The fourth annual Global Day of Jewish Learning, which brings people together for community-based study and conversation on a common theme, will include several Bay Area organizations and synagogues on Nov. 17.
This year’s theme is “Creating Together: Jewish Approaches to Creativity and Collaboration.” All events are free and open to the public.
The JCC of the East Bay will present classes led by rabbis and scholars from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A panel discussion on “Judaism, Jewishness and Creativity” will feature actor, writer and monologist Josh Kornbluth; singer and composer Jewlia Eisenberg; and visual artist Merav Tzur. The moderator is Dan Schifrin, writer-in-residence at the Contem-porary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Thirteen organizations are co-sponsoring the event. The JCC is located at 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. For information, visit www.tinyurl.com/global-day-jcc-2013.
In San Francisco, an afternoon of study on Judaism and tikkun olam will be held at Congregation B’nai Emunah, 3595 Taraval St., from 1 to 5 p.m. Three other synagogues are involved in sponsoring the program. For information, visit www.bnaiemunahsf.org/pg-ju.
In Santa Rosa, Congregation Shomrei Torah is partnering with PJ Library in a reading and music program for K-3 kids from 9 to 11:15 a.m. All are invited to wear pajamas and enjoy music by Octopretzel. Shomrei Torah is located at 2600 Bennett Valley Road; for information, visit www.shomreitorah.org.
For a full lineup of events or to participate online, visit www.theglobalday.com. The online component is titled 24×24 and will feature live video lectures from all over the world. The participants include novelist Dara Horn on “The Theological Art of Storytelling,” the Brooklyn band Stereo Sinai on “We Steal Lyrics from God,” UpStart Bay Area’s Maya Bernstein on “Uprooting Mountains, Maintaining Sinai” and L.A.’s Rabbi David Wolpe on “How Moses Learned to Speak.”
The Global Day of Jewish Learning is a project of the Aleph Society, which supports the work of the talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. Last year, 350 communities in 34 countries participated; this year, organizers say the numbers will hit 400 and 40.