For many years, Hineni – the Twin Cities’ Jewish adult learning program – has been hosting a weekly education series led by clergy from across the community. This year, Hineni’s director Rabbi Debra Rappaport, picked up an idea for the summer program from the co-chairs of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association, at a recent retreat.
“Each of us was invited to share some Torah that represents the impact we want to have in the world,” she said. “I thought it was an interesting question, because it’s different from ‘what’s your favorite Torah? It’s more specific to translating Torah to how we live and making meaning in the world.”
That prompt led to “Torateynu: Gather & Learn” as this year’s Summertime Learning Across the Twin Cities series. Sessions are led mostly by senior rabbis, with one rabbi emeritus and three rabbis who are the only ones at their synagogues.
“I was blown away by the collective wisdom of my colleagues. When we get together for meetings, most of the time we’re talking about community issues, and we’re not sharing our Torah with each other,” she said. “Getting to hear all of my colleagues Torah all together, all at once, was, was truly inspirational. And everybody had something different to say.”
One of the new rabbis to the rotation of teachers this year is Rabbi Eva Cohen, who leads Or Emet, Minnesota’s Humanistic Judiasm community.
“Regardless of our differences in theology or politics, we are the Jewish people, and [Or Emet’s] learning is deep, and their services are thoughtful,” Rappaport said. “There’s an integrity and a thoughtfulness in all of what they do,”
The summer classes runs weekly through Aug. 20 at sites around the Twin Cities. Most are at the synagogues of the rabbis teaching the particular class, although Cohen’s class will be at the tent at the Minnesota JCC – Sabes Center Minneapolis, and Rabbi Tamar Magill-Grimm’s session will be at Wabasha Brewing in St. Paul.
Having the classes be at non-synagogue locations was important to Rappaport.
“If Jewish people are affiliated, they go to their place,” she said. “You can learn like a gem from almost all the lead rabbis in town [and learn] what is it that they’re they care about bringing into the world. You’re familiar with the Torah of your rabbi, and it’s good to get out and hear other rabbis.”
Rappaport’s session is anchoring the series, with a focus on Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:5:3. She said this particular piece of text during her time in the Shalom Hartman Institute during the early pandemic years during a chavurah project that looked at how the rabbis responded to the destruction of the temple. Earlier this summer, however, she took a deeper look at the context of the text.
“It’s not just that they’re learning, it’s what they’re learning,” she said. “Each of the lead rabbis of their time gives a little piece of their core Torah, and most of them have to do hospitality. And so there’s something about the community weaving piece in the content of what it is they’re learning that speaks to me.”
To learn more about the series and to register, check out the Hineni website.
