OUR TENT 2024-25
THIRD TRIMESTER SCHEDULE
DATES: January 26, February 2, 9, 23, March 2, 9
Our Tent Morning Schedule:
9:00-9:20 - Cafe
9:25-10:20 - Learning Session I
10:25-11:00 - T'filah (Services)
11:05-12:00 - Learning Session II
SESSION 1 - 20th Century Jewish History - Part X (Adults)
Class Description:
20th Century Jewish History – Part X: This class will deal with Jewish history, predominantly in a chronological fashion, starting in the 1940s. However, there will be side trips into such general issues as assimilation, antisemitism, and immigration, and whatever else strikes my fancy (or yours).
This class is offered on Zoom or in-person, please indicate how you will be taking the class when you register. YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE TAKEN THE PREVIOUS SECTIONS TO SIGN UP FOR THIS CLASS.
Instructor: Dave Aron
David Aron, a physician and researcher, is Professor of Medicine at CWRU School of Medicine. In addition to the medical school, he teaches at the Weatherhead School of Management. Dave is an active member of the temple and can be found every Shabbat morning at Torah Study.
SESSION 1 - Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof - Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue! (9th Grade-Adults)
Class Description:
Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof - Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue!: These words of Torah (Deut. 16:20) have been central to Reform Judaism. In this class we will discuss how to effectively pursue justice through advocacy for individuals, issues and legislation. We will explore what is needed to be a good advocate as well as the eight steps for successful advocacy. We will also discuss how to compellingly communicate and persuade others to your viewpoints using values.
This class is offered on Zoom or in-person, please indicate how you will be taking the class when you register.
Instructors: Larry Bresler
Larry Bresler is a social worker and former attorney who has been doing individual, issue based and legislative advocacy for over 50 years. He has done workshops for various groups on advocacy as well as has been teaching advocacy to undergraduate and graduate school classes at Case Western Reserve University since 2006.
SESSION 1 - Like a Fine Wine (Adults)
Class Description:
Like a Fine Wine: We often joke about things that are challenging and emotional. It’s probably why there are so many jokes about growing older! These come to mind: “These are not gray hairs! They are wisdom highlights.” “You’re not getting old; you’re becoming a classic.”
What does it mean to age—and age well? How can we age wisely? What does Judaism have to offer as we age? Can aging enrich our spiritual journey?
During this trimester, Rabbi Vann will facilitate from Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience and Spirit by Rabbi Rachel Cowan and Linda Thal and material from other experts. Please come with a willingness to explore the many issues of aging and a journal/notebook!
This class is offered in-person only.
Instructor: Rabbi Allison Vann
Rabbi Vann is in her twenty-sixth year in the rabbinate and her fourteenth year as STKA’s spiritual leader. She has always taken an active role in our learning program and loves to teach a wide range of subjects to learners of all ages
SESSION 1 - V'ahavta: When You are Home and When You are Away (Kindergarten-4th Grade)
Class Description:
V’Ahavta: When You are Home and When You are Away: Our learning theme for the year is Sh’ma: Listening and Paying Attention. After we recite Sh’ma, we chant V’ahavta. Throughout this year we will look at different verses from V’ahavta and how they teach us to live Jewishly. In this trimester, we will look at the verse “b’shiv’ticha b’veitecha uv’lecht’cha vaderech – when you are home and when you are away.” We will focus on living our Jewish values no matter where we are.
This class is offered in-person only. YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE TAKEN THE PREVIOUS SECTIONS TO SIGN UP FOR THIS CLASS.
Instructor: Linda Wolfe
Linda Wolfe has dedicated over 50 years of her life to teaching at STKA. She teaches Hebrew in our learning program and to many of our B’nai Mitzvah students. She also loves teaching our youngest learners about Torah and values! It is her true passion and joy!
SESSION 1 - Listening, Loving, Creating! (5th-12th Grade)
Class Description:
Listening, Loving, Creating!: Explore Sh’ma and V’ahavta through art and conversation. Together, we’ll create a mural that brings their themes of listening, love, and connection to life. By the end of the trimester, we’ll have a meaningful piece of artwork that reflects our STKA values!
