By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
It has been 400 years since the last translation of the Talmud. But one rabbi, Adin Steinsaltz, took it upon himself to create one for modern times. It took him five decades, but he just completed his work, and in celebration of this achievement, he wants to have a party.
Lest anyone think he’ll be serving cake and cocktails and perhaps bring in a DJ, this celebration is much bigger — worldwide, in fact. On Nov. 7, Jewish communities around the globe will take part in the Global Day of Jewish Learning.
The idea of this day of learning is, in addition to the education, a reminder: Steinsaltz’s stated mission is, according to the Web site set up to provide information about the day of learning, “based on the conviction that the foundational texts of our heritage belong to us all.”
The Seattle area is taking part with two different events, one on Mercer Island at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, specifically for children and families, and the other in North Seattle at the Seattle Jewish Community School, a program
centered around adult education.
At the JCC event, programs will be divided by age: The smallest children will sing and hear stories; elementary-age children will do hands-on activities such as building a recycled tzedakah box; middle-school-aged kids will be able to take part in teamwork and leadership activities.
“We wanted to focus on families and experiential learning,” said Dana Weiner, the JCC’s director of family education and outreach, who coordinated the Eastside event.
Weiner and several local organizations, including the Jewish Day School and Jewish Family Service, created the programs based on three values suggested by the global organizers: collaboration, tzedakah and leadership.
“It’ll be hands-on and experiential,” Weiner said, while at the same time “reinforcing some of the values — just in a fun and meaningful way for the families and the community.”
At SJCS, the program will start with several learning sessions that touch on Steinsaltz’s work, including a comparison of God in Talmudic times as compared to today. Also, working on the theme of acts of loving kindness, Marjorie Schnyder and Don Armstrong of JFS will present sessions — Schnyder’s for parents on being a mentsch, and Armstrong’s on spirituality and aging.
The main session will be a panel discussion about what it means to live a Jewish life in 2010. Sitting on the panel will be Rabbi Jill Borodin of Congregation Beth Shalom, Rabbi Olivier Benhaim of Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue, Wendy Marcus of Temple Beth Am, Shoshi Bilavsky, head of school at SJCS, and Rabbi Harry Zeitlin of Congregation Beth Ha’ari.
Further learning, including a kids’ program, and a community gathering to celebrate the day will follow.
Carol Benedick of Congregation Beth Shalom, co-coordinator of the Northend learning event, said that from a community-building aspect, the program has been good in bringing groups together.
“Beth Shalom has not done an event with Bet Alef, or Beth Ha’ari for a while, so to combine all these different synagogues and organizations and do a joint effort of teaching is a really good community builder,” she said.
And the learning, she said, should be inspirational as well.