With all of the enticing workshops on the Kolot Nashim schedule, Rabbi Chaya Gusfield wishes the evening of Torah study and learning for women could last longer than just one night.
“I’d do an all-day event if I could,” said Gusfield, of Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville.
The third annual Kolot Nashim is set for 7 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, April 22 at Beth Chaim. The free event, sponsored by a wide consortium of East Bay synagogues and community organizations, is expected to bring together women from all streams of Judaism. Gusfield is looking for attendance of at least 100.
Kolot Nashim participants can choose one workshop from each of two study sessions led by female rabbis, cantors and scholars from the East Bay.
“It feels like a true grassroots effort,” said Gusfield, noting that workshop themes were selected based on input from members of Beth Chaim’s sisterhood. “We’re offering a variety of workshops that will speak to women of different interests, expertise and movements.”
Workshops run the gamut from the artistic to the practical. A session examining ancient Jewish texts as inspiration for contemporary metal art will be led by San Francisco metal artist Aimee Golant, while Torah scribe Julie Seltzer will describe her experience writing a sefer Torah at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.
East Bay cantors Jennie Chabon, Linda Hirschhorn and Ilene Keys will discuss “the beloved” in L’Cha Dodi, while Rabbi Jennifer Flam of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek will explore making Jewish choices in a non-Jewish world.
Other workshops include: “Dayenu for Parents: When Is ‘Good Enough’ Good Enough as Parents and as Jews” with Rachel Brodie, the founding director of Jewish Milestones; “Creation and Mysticism: Limits to Learning Mysteries of the Torah” with Nell Mahgel-Friedman of the Merkavah Torah Institute in Berkeley; and “Exploring Eco-Kashrut: Expanding What It Means to Be Kosher” with Julie Wolk and Lisa Schachter-Brooks from Wilderness Torah, an East Bay group that seeks to connect Jewish ritual to nature.
Hundreds of women converged for the first Kolot Nashim, held at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, to celebrate the publishing of “The Torah: A Women’s Commentary.” The book reinterprets passages to reflect the female experience, gender issues and individual women in the Torah.
Last year the program took place at Temple Beth Abra-ham in Oakland; this year it’s Beth Chaim’s turn to open its doors, especially to those who have never been to the Danville synagogue.
“We’ll meet as a group, sing together [and] talk about the women’s Torah project,” Gusfield said, referring to the creation of the first sefer Torah in history to be scribed by an international community of women. “The conversation continues.”
Kolot Nashim is 7-9:30 p.m. Thursday, April 22 at Beth Chaim Congregation, 1800 Holbrook Drive, Danville. Information and to RSVP: (925) 736-7146.