teachers in his school district, Shane has now trained over 1200 hundred teachers in anti-racist curriculum across multiple school districts. Shane is also a board member of Connected Communities, The Police Accountability Board Alliance, and City Roots Community Land Trust. He is an adjunct faculty instructor in the URMC Department of Neurology. He and his wife live in the Beechwood neighborhood of Rochester.
To join the presentation via Zoom, click here: Speaker. To login by phone, call 1-929-205-609 and use meeting ID Meeting ID 865 4900 8845.
Chevre Torah Study Online
Saturdays, 9:30-11:30am
Chevre Torah provides an in-depth discussion of the weekly Torah portion and highlights from the other books of the Bible, combining traditional commentaries with contemporary perspectives and the wisdom of our own experience. For the Hebrew blessing for Torah study, click here: Blessing. To join the discussion via Zoom, click here: Torah Study. To login by phone, call 1-929-205-6099 and use meeting ID 286 821 117.
May 15, 2021:
From 9:30 to 10:25am – 1 Samuel 22-23. Saul’s rage continues out of control, as he orders a massacre of priests and suspects everyone of conspiring against him. In history, how often does family violence spill over into society, claiming innocent victims?
From 10:35 to 11:30am – Numbers 2:1 – 3:39. We begin our study of Numbers, “the fourth act in the Torah’s account of the human condition suspended between order and freedom” (J.Sacks). Our portion focuses on organizing the people geometrically, as well as giving details about the Levites (“22,000” males, females not mentioned). Can any of this be meaningful to our situation today?
Exploring Jewishness Online Course
2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month, 7-8:30pm
This course is intended both for those engaging with Jewish traditions for the first time and those who wish to understand them in a deeper way. It begins with the understanding that being Jewish takes a wide variety of forms which do not readily fit into single categories such as “religion” or “culture.” Classes will be an opportunity for us to explore multiple perspectives on core aspects of Jewish experience.
We will be meeting as a full class group the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Each participant will be assigned a study partner (or partners) with whom they will meet during the alternate week to prepare and discuss course materials.
The text for the course is Judaisms: A Twenty-First-Century Introduction to Jews and Jewish Identities by Aaron J. Hahn Tapper. It can be purchased at www.bookshop.org, an online store which benefits local independent booksellers. If you cannot afford to purchase the book, please contact Rabbi Setel (rabbisetel@gmail.com) who will obtain one for you.
The course is free to Temple Emanu-El members. A voluntary donation is requested of non-members. To join the class via Zoom, click here.
Nov 10: “Introduction,” p 1-11
Nov 24: “Narratives,” p 12-27
Dec 8: “Sinais,” p 28-44
Dec 22: “Zions,” p 45-59
Jan 12: “Messiahs,” p 60-71
Jan 26: “Laws,” p 72-94
Feb 9: “Mysticisms,” p 95-112
Feb 23: “Cultures,” p 113-139
Mar 9: “Movements,” p 140-167
Mar 23: Passover Break
Apr 13: “Genocides,” p 168-184
Apr 27: “Powers,” p 185-216
May 11: “Borders,” p 217-230
Hospitality Team Meeting Online
1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30pm – next meeting: June 1, 2021
All are welcome. To join via Zoom, click here: Hospitality. To login by phone, call 1 929 205 609 and use meeting ID 869 2515 9460.
Lunchtime Meditation Online
Every Monday, 12:15 – 12:45pm
Rabbi Drorah Setel leads our weekly meditation sessions. New folks are always welcome to join. To login via Zoom, click here: Meditation. To login by phone, call 1-929-205-6099 and use meeting ID 858 6591 7770.
Men’s Club
2nd Tuesday of each month, 9am – next meeting: June 8, 2021
Check back here closer to the date to see if we’ll be in-person or online in June. Open to all Temple Emanu-El men. Join us for pleasant conversation, coffee, etc. RSVP to Michael Perlson at 585-388-5211.
Spiritual Practices Team Meeting Online
Tikkun Olam Team Meeting Online
Monthly on Sundays, 11:30am – next meeting: May 23, 2021
As Reform Jews, we participate actively in Tikkun Olam, “repair of the world.” Our social justice work is done in a variety of ways: education on the issues, advocacy for specific policies and legislation, and implementing our vision through direct action and service.
So far this year, we are running our annual food and clothing drive in spite of the pandemic, and we make regular calls to connect with Temple Emanu-El members. We also created and disseminated a Voter’s Guide, and ran a pledge drive to encourage our Temple members to vote. In the coming months, we’ll be presenting programs on Rochester’s Police Accountability Board and on Reparations.
Please join us and hear what we’re doing next – we’d love to have your input and help. To join the meeting via Zoom, click here. To login by phone, call 1-929-205-6099 and use meeting ID 814 1494 5259.