Programs for All Ages
ReconTeens
ReconTeens is an active teen group for high schoolers that meets regularly to enjoy various activities together. We do Jewish-themed learning activities, Shabbat dinners, and social events just for fun! Continue your Jewish learning as you make a solid social bond with a terrific group of Jewish friends! Our activities take us all over Baltimore, as well as Jewish destinations in DC, Philadelphia, and NYC. Email info@beittikvah.org for more information.
Adult Education
Beit Tikvah offers a diversity of programs for adults of all ages to engage with each other in Jewish learning. Each year's set of programs is generated and supported by the member volunteers in our Adult Education Committee, and reflects the varied interests and needs of our community. Here is a sampling of past and ongoing programs: Reconstructionist Roundtable, Friday Night Discussion Series, Jewish Alive and American, Siddur Speak, Beginning Hebrew Classes, Saturday Morning Torah Study and Exploration, and Spiritual Sunday.
The Reconstructionist Roundtable
Congregation Beit Tikvah is proud to offer a new Adult Education workshop series with an interactive discussion format: The Reconstructionist Roundtable.
This monthly workshop series features the best Reconstructionist rabbis
and educators in the Mid-Atlantic region, offering their insights and
knowledge on Living a Jewish Life. The series will be held on Sunday
mornings at Kesher School (click here for directions).
Check Out this Flier to Read about Some of Our Previous Roundtables
Next Workshop -- Sunday, January 22, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
The Changing Face of Jewish Community
Rabbi Isaac Saposnik, Director of Camp JRF!
At the Waldorf School
Join us as Rabbi Isaac Saposnik, Director of Camp JRF leads a program on The Changing Face of Jewish Community. As the Director of Camp, Rabbi Saposnik leads the only full time Reconstructionist Community. In this program he will share a civilizational approach to Jewish communities past and present.
Rabbi Saposnik will also join Kesher School for the morning assembly. Please join us for this exciting learning opportunity at the Waldorf School!
Check Out this Flier to Read about Some of Our Previous Roundtables
Next Workshop -- Sunday, January 22, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
The Changing Face of Jewish Community
Rabbi Isaac Saposnik, Director of Camp JRF!
At the Waldorf School
Join us as Rabbi Isaac Saposnik, Director of Camp JRF leads a program on The Changing Face of Jewish Community. As the Director of Camp, Rabbi Saposnik leads the only full time Reconstructionist Community. In this program he will share a civilizational approach to Jewish communities past and present.
Rabbi Saposnik will also join Kesher School for the morning assembly. Please join us for this exciting learning opportunity at the Waldorf School!
Learning for the Whole Family
The Living History Series is a brand new interactive family education series, open to the entire Beit Tikvah community, that highlights Jewish history and holidays. The series explores the three eras of Jewish history, Biblical, Rabbinic, and Modern, through interactive simulations of historical events. Family members of all ages are encouraged to join in the day by becoming an actor, a baker, a storyteller, a priest, a member of “stage crew,” or just joining in the festivities as a participant. If you want to do more in-depth learning, we encourage you to get involved in the advance planning/preparation for the event, which will be throughout the prior month.
The 2011-2012 theme for the series is “Creating & Belonging in the Jewish Community.” This year we are re-enacting the events surrounding the creation of the Jewish community so that we have the opportunity to be present at the key moments that our community defines our identity. We spend the year exploring how we fit within the Jewish community, and how we define “the mitzvah of being present.”
Day One: (Sunday, October 16) Accompany Abraham and Sarah as they create the brit (covenant) with God, be present at Mt. Sinai when Moses gives the Torah to the Jews, build the tabernacle, eat manna, and learn of the true meaning of the Biblical holiday Sukkot.
Day Two: (Saturday, February 4) Go back in time to learn of the events that are celebrated on Shabbat Shira. Stand with Nashon at the edge of the Red Sea, hear the Egyptian chariots approaching, cross the Red Sea with Moses, and dance with Miriam in joy on the opposite shore as God brings the Jews forth from slavery in Egypt.
