By Daniel Levisohn, Assistant Editor, JTNews
For Jewish learners, a Torahthon is a bit like Lollapalooza.
Rather than packing dozens of tattooed musicians and thousands of headbangers into a chained-off field for a weekend of rock ‘n’ roll performance, you take a few dozen rabbis, cantors and lay Jewish educators and put them in a synagogue with a throng of Torah lovers. The result, if all goes as planned, is that participants get to see some of their favorite performers/educators, while also hearing new and compelling voices they might otherwise overlook.
Seattle’s first Torahthon, a joint venture of Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation and the Jewish Education Council, will take place over four days beginning on the evening of Wed., Oct. 24 and continuing on Oct. 31, Nov. 7, and Nov. 14. Over 45 Jewish educators representing the diversity of Jewish practice will teach classes on a range of topics related to the event’s theme, “Judaism, Ethics and Human Relationships.”
“The basic idea is to bring all these different voices together from across the community to have them all in one spot,” said Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, of Herzl-Ner Tamid. “It is really a great learning opportunity for the community. Having all these different choices is also very attractive. We live in the age of choice.”
The Seattle Torahthon is the brainchild of Rosenbaum, who explains that he took the idea from a New York rabbi named Moshe Edelman. Thirty years ago, Edelman staged the first Torahthon, packing a plethora of Torah-related courses into a single evening, and thereby attracting hundreds of Jewish learners. Rosenbuam had successfully duplicated the idea when he lived in Massachusetts.
“We decided to do it a little differently,” said Rosenbaum, explaining that the classes at Herzl-Ner Tamid would be spread out over several evenings instead of packed into just one marathon night.
The classes, according to Rosenbaum, will address a range of topics, from medical ethics to the Ten Commandments and peace. Class titles range from the wondrous “A Religion about Nothing: Exploring the Secrets of the Kabbalah,” which Rosenbaum will teach himself, to the sociological “Jews and Money: Socioeconomic Diversity in Judaism” and the provocative “Who is a Jew: Jewish Identity and Conversion.”
Each evening will have two sessions with approximately 10 classes in each to choose from. Classes will last one hour.
Planning for the event began last spring, according to Melanie Berman, Herzl-Ner Tamid’s education director. The congregation brainstormed educators they wanted to invite and then contacted them to pitch the idea.
“We were really, really pleased,” said Berman about the community’s reaction. “We feel that every flavor of Judaism is represented.”
Herzl-Ner Tamid is splitting the logistical work and the cost with the Jewish Education Council, a non-denominational Jewish educational organization run through the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Many of the JEC’s educators will teach at the event and the classes will be certified to count toward required professional-development hours for teachers.
On Oct. 31, the students from the Community High School of Jewish Studies, an after-school supplementary program for Jewish high school students run by the JEC, will also visit Herzl-Ner Tamid to participate in Torahthon in lieu of their regular curriculum.
“It’s a way for the teens to get involved and study with the adults in the community,” said Tammy Kaiser, the JEC’s Adult Jewish Learning director.
The cost of the Torahthon is $15 per evening or $45 for the entire weekend. Interested participants will be able to register for classes on Herzl-Ner Tamid’s Web site. Berman says that by registering ahead of time, participants are guaranteed a spot in the class, some of which are expected to fill up.
Both Herzl-Ner Tamid and the JEC say they hope that the Torahthon will generate excitement for Jewish learning.
“That’s definitely a hope that at this event people will learn what the JEC does. The JEC offers so much more than just classes,” said Kaiser. “We can certify, we can accredit, we can get you a cultural competency diploma.”
Rabbi Rosenbaum said he hopes the many different choices in courses will offer something interesting for everyone, inspiring more people to explore Judaism.
“It’s great to see that there are so many different approaches to Jewish texts and Jewish learning,” he said. “I’ve always believed we should try to open as many doors as possible to Jewish learning.”