Class: The Origin and Meaning of the High Holy Day and Festival Prayer Books

Do you sometimes feel like the High Holy Day prayers leave you "Lost in Translation"? Or was your experience on Rosh Hashanah reminiscent of the movie, "Ground Hog Day"?

In this 3-session class you will:

• learn how the rituals and prayers that mark the High Holy Days and major festivals came together.
• gain an understanding of the meaning of the ritual, where the prayers come from, why they follow a particular order, and their significance throughout the ages and in Jewish communities throughout the world.
• understand why some Jews usher in their new years and mark their seasons with much greater reverence and much deeper love and devotion than the Jews who will gather the world over in Times Square to watch the ball drop ushering in the New Year of 5772.

We will refer to the High Holy Day Prayer book, The Machzor. Bring your own copy or borrow one of our books.

Information on Speaker:
Jeffrey Levin has been an instructor at Shir Hadash for a long time. He has taught Hebrew, Hebrew High, Religious School, Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Adult Education Programs. He holds a Master's Degree in Jewish History from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a Bachelor's from both the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel and the University of California, Berkeley.

Last year, Jeffrey taught Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avoth) and How Judaism Began.

To register for this class, please contact patty@shirhadash.org, or call (408) 358-1751 ext 7.

The first three classes will focus on The High Holidays and Festivals, and the second three will be Shabbat and Weekdays, January 12, January 26, and February 9, 2011.