Day Three: (Sunday, April 15) Travel to Passover as it was celebrated in the Biblical Era! Here we will experience how the layers of Jewish history became part of the Biblical celebration of Passover. Help us build the First Temple with Solomon, bake matzah with the wheat farmers and be with the shepherds as they bring their sheep to Jerusalem for the Pascal Sacrifice. This concluding program will provide an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be part of the Jewish people in biblical times and what it means to be part of our people today.
Day Four: (Saturday, May 26) Celebrate Shavuot, the third harvest festival, and the third pillar of Jewish life in biblical times in a wonderful family celebration! Saturday evening we will celebrate Shavuot with a family-friendly bonfire and picnic on the lawn.
The 2011-2012 theme for the series is “Creating & Belonging in the Jewish Community.” This year we are re-enacting the events surrounding the creation of the Jewish community so that we have the opportunity to be present at the key moments that our community defines our identity. We spend the year exploring how we fit within the Jewish community, and how we define “the mitzvah of being present.”
Day One: (Sunday, October 16) Accompany Abraham and Sarah as they create the brit (covenant) with God, be present at Mt. Sinai when Moses gives the Torah to the Jews, build the tabernacle, eat manna, and learn of the true meaning of the Biblical holiday Sukkot.
Day Two: (Saturday, February 4) Go back in time to learn of the events that are celebrated on Shabbat Shira. Stand with Nashon at the edge of the Red Sea, hear the Egyptian chariots approaching, cross the Red Sea with Moses, and dance with Miriam in joy on the opposite shore as God brings the Jews forth from slavery in Egypt.
Day Three: (Sunday, April 15) Travel to Passover as it was celebrated in the Biblical Era! Here we will experience how the layers of Jewish history became part of the Biblical celebration of Passover. Help us build the First Temple with Solomon, bake matzah with the wheat farmers and be with the shepherds as they bring their sheep to Jerusalem for the Pascal Sacrifice. This concluding program will provide an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be part of the Jewish people in biblical times and what it means to be part of our people today.
Day Four: (Saturday, May 26) Celebrate Shavuot, the third harvest festival, and the third pillar of Jewish life in biblical times in a wonderful family celebration! Saturday evening we will celebrate Shavuot with a family-friendly bonfire and picnic on the lawn.
Transformative Jewish Texts
Beit Tikvah won a grant (one of six congregations nationwide offered this grant!) from the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. The grant, Transformative Jewish Texts, will cover the cost of sending a rabbinical scholar from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College to offer 10-12 hours of community education focused on the study of one Jewish text. The rabbinical scholar will work with congregational educators and our interim rabbi over the Spring and Fall of 2012 to prepare a series of community education classes that will be offered (free, of course!) to BT members in the Spring of 2013. A team from BT went to Philadelphia during February to begin the development of the program. During this weekend, the program scholars and education teams from the six congregations chose the text that will be studied: The Burning Bush, Exodus Chapter 3.
Camp JRF
Camp JRF fills the summer with fun, friendships, and Jewish living. The summer camp is a joyful, creative, and inclusive Reconstructionist community. Campers swim, play soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, and other sports. They sing and explore other arts. They learn from visiting artists, scholars, and rabbis, as well from talented specialists and dedicated college-age counselors. Our campers make lasting friendships, experience a safe and fun summer, explore Jewish tradition, forge their own Jewish identity, and participate in creating a Jewish culture in which our values are lived each day. Located on the Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Campus in the Pocono Mountains, the camp is within easy driving distance of Baltimore.
Go to www.campjrf.org for more information and to register for next summer! As members of a Jewish Reconstructionist Federation congregation, Congregation Beit Tikvah members are offered a $200 discount.
Go to www.campjrf.org for more information and to register for next summer! As members of a Jewish Reconstructionist Federation congregation, Congregation Beit Tikvah members are offered a $200 discount.
