By Janis Siegel , JTNews Correspondent
It’s got 29 Jewish faculty, 42 classes, offered over three weeks for the fourth year in a row, and costs only 36 bucks. This year’s Torahthon 2010, hosted by Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation on Mercer Island, will offer instructors that are among the top experts in their field teaching classes based in solid Jewish fundamentals.
Attendees can choose from a lecture with University of Washington professor, Pruzan chair of Jewish Studies, and Stroum Jewish Studies chair Dr. Gad Barzilai called “From Kibbutz to Microsoft & Google: Capitalism, Justice, and Global/Local Israel,” or “Jews Who Hate Israel” with UW sociology professor Dr. Paul Burstein, or Jeremy Alk’s “The Consequences to Jews and Judaism of the Discovery of Life in Outer Space,” or Alk’s second class, “Bob Dylan and Kinky Friedman: What These Rock Stars Say in Their Lyrics and Their Lives About Their Jewish Identity and Jewish Consciousness.”
It’s all there for the choosing.
“That’s the message I personally want people to get about Judaism,” Herzl-Ner Tamid’s rabbi, Jay Rosenbaum, told JTNews. “Are you interested in the environment? We got that. Judaism has something important to say about that. Are you interested in Zionism? We got that, too. Are you interested in outer space? Judaism has something to say about that.”
Torahthon 2010 will take place over three evenings: November 3, 10 and 17. This year, it surpasses the night-of-Jewish-learning format born in the late ‘80s by its originator, Rabbi Moshe Edelman of New York.
Though Torahthon takes place at Herzl-Ner Tamid with sponsorship through its endowment fund, a large roster of local organizations have signed on as sponsors. Co-sponsors include the Seattle Jewish Film Festival, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue, Congregation Beth Shalom, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Temple B’nai Torah, Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle, Seattle Jewish Community School, and the Stroum Jewish Studies Program at the UW.
Rosenbaum sees the gatherings as a time to schmooze and create dialogue, undistracted by any denominational affiliations. According to him, there is no “us and them” in this teach-in.
“Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and secular, we want to create a sense of community,” Rosenbaum said. “This is one time during the year when the Jewish community can get together, learn together, and talk to each other. Where do we get to seek common ground and exchange ideas in a constructive environment?”
In addition to the classes delivered by six professors from the UW Jewish Studies department including Naomi Sokoloff, Noam Pianko, Michael Rosenthal, and director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, Professor Resat Kasaba, many well-known community educators and scholars will be there as well.
Rivy Poupko Kletenik, head of school at the Seattle Hebrew Academy, will teach “The Holy Tongue: An Exploration from Midrash to Agnon,” Rabbi Jim Mirel of Temple B’nai Torah offers “Jewish Poetry: Ancient and Modern,” and Rosenbaum will talk about “Elijah, Santa, and the Dark Side. There is plenty more as well.
“This year, I think we’re going to break the seams of the shul,” said Patty Willner, a local attorney and one of the coordinators of the Torahthon. “We’re going to have a terrific turnout.”
Willner sits on the community outreach committee of the Jewish Studies program at the UW.
“My main job is to get the teachers and to pick topics that will engage,” said Willner. She added that she looks for “any hook that might engage someone in learning, bring different people in, or help different groups accept other’s views, because I know once they get there, they’ll come back.”
The Cardozo Society of Washington State, the Jewish Federation’s attorneys’ affinity group, for example, will present a class titled, “Justice Through Jewish Eyes: Jews on the Supreme Court.” It’s open to all, but it’s also approved for one Continuing Legal Education credit.
“I’m a lifelong learner and I think everyone should be,” Willner said. “Maybe I’m selfish, but I want to study with all of these people. I’m trying to make that possible.”
Rosenbaum sees it as a great opportunity to bring the diverse and sometimes disparate Jewish community together for study, laughs, and of course, some coffee and cake.
“In America right now, and in Judaism, too, we live in an age of increasing polarization,” Rosenbaum said. “We can disagree, sometimes passionately, but there’s an increasing tendency among Americans and Jews to dismiss people who we think are not like us and we’re often wrong. We categorize people. We label them: Liberal, or conservative. We say you’re different than me therefore you have nothing to say to me and I have nothing to say to you. This is an opportunity to bridge those gaps.”