This class is offered in-person only.
Instructors: Annika Balish
Annika Balish is STKA's Music Director. She graduated from The College of Wooster with a degree in voice in 2022, and spent the summers of 2022 and 2023 at Camp Wise as the performing arts supervisor. She found her love of music at her own synagogue growing up, and loves to help instill that love in many others!
SESSION 1 - Building on 70 Years: An STKA Scavenger Hunt (Kindergarten-Adults)
Class Description:
Building on 70 Years – An STKA Scavenger Hunt: Our building is 70-years-old this year, and there are so many exciting places to explore and learn about. Each week, there will be a scavenger hunt to discover a new part of our home and a different member to teach us about this special place!
This class is offered in-person only.
Instructor: Noah (Nappel) Appel
Noah Appel, or Nappel as he is known, is finishing his bachelor’s degree in social work at Cleveland State University, after beginning at Kent State University. He has spent 13 summers at Camp Wise, including this past summer as the Sports Supervisor and Jewish Life Specialist. He will bring his knowledge of Jewish values, his leadership experience, and his love for life to any class he teaches!
SESSION 1 - Torah Tots (0-PreK Learners)
Class Description:
Torah Tots: This program is for our youngest learners. It will be available all morning and will include childcare and age-appropriate fun Jewish learning.
Please sign up for each session your child will be in Torah Tots. This class is offered in-person only.
Instructor: Rachel Goetz
Rachel Goetz is incredibly excited to join Suburban Temple Kol Ami’s team as the Torah Tots teacher! She is currently a second year masters student at Case Western Reserve University, obtaining a masters in social work with a focus in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. She has worked with children of all ages for 12 years and is excited to bring her experience and her love of fun, Judaism, and learning to Torah Tots!
SESSION 2 - Wiser than Me: Conversations with Some Really Smart People (9th Grade-Adults)
Class Description:
Wiser Than Me: Conversations with Some Really Smart People: Based on the popular, thought-provoking Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast, where she interviews guests older (and wiser) than her. Join us for these fun, interesting, and meaningful conversations with some of Cleveland's best like Jewish musician, Noah Budin, playwright, Mary E. Weems, and Parent Coach, Joan Morgenstern. We'll talk work, life, religion, and spirituality. This interactive class will help us not only hear about these topics from others, but also explore them in ourselves.
This class is offered on Zoom or in-person, please indicate how you will be taking the class when you register.
Instructor: Deena Nyer Mendlowitz
Deena Nyer Mendlowitz is a teacher and improviser. She and her son, Rafi, are active members of STKA and actively involved in Our Tent. If you need a good laugh, a good pun, or a good way to connect pop culture, especially from the 80s, to Judaism, Deena is your person!
SESSION 2 - Soaking Up Even More Words of Torah (8th Grade-Adults)
Class Description:
Soaking Up Even More Words of Torah: The last three words of the blessing for studying Torah are “l’asok b’dvrei Torah,” which can be translated as “to soak up the words of Torah." So, let’s dive into the deep end past the surface meanings and seek out the interpretations to be discovered below the depths. No prior study of Torah is expected or needed to enjoy this class. All that's needed is an open mind and an open heart.
This class is offered in-person and on Zoom. Please indicate how you will be taking the class when you register. YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE TAKEN THE PREVIOUS SECTION TO SIGN UP FOR THIS CLASS.
Instructor: Rabbi Ben Sternman
Rabbi Ben recently retired from being the rabbi of Adat Chaverim in Plano, Texas and moved back to Cleveland, his adopted hometown. He is grateful to continue to teach, a passion of his.
