LEARN WITH RABBI RANK

CRASH HEBREW READING
Mondays 7:00 - 7:45PM

You want to learn how to read Hebrew, but you've never made the time to learn. What to do? Join the Crash Hebrew Reading Course with Rabbi Rank in the fall and Rabbi Hearshen in the spring. In five easy lessons (we'll throw in a sixth for good measure), you'll be reading like a pro! Learning to read Hebrew is easy, making the time to do it - that's a bit harder! But once you've made the commitment, all it takes is a few lessons, some practice on your own, and it will make a world of difference for you and your family when you come to services.

Fall 2011 Dates
September 12, 19, 26    October 3, 10, 17, 14    

GOD: THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY UPGRADE
Jericho Jewish Center - The Adult Institue of Jewish Studies
Mondays 7:45pm - 8:45pm

Do you ever wonder why an all-powerful, all-knowing God would allow the righteous to suffer, the wicked to prosper, or impassively watch a bank robbery, murder, or accident take place? Our disappointment with God creates atheists and challenges all people of faith to defend the indefensible. But is God an underachiever or is our understanding of God hopelessly flawed? By examining some of the writings of Rabbis Brad Artson, Harold Kushner, and Art Green, we will examine an alternate and new understanding of how to approach God. We will be particularly focused on Rabbi Art Green's Radical Judaism, a literary expansion of the Franz Rosenzweig Lectures he delivered at Yale University in the autumn of 2006. The class will be a lecture / discussion series on a new theology known as Process Theology, a theology with roots deeply planted in both the scientific and midrashic mythologies that modern Jews hold dear. A knowledge of Hebrew is helpful but not necessary and copies of Art Green's Radical Judaism will be made available for a nominal fee at the begining of the course.

Fall 2011 Dates
October 31, November 7, 14, 21, 28 December 5, 12, 19

YOGA AND TORAH WITH ELYCE NEUHAUSER AND RABBI RANK
Thursdays, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Absolute Yoga Studio, 1 Guilles Lane, Woodbury NY

As the popularity of yoga as an exercise in physical wellbeing and enhanced energy has grown, some have moved t odeepen the experience by adding Torah mediation during the asanas or yoga postures. Join Rabbi Rank and certified yoga instructor and Midway member Elyce Neuhauser for a seried of Yoga-Torah sessions designed to deepen our sense of spirit while acheving greater awareness of our bodies. These will be gentle yoga sessions as they will be gentle Torah sessions. Bring a yoga mat and a towel, wear loose and comfortable clothing, and be prepared to stretch, physicall and spiritually. If sitting on the floor is a challenge, participants may use chairs.

Fall 2011 Dates
October 27, November 3, 10, 17 December 1, 15

BECOMING A BA'AL / BA'ALAT KERIAH - A TORAH CHANTER
Wednesdays 7:15pm - 7:55pm

Ever wonder what it would be like to get up before the congregation and chant from the Torah? Now's your chance to find out. Maybne it's something you would like to do at your child or grandchild's Bar/t Mitzvah. If you can read Hebrew with a moderate degree of proficiency and hum a few bars of "Row, row, row your boat," such that someone would recognize the tune - then you've got the right stuff to become a ba'al or ba'alat keriah.

2011 Dates
October 26 November 2, 9, 16, 30 December 7, 21 January 4, 11, 18

MONDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES AT MIDWAY
Mondays 7:30pm - 9:45pm

This series was so successful last year, we're running it again. We offer you a deal you can't refuse. Top quality movies surrounded by a discussion of the Jewish component in each. This series of ten movies will focus on themes in both explicitly Jewish films as well as films that are, at least on the surface, purely secular. Each film will be preceded by a brief introduction and followed by a discussion, also brief, of the films major themes and how those themes corroborate or undermine Jewish values. A more complete list of the movies to be shown is pending, but our tentative list now includes---

The American President (1985) starring Michael Douglas and Annette Bening. This movie is a precursor to the very popular series The West Wing and involves an American president, a widower, trying to privately pursue a social life in a fish bowl as well as maintain an ethical posture in a position that forever demands compromise.

Vitus (2006) in Swiss German and a little English is a take of a musically-gifted child who thwarts his parents' desire that he become a great pianist by following his own heart.

Forget Paris (1995) starring Billy Chrystal and Debra Winger is a romantic comedy that focuses on the challenges dual-career families have in maintaining a love and loving relationship

The Soloist (2009) starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. struggles with the theme of our responsibility to the mentally-ill and the limits of helpfulness.

2012 Dates
March 5, 12, 19, 26 April 2, 9, 16, 23, 20 May 14

THE 28 (KOAH) MINUTE EXPERIENCE - JUDAISM AS A PATH TOWARD HEALTH, WEALTH AND INNER PEACE
Thursdays 7:30pm - 7:58pm

28 minutes. which in Hebrew translates to koah or strength is all it's going to take to get us feeling strong and secure as we wind the week to an end. Shabbat only a day away. We're going to sing a little, meditate a little, and ponder thos aspects of Judaism that empower us to self-actualize, to become everything God intended us to be. We don't often think of Judaism as a self-help discipline, but as many former addicts and otherwise troubled people who have found Judaism can attest, this is a religious tradition is life-saving. And for our lives, it can be as well. But we may have to be just a tad unorthodox to see it as clearly as they do. Some of the themes that we will touch on will include cosmic energy, self-actualization, and over-sexualized modernity, resurrecting sanctity from the dead, and we will address the issues of health, wealth and inner peace, as the title of this course suggests.

2012 Dates
March 15, 22, 29 April 12, 19, 26 May 3, 10, 17. 24

LEARN WITH RABBI HEARSHEN

UNLOCKING THE TALMUD
Thursdays 8:00pm - 10:00pm

The Talmud is the centerpiece of Jewish learning. A good majority of our tradition and practices find their origin inside its rich and enchanting pages. This class will have two components to it: For the first half of the class we will read the book As a Drive Leaf by Milton Steinberg, For the second half we are going to look very closely at all of the Talmudic source material for his book. This is a class for people who love philosophy, history and learning.

Fall 2011 Dates
November 3, 10, 17 December 1, 8, 15 January 5, 12, 19 February 2

PARSHA AND POKER
Wednesdays 7:00PM - 10:00PM

In Europe, the Rebbe had tische, where people sat and learned. Now we have the Rabbi's Poker Game where the learning continues. Parsha and Poker is a regular monthly study group that gathers for Torah, socializing and fun. the program is simple: People RSVP and pay $10 to play (with the option of paying again once they run out of chips.) We study for 45 minutes, and then we play poker for the remainder of the night, until there is a winner. The winner will receive a gift card. The money that was paid at the beginning will be donated to a pre-determined charity chosen by the host. Each month we meet at a different house for the evening. Please contact Rabbi Hearshen with questions and to RSVP or to offer to host. 

2011 - 2012 Dates
September 14, October 26, November 16, December 7
January 11, February 8, March 14, April 4, May 9, June 13