Adult Education
Upcoming classes are listed below. If you plan to attend, please don't wait to register. Only those registered receive emails with important details including schedule changes. Classes also need a minimum number of registrations to be held as planned.
T'shuva and Creativity: High Holiday Prep Classes
It is customary to do a cheshbon nefesh, accounting of the soul, in the month leading up to the high holidays. 
Session 1: Writing our Way to Teshuvah
Sunday, August 20, 1:00-2:15 pm
This will be an opportunity to launch an Elul journaling practice. No background needed. If you have a journal you like or a favorite pen, bring it. No laptops please.
Session 2: Crafting our Way to Teshuvah CANCELLED
Sunday, August 27, 1:00-2:15 pm
Some things are hard to speak about. Sometimes creating art is a way to begin processing. Join us to play with materials. Even though arts and crafts are popular with children, these classes are not geared towards young humans. Adults and teenagers are welcome. You don't need to have attended the first session to attend this one. Please register in advance so we will have enough materials.
Aging Together, a weekly discussion group with Rabbi Eliana
A weekly discussion group led by Rabbi Eliana and community members 
First meeting October 18 (3rd Wednesday, in person in Rabbi’s study)
12:00-1:15 pm
1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month in person, in Rabbi’s study
2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month on Zoom
Drop in. Free for members of TBB. We recommend a donation of $5-10 per session for non-members.
We will use Rachel Cowan and Linda Thal’s book Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, and Spirit as our guide.
The group is open to anyone regardless of age, but might feel more relevant to people 55 and up.
Fiction Writing as Activism: A Conversation with Rachel Lewis, Author of the Rabbi Vivian Mystery Books
October 18, 7:30-9:00
RSVP here!
Join us for a special program to kick-off this year’s Reading with the Rabbi. Rachel Lewis, author of The Rabbi Who Prayed With Fire, and The Rabbi Who Prayed for the City, will join us to speak about her latest book, as well as her work as a writer and activist. Rachel will sign copies for people who will bring their own.
About the Author
Rachel Sharona Lewis is an accidental mystery novelist based in Watertown, MA. By day, she organizes faith communities in the Boston area around local social justice efforts. In her free time, she enjoys reading fiction and non-fiction alike, attending committee meetings and playing the trombone with enthusiastic mediocrity.
This special event is co-sponsored by Base Boston.
Out of This World: Jewish Takes on the Afterlife
taught by Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz 
Sunday mornings 11/5, 11/12, 11/19
10:00-11:30 am in person in Rabbi’s study
Cost is $15 per session (registrants may choose to pay other amounts, or waive the fee)
Register here. If you plan to attend, please don't wait to register. Only those registered receive emails with important details including schedule changes. Classes also need a minimum number of registrations to be held as planned.
Some of the things they did not talk about in Hebrew School. The Jewish Take on the Afterlife for the Curious.
In this class, we will examine the concept of the afterlife, from a Jewish perspective, with a look at the similarities and difference among the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox viewpoints. We will explore the ideas of Heaven and Hell, Reincarnation and Resurrection, again from a Jewish perspective, but also with an eye to the Christian concepts that may already be familiar to us from literature and film. We will also visit ideas of exorcism and possession.
Curious? Please join us.
Out of This World: Angels, Demons and Other Beings
taught by Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz 
Sunday mornings 12/3, 12/10, 12/17
10:00-11:30 am in person in Rabbi’s study
Cost is $15 per session (registrants may choose to pay other amounts, or waive the fee)
Register here. If you plan to attend, please don't wait to register. Only those registered receive emails with important details including schedule changes. Classes also need a minimum number of registrations to be held as planned.
Judaism is replete with stories and traditions featuring all kinds of non-human entities that are often cataloged under the supposedly self-explanatory labels "angels" and "demons." But do Jews even believe in angels? And if so, why didn’t they teach me about this in Sunday school? In this course, we will have a look at some of the less-known beings that populate Jewish texts beginning with the Torah. For example, we will learn about the archangels – Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael – on the angelic side, and about Lilith and Asmodeus on the demonic side. We will have a look at how people attempted to protect themselves from demons and explore the Jewish concept of Satan and it’s development through the ages. We will even answer the age-old question – what does Satan do on Shabbos?
You do not need to have attended the previous Out of This World class to come to this class, but if you attended the previous class and enjoyed it, chances are you’d like this one too.
