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February 14, 2003
Hebrew school for adults
Jewish Learning Institute has university-level courses.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman stood in front of his class of more than
20 adult students and took a deep breath. He explained that what
they would be studying for the next eight weeks was anything but
simple. They were going to merely scratch the surface of a topic
that many rabbis had dedicated much of their lives to studying.
The class was Kabbalah Rhythms: A Spiritual Roadmap to Higher Living
and it is the current course being offered by the Jewish Learning
Institute (JLI). While Baitelman admitted it is a challenge to tackle
such a complex concept in an eight-week course, it's the type of
challenge the JLI takes on a regular basis.
The Jewish Learning Institute offers university-level courses for
adults who are looking for a deeper study of Judaism. A division
of the Shluchim office of the Worldwide Chabad Lubavitch Resource
Centre in New York, the JLI prepares courses that are taught by
Lubavitch rabbis in 66 different places around the world. Chabad
Richmond is one of only four locations in Canada currently offering
JLI courses. And, under the leadership of Baitelman, people of all
sects and levels of Jewish education in the local community have
made a strong connection to the program.
"I didn't attend a Jewish day school growing up," said
Lou Zivot, a member of Beth Tikvah Synagogue, who had enrolled in
a previous JLI course, as well as Kabbalah Rhythms. "And although
I had become more involved in synagogue life with the bar mitzvah's
of my two sons, I had a lot of questions about Judaism.
"While at first having some trepidations about the men in black
hats," he continued, "my wife and I found Rabbi Baitelman
to be very approachable, engaging and extremely knowledgeable."
Another JLI student, Arnold Schuchat, said he felt he had learned
a lot about Jewish traditions as a child. However, the JLI courses
have taught him more of the significance behind the customs.
"If we get back to the why instead of the how, I believe there
will not only be greater meaning in the celebration of our traditions,
but that more people will feel it worthwhile to participate in our
religious festivities and will understand why they are done a certain
way," he said. "And if I am going to learn, why not learn
from someone who has dedicated his whole life to finding meaning
in our religion."
Baitelman explained that the Kabbalah Rhythms course focuses on
Jewish mysticism and the connection with the soul. He did caution
his class, however, that eight weeks of studying kabbalah won't
make them instant mystics.
"My concern would be people walking in and expecting to be
mystics in 20 minutes or being able to change their lives, know
how many children they are going to have or how they can make a
million dollars." he said. "That's now what it is about."
What he does hope his students will get out of the course is a different
way of approaching the trials and tribulations of daily life. As
an example, he used the common desire to run a red light when someone
is late for work.
"You can be frustrated with a red light and say, 'Oh I'm going
to be late for work so I'm going to run the red light.' Or you can
say, '[the red light] is the preservation of life. Thank God for
red lights. Thank the government for red lights.' There are two
ways of viewing everything," he said.
Each class in Kabbalah Rhythms is broken into separate lessons with
titles like A New Point of View, Providence: Is it Really "Meant
to be" and The Mysteries of Personality.
Baitelman explained that the study of kabbalah is often just a deeper
look into the Jewish soul. In the first class, he quoted Rabbi Adin
Steinsaltz, a renowned Talmudic scholar and kabbalist, who said,
"[The course] begins quite deliberately and, perhaps to the
dismay of some, with a view of another reality. And if a person
permits a soul to listen, the soul will soon learn that all it needs
to do is remember."
For more information, visit www.chabadrichmond.com
or call 604-277-6427. Information about the JLI can be found at
www.jlicentral.com.
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