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Because the focus of CORE Groups is on building sacred relationships, the most important “texts” that will ground these discussions will be the Torah each member has to offer based on his or her own life experiences. However, in order to facilitate deep and meaningful conversation, and to help connect your lived experiences to Jewish tradition, we offer a number of discussion series.
We ask that each member commit to completing the series chosen by the group. At the end of a series, a group may choose to conclude, or may choose to start another series based on members’ interests. If group members would prefer to ground their discussions in content other than that which is offered in these series (or to create a customized program using materials from two or more series), they are of course welcome to do so.
This Spring, we are offering a new opportunity for reflection as we dive into the Omer—the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot. As in the month of Elul, Jewish tradition encourages us to use these 7 weeks as a time of contemplation and personal accounting.
This series draw’s on Abby Pogrebin’s book, My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew, and allows participants to explore their own experience of living in Jewish time. Each session is tied to a particular holiday, allowing members to engage in a real-time exploration of these moments in the Jewish year.
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
This original series, created by Rabbi Nicole Auerbach, offers participants an opportunity to explore the Jewish roots of social justice work, and to ask key questions that will help guide and enrich their efforts to repair the world. In addition to asking “What is Jewish about social justice,” the series allows members to explore such questions as: “How do I balance my obligation to the Jewish community with my obligations to others?” “Should I prioritize my local community, or other communities in greater need?” and “How much should I give?” The series is grounded in traditional and contemporary Jewish texts, but offers ample opportunity for members to explore their own beliefs.
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide | 10 Statements
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
This series allows members to build on the foundational discussions of the first year curriculum by diving deep into contemporary justice issues, such as immigration, environmental protection, and racial justice. Each discussion blends secular texts with Jewish tradition, allowing members to consider what Judaism has to say about some of the most pressing issues of our day. This series was commissioned in loving memory of Central member and CORE Group leader Linda Gordon by the members of her group, so that her dedication to both social justice and the CORE Group experience would continue to inspire and bring meaning to our community.
Based on the book Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: Our Jewish Obligation to Social Justice (edited by Rabbi Seth M. Limmer, DHL and Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner), this discussion series dives deeply into the texts and values underlying the Jewish call to social justice. A range of authors tackle such issues as immigration, gender equity, mass incarceration, and many more. Participants will need to acquire a copy of the book on which this series is based, which can be purchased from the publisher, www.ccarpress.org.
Facilitator’s Guide | Discussion Guide
These discussions will use the weekly and High Holy Days sermons of our Central Synagogue clergy as touchstone texts, allowing members to delve more deeply into how our sacred texts inform their everyday lives. Group members may listen to the sermon in person or online. Accompanying each sermon is a discussion guide, including guiding questions and supplemental texts to help flesh out the discussion.
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon audio & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon audio & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study | West Wing clip
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Sermon video & text | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
In the ancient Jewish text Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), a group of rabbinic scholars in Israel at the beginning of the Common Era fashioned a roadmap to living a moral life. A millennia and a half later, Ben Franklin created his own plan for a moral life. He identified 13 virtues as the framework for self-improvement and started his mutual-improvement club as a support group to keep him and his peers on track. The initiative we’re calling Ben Franklin Meets Pirkei Avot pairs Franklin’s virtues with corresponding selections from Pirkei Avot. The toolkit and resources – created in partnership by 92Y, the URJ, and Central Synagogue – provide a side-by-side comparison of two great traditions. Use the readings, questions, and outline to facilitate a unique and powerful dialogue about Jewish and American values.
Created in partnership with the groundbreaking community-building organization Ask Big Questions, each session in this series focuses on a universal “big question” designed to facilitate reflection, story sharing and intentional community building. Examples of such “big questions” include: “For whom are we responsible?” “What do we choose to ignore?” and “What will your legacy be?”
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
Facilitator’s Guide | Participant’s Guide
This curriculum is grounded in the Jewish concept of makhloet l’shem shamayim – arguments for the sake of heaven – and was framed by our Enduring Disagreements Speaker Series. Drawing on both Jewish and secular texts, we hope to gain an understanding of why diversity of opinion is so important, and how we can learn to listen to and respect those with whom we disagree.
TED Talk: On Being Wrong | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Viewpoint Diversity Experience | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
Linda Sarsour & American Jewish Politics | Facilitator’s Guide | Text Study
TED Talk, Jonathan Haidt: The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives »
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