Introduction to Judaism
course of the
Institute for Conversion & Outreach Education of the Rabbinical Assembly
New Jersey Region
Fall 2024-Spring 2025
Course starts- Wed. Nov 7 ( Hoboken), Thurs. Oct. 31 (Morristown), and Sun. Nov 3 (virtual only).
Cost: $ 625 Individual $ 775 Couple
some financial aid is available.
course of the
Institute for Conversion & Outreach Education of the Rabbinical Assembly
New Jersey Region
Fall 2024-Spring 2025
Course starts- Wed. Nov 7 ( Hoboken), Thurs. Oct. 31 (Morristown), and Sun. Nov 3 (virtual only).
Cost: $ 625 Individual $ 775 Couple
some financial aid is available.
To register for classes beginning Fall 2025, use the form at the bottom of this page (or at this link).
Curious about Judaism?
Whether you are a spiritual seeker, want to know more about your faith, are considering conversion, or have Jewish family members, join us to learn more about Jewish ethics, spirituality, traditions, values, and practice. The classes are dynamic and interactive, and the teachers are engaging, and open to your questions. Our program celebrates the ethnic, racial and cultural diversity of the Jewish people and Jewish communities and is LGBTQ-friendly.
Please note that our class fulfills many of the educational requirements towards conversion to Judaism, but interest in conversion is not a prerequisite for participation.
The course is taught by Conservative Rabbis of the New Jersey Rabbinical Assembly. For more info click the tab above, contact Ellen Nesson at 973 214 4553, or use the feedback form.
5OURSE MATERIALS: Purchase of the following seven course books is required. These books, many of which are available in e-book formats, are readily available for on-line purchase at Amazon.com and bn.com; used or discounted copies may be available at those sites or half.com, Ebay, or other sites. If you have difficulty finding these books, contact Ellen Nesson at 973-214-4553.
TOPICS:
Session 1: Welcome & Introduction: Three Dimensions of Jewish Identity: Behaving, Believing, Belonging
Session 2: Tanakh -- The Hebrew Bible
Session 3: The Oral Torah: Making Judaism What it is today
Session 4: What (if anything) do Jews believe about God?
Session 5: Jewish Time
Session 6: Chanukkah & Jewish-Christian Relations
Session 7: Mitzvot: The Holiness of Doing
Session 8: The High Holidays: Teshuva, Responsibility & New Beginnings
Session 9: Birth, Covenant & Parenting
Session 10: Prayer & Spiritual Practice
Session 11: Shabbat -- A Palace in Time
Session 12: Sacred eating: Is that kosher?!
Session 13: Sex, Marriage & Divorce
Session 14: Dying, Death, Mourning & Afterlife
Session 15: Finding God through Joy: Purim
Session 16: Contemporary Ethical Issues (Tzedakah; Bioethics; Environmental Ethics)
Session 17: As If You Came Forth from Egypt: Passover
Session 18: Antisemitism and the Shoa
Session 19: Israel Through the Eyes of the Bible and the Sages
Session 20: Zionism & Israel Today
Session 21: Gender and Judaism
Session 22: Jewish Diversity Today
Session 23: American Judaism
Session 24: Shavu'ot: Jewish Perspectives on Conversion, Siyyum
LATE ENROLLMENT IN THE COURSE: Once the course has begun, permission to enroll in the course will be at the discretion of the instructor and the administrator. There will, however, be an opportunity for students to join the course at its midpoint, approximately February 1, 2025, subject to the following conditions:
· Students must pay their tuition in full, with the understanding that they will continue in one of the course locations in the fall of 2025 to make up the class sessions they have missed;
· The instructor will meet with the student to learn about the student’s interest in Judaism and prior experience with Jewish study, to determine the student’s readiness to enter the course mid-stream;
· As the Hebrew instruction component of the course is cumulative, students agree to arrange for Hebrew instruction in a different manner.
INFORMATION FOR THOSE CONSIDERING CONVERSION: While our course fulfills the basic study component of the conversion process in Conservative Judaism, it does not by itself comprise all of the requirements of a conversion.
Additional requirements include (for men only) brit milah (ritual circumcision) or hatafat dam brit (symbolic equivalent to circumcision for men already circumcised), and (for both men and women) a declaration of commitment to the mitzvot (commandments) of Jewish tradition in the presence of a beit din (rabbinic court), and tevillah (immersion in a mikveh, ritual bath).
Those pursing the conversion process should have a “rabbinic sponsor” who guides them through the conversion process, including these additional requirements above. Instructors in the ICOE courses do not automatically serve as such sponsors, but may be approached to do so. If you are looking for a rabbinic sponsor for conversion, the ICOE administrator, Ellen Nesson, can help to link you to a rabbi in your area.
Please note: Our program provides an in depth study of basic Judaism, but preparation for conversion, and the exact length of the process, varies from sponsor to sponsor and often takes longer than the length of the course.
ATTENDANCE: Attendance at each session is expected as it is vital to the integrity of the overall program. Those who miss any class will be asked to make up the material through work to be assigned by the instructor. Except in highly extenuating circumstances as determined by the instructor, those who are absent more than four times will not receive "Certificates of Completion.”
We strongly encourage couples to take this course together. Some rabbinic sponsors may require the attendance of spouses or significant others of conversion candidates.
TUITION: A tuition check for the full amount of $ 625 for an individual, or $ 775 for a couple, made payable to the NJRA (New Jersey Rabbinical Assembly), must accompany the registration form if not completing online registration form. Please write "ICOE” in the memo area of the check. Tuition covers the expense of all instruction and study materials. Extracurricular activities and events offered through the program may carry additional costs. Tuition is non-refundable once classes are in session. We are not set up for credit card payments but payment via PayPal is possible (see the yellow tab "Add to Cart" below). Please note a fee is added to the payment. Financial Aid is available.
