Kavana Adult Education Programs

Goal and Strategy

The goal of Kavana’s Adult Education Program is to provide ways for people of all backgrounds to grapple with fundamental questions about what it means to be Jewish. We strive to build a participatory Jewish community that fosters each partner’s personal engagement with Judaism. To promote the idea that Jewish learning is a lifelong process and not just a pre-set menu of facts to be memorized, we emphasize collaboration in everything that we do.

To achieve these overarching goals, we offer four types of activities.

Jewish Identity Workshops: What does it mean to be Jewish? These workshops will help us engage the question in a small, intimate group setting. If you can commit to regular attendance and want to have deep discussions with friends about issues of identity, this is for you. Each workshop will have an organizing theme—the first one is the psychology of identity—and a facilitator who brings special expertise to the meetings.
Cultural Exploration:
1. Living Room Learning is a weekly opportunity to explore traditional Jewish texts, such as the weekly Torah portion, in an informal setting.
2. Book and Movie Club is a monthly opportunity to explore contemporary and classic works of Jewish literature and film. Participants may attend the year-long series or pick and choose which discussions they would like to attend.
How-To’s for Jews: How do you chant Torah? How do you lead a Seder? How do you mourn the dead? Sometimes, practical Jewish questions come up, and we can help you answer them.
Kavana Field Trips: There’s a lot of cool Jewish stuff going on in and around Seattle: lectures, plays, museum exhibits, film festivals, etc. Kavana will keep its collective eyes peeled for these and organize occasional group outings.

Programs

Workshop

JEWISH IDENTITY: A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLORATION – Have you ever felt too Jewish? Not Jewish enough? How we each make sense of being a Jew is deeply personal, and not ordinarily part of our everyday conversations. For six weeks, Kavana will create a safe and lively forum to discuss issues of Jewish identity amongst friends old and new. This collaborative workshop will be co-facilitated by Kavana partners Dr. Dan Rosen, psychologist and identity scholar, and Dr. Noam Pianko, a Jewish historian. And to make a good thing even better, chocolate and other sweets will be plentiful by way of a weekly dessert potluck. This workshop will meet on six consecutive Sunday evenings (10/19,26; 11/2,9,16,23) from 7:30-9:00pm.

Session One: Identifying Identity – What is identity? Using psychological frameworks, we will begin to define the term identity in its many dimensions (e.g., career, family, culture), and the degree of importance these hold in your life.
Session Two: The Multidimensionality of Jewish Identity – What defines a Jew? We will consider the many ways people can be Jewish (e.g., religion, ethnicity, spirituality), with special attention given to how these identities operate in your life.
Session Three: The Development of Jewish Identity – Are you the same Jew now as at 13? We will explore the dynamic nature of Jewish identity in the lives of participants through consideration of developmental models, life stages, and contextual factors.
Session Four: The Impact of Marginalization – Are we victims? We will discuss whether the psychological stress of being marginalized/oppressed/discriminated against is related to one’s sense of identity through consideration of personal and familial experiences.
Session Five: How Jews Became White Folks – How good do you have it? We will explore how Jews have emerged to become a privileged people in America and the impact of this new status on yourself and your family.
Session Six: From Intersecting Identities to Meaning & Purpose – American Jew or Jewish American? We will consider how “being Jewish” informs your sense of self, including when and how this “self” is in harmony or conflict with other salient identities.

The course will cost $20 (plus minimal fee for course packet materials) for partners and $60 (plus minimal fee for course packet materials) for other participants. You can pay online or by check - info here. Note - Kavana aims to be totally accessible regardless of income level - so please let us know if you need a different rate.

Cultural Exploration

Living Room Learning - Come join us for Living Room Learning. Led by Rabbi Rachel, we’ll study the portion of the week (Parashat Hashavuah). Very important to know – this class is open to all levels/backgrounds – you do not need to be a rabbinic scholar to attend. The class will be ongoing every Wednesday from 7:30-9pm. It’s drop-in style and the location will be Rabbi Rachel's living room unless otherwise noted. If you're interested, just email and we'll send you the weekly update - as well as put you on the distribution for regular reminders on the locations.

BOOK CLUB: JEWS IN STRANGE PLACES - A global look at Jewish stories and histories, focusing on exile, arrival, and survival in different destinations. This intriguing lineup of novels and memoirs reminds us of the rich tapestry of Jewish peoplehood beyond the borders of Seattle, while also providing the opportunity to think about how we manage to create meaningful Jewish lives in our own location. Led by Hannah Pressman & Jeremy Derfner. We will read five highly acclaimed books:

November 20th - Farewell Shanghai
January 15th - The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit
March 19 - Beaufort
May 14th - City of Thieves
July 16th - Baghdad, Yesterday

All meetings take place Thursday evenings from 7:30-9pm. Feel free to attend the entire series, or just join us for individual sessions. There is no cost to participate other than purchasing the books for yourself; however, if you register by October 20th, you can purchase all five books at a significant discount (only $50.00) through Kavana. Contact us for more information and pay online or by check.

MOVIE SCREENINGS-We realized that, as busy as we all are, a book a month is not always practical. SO - every other month, we'll screen a movie with intriguing Jewish themes. We'll watch, nosh and then discuss. Planned features include:

October 30th - 'Don't Mess with the Zohan' (Adam Sandler as a Mossad agent) screening
December 18th - 'Praying with Lior' screening
February 19th - 'The Counterfeiters' screening
April 30th - 'Beaufort' screening
June 18th - Movie screening Title TBD

Where: Book club location will vary (be sure to sign up for the list - and we'll mail the location to you) and the Movie night will be in a cozy home theater on Queen Anne (again - when you RSVP, we'll send the location)

RSVP info: We'd like to hear from you if you want to be a part of this exciting new program! (Didn't make it to previous Book Club meetings? Not a problem!) If you plan to attend the future sessions, please send an email to kavanaseattle@gmail.com . If you're interested in the group, but can't make upcoming dates, still let us know of your interest so that we can keep you tuned into what's happening. Thanks, and happy reading!