In addition to a weekly Shabbat drash being given at each Shabbat morning service, Rosh Pinah provides many other opportunities to learn and discuss Jewish material. We enjoy having invited scholars,
sometimes for Shabbat and sometimes for Sunday breakfasts. Some past invited scholars have been: Ora Prouser, Executive Vice-President and Academic Dean at the Academy for Jewish Religion;
Dr. Tammy Jacobowitz, formerly on the Rabbinics faculty for Me'ah NYC and co-author of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance's gender-sensitive Sh'mot curriculum; Dr. Justin Cammy, Associate Professor
of Jewish Studies and of Comparative Literature at Smith College; and student rabbis and cantors from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
On Shabbatot between Passover and Shavuot, we discuss Pirkei Avot following kiddush. On Shavuot eve, we hold a Tikkun Leil Shavuot. In recent years the topics for the study sessions
have included the book of Ruth, the history of the Israelites, and the book of Proverbs. A once-a-month women's Rosh Chodesh group has met since 2011 and we have had an adult bat mitzvah
class. We have a yearly Yom Hashoah program which includes a movie or speaker on a holocaust related theme. We also have offered programs with such secular themes as ethical wills and parenting
adult children.
Rosh Pinah’s Women’s Rosh Chodesh Group consists of a diverse group of women who have varied interests, and different levels of observance, Hebrew knowledge, and Judaic knowledge. The group meets
monthly from September through June. The group has studied topics such as Jewish holidays, Jewish women in the Bible and in History, Jewish observance, Jewish law, Jewish art, Jewish female comedians,
Astrology, Meditation, Feminism, and Israel.
Many meetings have had interactive activities and lots of fun! (e.g. a Purim Spiel, a meeting in the Sukkah, a creative seder, an Israeli movie
to watch and critique). The group is fluid and members attend as many or as few meetings as they like.
The group is led by Amy Gottleib, a novelist, poet, educator, and editor. She
has worked as the Director of Publications for the Rabbinical Assembly and is well versed in Jewish topics. For the past 20 years she has been a member of a Rosh Chodesh group consisting of rabbis, scholars,
and writers. Her book, The Beautiful Possible, is “an artfully woven story of love and loss, of spirituality and desire, of the stories that make us who we are and the stories we tell ourselves”
(Jillian Cantor, author of Margot and The Hours Count).
