“It’s a mini Introduction-to-Judaism class,” says Dawn Kepler, local coordinator of the Taste of Judaism program.
Sponsored by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the congregational arm of the Reform movement, Taste of Judaism courses have been offered in the United States and Canada since 1994 as part of an effort to reach unaffiliated Jews and those interested in Judaism.
Some 5,000 students have taken the free, three-session courses in such cities as Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, Minneapolis and Las Vegas; starting in February, they will be offered in the Bay Area for the first time.
At least 10 local synagogues will serve as venues, including Congregations Sherith Israel and Emanu-El in San Francisco, Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame, Congregation Beth El in Berkeley and Temple Sinai in Oakland.
Rabbi Judy Shanks will inaugurate the program with a Sunday, Feb. 2 course at her synagogue, Temple Isaiah in Lafayette.
While instructors will choose their own texts, the UAHC has asked them to work within a general outline that touches on questions of spirituality, ethics and community.
“We look for teachers who are gifted and compelling,” says Kathy Kahn, assistant national director of the UAHC’s Commission on Reform Jewish Outreach. “The teacher is very important; there needs to be a connection made with the class in three weeks.”
While she is still determining which texts she will use in her class, Shanks says creating a welcoming environment for her Taste of Judaism students will be a priority.
“My understanding is that a lot of the people who participate in the course are Jews who had turned away for many, many years from their own Jewish identity and are seeking a safe and comfortable way to come back and deal with some of the issues that took them away,” she says.
Since early January, when the paid advertisements for the courses began appearing in such secular publications as the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Montclarion and San Jose Mercury News, Kepler has received more than 400 calls of inquiry.
In fact, additional classes have been added to the local schedule to meet the high level of interest.
The calls have come from a range of people — unaffiliated Jews, interfaith couples and non-Jews interested in converting, as well as those simply interested in what Judaism has to teach. “The nice thing is, everybody is talking about what is meaningful in their lives,” Kepler says.
The UAHC started the courses as a pilot program; when the level of interest turned out to be high, the organization sought grants to keep the project alive.
“Almost everywhere we did it we had an overwhelming response,” Kahn says. “We had far more calls than we ever thought we would.”
With its high percentage of secular Jews and its tradition of spiritual inquiry, the Bay Area, Kahn believes, is fertile ground for a course such as Taste of Judaism.
Kepler agrees.
“When you’re a member of a congregation, you have opportunities for adult education,” she notes. “If you’re not affiliated, you don’t know where to begin.”