Beth Jacob Weekly Ongoing Classes

A community engaged in congregational learning is one in which all of its members, children and adults, are actively and collaboratively learning about and becoming more deeply enriched by our Jewish traditions. Our vision includes a commitment to study Jewish texts, Jewish arts, and Jewish living. Beth Jacob offers opportunities and experiences imbued with intellectual, experiential, and hands on engagement for individuals and groups.

End of Life Planning, Care, Rituals, and More
Jewish Responses to the End of Life
with Jo and Eric Pasternack

Tuesdays at 6:30 in the chapel

March 25, April 1, 8, 15, 22, May 6, 13

This 7- part series will cover topics including preplanning, hospice and end-of-life care, burial and mourning rituals, and personal reflections on death. Each class will feature a community expert sharing insights on these important subjects.

Register at Beth-Jacob.org/AdultEd

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Jew In The Pew with Rabbi Lynn Liberman

9:15-10:00 am in the chapel on Shabbat

1st, 3rd and the occasional 5th Shabbat of each month

Our exploration of the Psalms, largely as found in our siddur, will continue for the coming year! We will explore the Psalms that are widely used throughout the Shabbat service considering their meaning and wondering why and how these words are still part of our liturgy today. After completing texts found in the siddur, we will then continue to encounter the remaining texts of the full Book of Psalms! No prior experience needed. Texts are provided in Hebrew and English.

Talmud with Rabbi Justin Held

Mondays at 7:00 pm

Online at: Beth-Jacob.org/Talmud

Tablet Magazine Editor Liel Leibovitz recently wrote about the Talmud, “to the extent that the Talmud can even be called a book—it’s more accurately described as “a drift net for catching God”—it’s a truly magnificent one. Because in touching on virtually every human experience, from passing wind to losing a loved one, the Talmud is, arguably, humanity’s first, greatest, and still most astonishing self-help book.” Join Rabbi Justin Monday nights as we use Tractate Ta’anit as one of our vessels for “catching God.” Tractate Ta’anit (fasts) discusses fixed public fast days, facts decreed to avoid calamity, and individual fast days. No Talmud background or Hebrew fluency is required to join, and texts will always be provided in English and Hebrew. Come weekly or pop in and pop out. Your presence is always welcome. Reach out to Rabbi Justin with any questions: rabbijustinheld@beth-jacob.org.

Morning Mishnah with Rabbi Tamar Magill-Grimm

Wednesdays at approx. 8 am (after minyan) in the chapel 

Online at: beth-Jacob.org/minyan

The Mishnah is an edited record of the complex body of halachic material transmitted in the aftermath of the destruction of the Second Temple. Its intention was to train the sages in thinking through the legal issues that inform Halacha. In encountering these texts together, we gain access to the conversations out of which developed the foundational principles that shaped Jewish law as we know it today. Classes are in the chapel at Beth Jacob and on Zoom at beth-Jacob.org/minyan (or just stay on Zoom after Morning Minyan.

Foundations of Judaism – offered jointly with Temple of Aaron

Mondays at Beth Jacob and Tuesdays at Temple of Aaron 7pm

See schedule below.

Register at: Beth-Jacob.org/Foundations

Join on Zoom:  Beth-Jacob.org/FoundationsZoom

Join us for one, or for all of these 3-Course mini-units, exploring a wide variety of essential aspects of living and being Jewish. The course is intended both for Jews interested in deepening their knowledge of the foundations of Judaism and those who are interested in becoming Jewish and seeking a pathway toward conversion. Classes are in person and on zoom. 

Upcoming Classes & Dates:

Mondays, 7pm at Beth Jacob

  • Lifecycles with Rabbi Tamar Magill-Grimm: March 3, 10, 17, 2025

  • Denominations/Conservative Judaism with Rabbi Tamar Magill-Grimm: July 14, 21, 28, 2025

  • Israel with Rabbi Justin Held: August 25, September 8, 15, 2025
  • Tanakh with Rabbi Justin Held: December 8, 15, 22, 2025

Tuesdays, 7pm at Temple of Aaron with Rabbi Marcus Rubinstein

  • Jewish Law: April 1st, 8th, 15th, 2025
  • Holidays of History: June 10th, 17th, 24th, 2025
  • Biblical Holidays: August 5th, 12th, 19th, 2025
  • Tallit/Tefillin/Mezuzah/Kippah: November 18th, 25th, December 2nd, 2025
  • Theology: January 6th, 13th, 20th, 2026
  • Rabbinic Literature: February 3rd, 10th, 17th, 2026

Community Offerings

Check out classes being offered through Talmud Torah St. Paul and Hineni

Hineni offers an array of adult Jewish learning opportunities and contemplative practice experiences, many in collaboration with Twin Cities area synagogues and agencies.

For more information about Hineni or to offer programming suggestions, please contact Rabbi Debra Rappaport.

2024-2025 Lecture Descriptions

Orit Avishai

Queer Jews: The Struggle for Judaism’s Straight Soul

Thursday, March 27

Description:In times of social upheaval, how do observant Jewish communities decide who’s in and who’s out? What happens when rules of belonging are challenged by marginalized groups of Jews? This talk considers these questions through the experiences of queer orthodox Jews in Israel. Until recently, LGBTQ+ Orthodox Jews could not imagine embracing their sexual or gender identity and staying within the Orthodox fold. But within the span of about two decades, Orthodox LGBTQ+ people forged social circles and communities and became visible. This talk offers the compelling story of how they created an effective social movement and rewrote what it means to be Orthodox, pointing to broader lessons about Jewish identity and community to be drawn from their struggles.

Bio: Orit Avishai is a Professor of Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Fordham University, where she is affiliated with the Center for Jewish Studies. The author of Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel (2023), she studies how Orthodox Jews negotiate with Jewish frameworks that regulate gender, sexuality, and desire. As part of a study of religious freedom as a locus of 21st-century culture wars, she is now writing about Yeshiva University students’ attempts to start a pride club on their campus.