Temple Israel Library Programs

Library Programs: Join Temple Israel’s Librarian, Rose Myers, on Wednesdays from 1:30—2:30 PM in the Library, as we use Jewish stories and themes to examine issues, large and small. Explore our library and, through it, our lives and the world around us, meet old friends, make new ones, and have fun playing with text. No prerequisites or preliminary study required. Planned sessions are based on my own interests and love of children’s picture books, folklore, and midrash and on participants’ requests.

Tentative dates:

• September 21: Crowded House stories, especially Could Anything Be Worse? by Marilyn Hirsh—how actions lead to a new view of reality / how Shabbat doesn’t happen unless we make it happen.
• October 5 – cancelled (Jury Duty)
• October 12 (erev Sukkot): Isaac Bashevis Singer’s A Tale of Three Wishes, a rare story about Hoshanah Rabbah.
• October 19 (erev Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah): Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “A Tale of Three Wishes” and three picture book versions of The Three Wishes.
• November 2: Lilith, Adam and Eve—Choosing between Opposites. Who is Lilith?
• November 9: Midrashim on the Akeda, the Binding of Isaac.
  
• November 16: Circle Stories—Abraham’s Search for God, The Stonecutter, The Mouse’s Wedding, …
• November 30: The women in Abraham’s life / an original midrash about Hagar
• Chanukah mini-series on supernatural beings
  • December 7: The witches of Ashkelon—The Rabbi and the Twenty-nine Witches by Marilyn Hirsh, “Walking between the Raindrops” in The Great March, saying of Shimon ben Shetach in Pirke Avot and commentary on it, story about Shimon ben Shetach in the Babylonian Talmud.
  • December 14: Golem stories, including The Return of the Golem: A Chanukah Story
• Folk Religion mini-series
  • January 4, 2012: Dybbuks—Francine Prose’s Dybbuk illustrated by Mark Podwal
  • January 11: Angels—Angels in the siddur and folklore
  • January 18—NO CLASS
  • January 25: Demons
• Natural Metaphors miniseries
  • February 1: Giving and Forgiving Trees—The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and The Gift that Grew by Yaffa Ganz and a brief overview of Tu B’Shvat.
  • February 8 (Tu B’Shvat)—NO CLASS
  • February 15: Birds—The Kingdom of the Singing Birds, The Wisdom Bird, & Daniel Pinkwater’s Ducks
  • February 29: Chickens—Michelle Edwards’ Chicken Man, Shalom Auslander’s Beware of God
• Jewish Humor miniseries in honor of Purim.

• March 7 (erev Purim): The World of Topsy-Turvy—Reversals and secrets abound in the Megillah of Esther. See if all the switches of people in power make a difference if the structure and rules of society don’t change.
• March 14: Hershel Ostropler & other tricksters—Hershel Ostropoler, a popular trickster in Jewish folklore, is based on a real person. Learn some of his adventures and see how he compares with tricksters from other cultures.
• March 28: The Wise Men of Chelm & Gotham—Chelm is not only a real town with a difficult history, but also a beloved, mythical Jewish place of fools who see themselves as exceedingly wise. (If wisdom were only logical thinking then they might almost be right.) Share some favorite stories and learn about England’s wise men of Gotham, whose stories are surprisingly familiar.

• Passover Stories
  • April 4: Art in Haggadot—In preparation for the Passover Seder, we will examine the art found in Haggadot. In addition to a facsimile of the Sarajevo Haggadah–the basis of Geraldine Brooks’ People of the Book: A Novel–our library has copies of the Washington Haggadah, A Survivors’ Haggadah, the new (1982) and old (1923) Union Haggadot,   the Szyk Haggadah, and Haggadot with artwork by Ben Shahn and Mark Podwal. Join us in marveling at centuries of creativity and bring your own favorites to share.
  •  April 11 (Pesach): Elijah stories for Passover—For the middle of Passover, we will look at Elijah stories with a Passover theme along with the many ways that Elijah has been depicted in the Bible, folklore, Jewish rituals such as Havdalah and his importance at the Seder.
  • April 18: Picture Books about the Holocaust—The Temple Israel has a remarkably extensive collection of Holocaust Literature. I want to focus on the picture books in this collection, some for children and some obviously not. We will touch on the problem of how to talk about the Holocaust with children and if/when we should.

• Shavuot Sessions
  •  May 2: Pirke Avot—A look at “The Sayings of the Fathers,” traditionally read between Pesach and Shavuot
  • May 9 (erev Lag B’Omer): Heavenly Visions—A look at national and individual Biblical divine revelations.
  • May 16—NO CLASS
  • May 23—NO CLASS
  • May 30: Ruth—Discuss the connections of the Book of Ruth to Shavuot and our own lives
• June 6
• June 13