Questions of a general nature and financial arrangements about the course can be directed to Ellen Nesson, Program Administrator at (973) 214-4553 or [email protected]. If questions pertain to a specific site, Ellen will refer you to the instructor at that site.
Please send completed registration forms and checks to:
The Institute for Conversion and Outreach Education (ICOE)
Ellen Nesson, Program Coordinator
3707 Azurite Way
Bradenton, FL 34211
- Sara Hurwitz, Here All Along
- Michael Strassfeld, The Jewish Holidays: A Guide and Commentary
- Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy, 2008 Edition
- Any siddur, or one of Conservative prayer books: Lev Shalem or Siddur Sim Shalom: A Prayerbook for Shabbat, Festivals, and Weekdays (1985 edition, or 1989 pocket edition)
- Bradley Shavit Artson, It’s a Mitzvah!
- Martin S. Cohen and Michael Katz, The Observant Life (Note: this book is very expensive in print and is more reasonable and useful as as an e-book.)
- Tanakh--The Jewish Publication Society's English translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (edition from 1985 or later) (note that www.sefaria.org also has the text of the Tanakh, for free)
- Aleph Isn’t Tough: An Introduction to Hebrew for Adults
TOPICS:
Session 1: Welcome & Introduction: Three Dimensions of Jewish Identity: Behaving, Believing, Belonging
Session 2: Tanakh -- The Hebrew Bible
Session 3: The Oral Torah: Making Judaism What it is today
Session 4: What (if anything) do Jews believe about God?
Session 5: Jewish Time
Session 6: Chanukkah & Jewish-Christian Relations
Session 7: Mitzvot: The Holiness of Doing
Session 8: The High Holidays: Teshuva, Responsibility & New Beginnings
Session 9: Birth, Covenant & Parenting
Session 10: Prayer & Spiritual Practice
Session 11: Shabbat -- A Palace in Time
Session 12: Sacred eating: Is that kosher?!
Session 13: Sex, Marriage & Divorce
Session 14: Dying, Death, Mourning & Afterlife
Session 15: Finding God through Joy: Purim
Session 16: Contemporary Ethical Issues (Tzedakah; Bioethics; Environmental Ethics)
Session 17: As If You Came Forth from Egypt: Passover
Session 18: Antisemitism and the Shoa
Session 19: Israel Through the Eyes of the Bible and the Sages
Session 20: Zionism & Israel Today
Session 21: Gender and Judaism
Session 22: Jewish Diversity Today
Session 23: American Judaism
Session 24: Shavu'ot: Jewish Perspectives on Conversion, Siyyum
LATE ENROLLMENT IN THE COURSE: Once the course has begun, permission to enroll in the course will be at the discretion of the instructor and the administrator. There will, however, be an opportunity for students to join the course at its midpoint, approximately February 1, 2025, subject to the following conditions:
· Students must pay their tuition in full, with the understanding that they will continue in one of the course locations in the fall of 2025 to make up the class sessions they have missed;
· The instructor will meet with the student to learn about the student’s interest in Judaism and prior experience with Jewish study, to determine the student’s readiness to enter the course mid-stream;
· As the Hebrew instruction component of the course is cumulative, students agree to arrange for Hebrew instruction in a different manner.
INFORMATION FOR THOSE CONSIDERING CONVERSION: While our course fulfills the basic study component of the conversion process in Conservative Judaism, it does not by itself comprise all of the requirements of a conversion.
Additional requirements include (for men only) brit milah (ritual circumcision) or hatafat dam brit (symbolic equivalent to circumcision for men already circumcised), and (for both men and women) a declaration of commitment to the mitzvot (commandments) of Jewish tradition in the presence of a beit din (rabbinic court), and tevillah (immersion in a mikveh, ritual bath).
Those pursing the conversion process should have a “rabbinic sponsor” who guides them through the conversion process, including these additional requirements above. Instructors in the ICOE courses do not automatically serve as such sponsors, but may be approached to do so. If you are looking for a rabbinic sponsor for conversion, the ICOE administrator, Ellen Nesson, can help to link you to a rabbi in your area.
Please note: Our program provides an in depth study of basic Judaism, but preparation for conversion, and the exact length of the process, varies from sponsor to sponsor and often takes longer than the length of the course.
ATTENDANCE: Attendance at each session is expected as it is vital to the integrity of the overall program. Those who miss any class will be asked to make up the material through work to be assigned by the instructor. Except in highly extenuating circumstances as determined by the instructor, those who are absent more than four times will not receive "Certificates of Completion.”
We strongly encourage couples to take this course together. Some rabbinic sponsors may require the attendance of spouses or significant others of conversion candidates.
TUITION: A tuition check for the full amount of $ 625 for an individual, or $ 775 for a couple, made payable to the NJRA (New Jersey Rabbinical Assembly), must accompany the registration form if not completing online registration form. Please write "ICOE” in the memo area of the check. Tuition covers the expense of all instruction and study materials. Extracurricular activities and events offered through the program may carry additional costs. Tuition is non-refundable once classes are in session. We are not set up for credit card payments but payment via PayPal is possible (see the yellow tab "Add to Cart" below). Please note a fee is added to the payment. Financial Aid is available.
Questions of a general nature and financial arrangements about the course can be directed to Ellen Nesson, Program Administrator at (973) 214-4553 or [email protected]. If questions pertain to a specific site, Ellen will refer you to the instructor at that site.
Please send completed registration forms and checks to:
The Institute for Conversion and Outreach Education (ICOE)
Ellen Nesson, Program Coordinator
3707 Azurite Way
Bradenton, FL 34211
Click the button below to pay for the class by PayPal.