SESSION 2 - A Trip to Jewish Spain (9th Grade-Adults)
Class Description:
A Trip to Jewish Spain: This course will engage in a travelogue of Jewish Spain, examining cultural artifacts that have been produced in Spanish cities which have had prominent Jewish communities over the centuries. Devoting each session to an examination of a different Spanish city, we will examine the art, architecture, literature and other cultural products produced in Girona, Toledo, Segovia, Madrid and Cordoba among others. By paying attention to the material culture produced in these cities, it will also allow us to explore associated themes central to modern Judaism such as the similarities and differences between Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish practices, Crypto-Judaism, the conflictive relationship between Jews and other monotheistic religions and how religion shapes national identity.
This class is offered on Zoom or in-person, please indicate how you will be taking the class when you register.
Instructor: James Nemiroff
James Nemiroff is the Coordinator of the Sabo Center for Languages and Cultures and a Spanish Instructor at John Carroll University. His research interests focus on the representation of Judaism in Spanish literature and culture and as such has taught extensively in this area over the years at various higher education institutions. In all of his classes, he tries to promote animo or the ability to learn in a brave and collaborative space and looks forward to joining the team of distinguished faculty and learners at the temple.
SESSION 2 - You've Got The Beat (Kindergarten - 4th Grade)
Class Description:
You’ve Got the Beat: In this class we will discover how different melodies for prayers and making music with different instruments can change our feelings about the prayer and how the prayer makes us feel. We will be playing percussion in this class, but no musical knowledge or talent is required.
This class is offered in-person only.
Instructor: Josh Levy
Josh Levy is a licensed social worker and longtime staff member and songleader at Camp Wise. Josh is excited to combine his passions for mental health and wellness, Judaism, and music into this class!
SESSION 2 - Shushan's Got Talent: An STKA Musical Review (K-12th Grade)
Class Description:
Shushan’s Got Talent: An STKA Musical Review: Shine bright and bring the Purim story to life! Prepare an America’s Got Talent-style short Purim spiel featuring all of your favorite Purim characters! And we will perform it at our annual Purim carnival!
This class is offered in-person only.
Instructor: Annika Balish
Annika Balish is STKA's Music Director. She graduated from The College of Wooster with a degree in voice in 2022, and spent the summers of 2022 and 2023 at Camp Wise as the performing arts supervisor. She found her love of music at her own synagogue growing up, and loves to help instill that love in many others!
SESSION 2 - Even More KavanArt (Kindergarten-Adults)
Even More KavanArt: Kavanah is the intention with which we do things and art is a way we can make the ordinary extraordinary. In this class we will learn about the different Jewish holidays, and we will make cards and ritual objects for each one.
This class is offered in-person only. THIS CLASS WILL OFFER DIFFERENT LESSONS FROM THE PREVIOUS TRIMESTERS, SO YOU CAN SIGN UP WHETHER YOU’VE PREVIOUSLY ENROLLED OR NOT.
Instructors: Tracey Messer & Rabbi Shana Nyer
Tracey Messer is a professor at Case Western Reserve University at the Weatherhead School of Management and a proponent of emotional intelligence. She and her wife Karen are active members of STKA.
Rabbi Shana Nyer was ordained from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 2003 and received her Master of Arts in Religious Education from there in 2016. She loves teaching students of all ages and is passionate about advocating for the inclusion of all learners. Rabbi Shana is a gifted storyteller who loves to teach Jewish values through this medium, and also gets excited when her lessons combine her knowledge of and passion for Judaism and her interest in all things pop culture.
SESSION 2 - Torah Tots (0-PreK Learners)
Class Description:
Torah Tots: This program is for our youngest learners. It will be available all morning and will include childcare and age-appropriate fun Jewish learning.
Please sign up for each session your child will be in Torah Tots. This class is offered in-person only.
Instructor: Rachel Goetz
Rachel Goetz is incredibly excited to join Suburban Temple Kol Ami’s team as the Torah Tots teacher! She is currently a second year masters student at Case Western Reserve University, obtaining a masters in social work with a focus in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. She has worked with children of all ages for 12 years and is excited to bring her experience and her love of fun, Judaism, and learning to Torah Tots!
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