A New Tradition : History, Theory, Even Feminism Mark Jewish Education Week Talks

In an unusual exploration of their heritage, Orange County Jews young and old are gathering this week to learn about topics as diverse as “How to Refute Missionaries” and “Male and Female Roles in the Bible.”

The reason for the sudden rush for knowledge: Jewish Education Week, proclaimed by the County Board of Supervisors at the urging of the nonprofit Bureau of Jewish Education.

Organizers hope the four daily lunch-and-learn sessions held at businesses and community centers throughout the county this week will show the Jewish community that religious education is dynamic, provocative and may even be the answer to national leaders’ fears that American Jews are losing touch with their roots.

“The big discussion nationally is how to make the Jewish people survive. Well, we think it’s education,” said program organizer Joan Kaye, executive director of the Bureau of Jewish Education, as a roomful of participants nearby analyzed Dr. Robin Goldberg’s feminist interpretation of the Book of Genesis.

“People don’t think that’s sexy. They think of Hebrew school and many of them probably had bad experiences as youngsters. But this is Jewish education,” Kaye said.

The event kicked off Friday with a tribute to Jewish educators at synagogues countywide. The lunchtime study sessions began Monday and continue through Thursday. Sessions still to come today and Thursday include “Suing Your Rabbi--Clergy, Malpractice and Jewish Law,” and “A View of Suffering in Jewish Tradition.”

On Jan. 25, the Board of Supervisors proclaimed Feb. 11-18 Jewish Education Week on a motion by Supervisor Thomas F. Riley. The gesture thrilled organizers like Kaye, but she said the purpose of the discussions is to enlighten the Jewish community and honor Jewish educators--not to spread knowledge of Jewish religion and history to non-Jews.

That, she said, is a task yet to be tackled.

“We wanted to combine the idea of everybody studying, for free, in a lot of different places . . . open to the public (with the of honoring) Jewish teachers,” she said.

In Orange County, about 3,000 students attend Jewish schools, which are run by most of the county’s 21 synagogues, Kaye said. To commemorate this week’s events, teachers compiled a small book of their students’ writings about being Jewish.

The most popular events, however, proved to be the lunchtime learning sessions, some of which included lunch spreads of bagels, cream cheese and lox. The discussions attracted participants ranging from 9-year-old James Van Tatenhove of Irvine to 76-year-old Ruth Cohen of Laguna Hills.

“This is a whole different way of looking at things,” said 42-year-old Lauren Packard of Laguna Beach, after sitting in Goldberg’s session. “It’s wonderful to have a feminist outlook on the Bible.”

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The lunch sessions provided an opportunity for others to share their experiences.

Davida Gregory said she has been trying for years to draw attention to the plight of developmentally disabled children and other Jewish children who need to be institutionalized.

“There’s a great need in the Jewish community for homes for kids who are developmentally disabled,” said Gregory, 46, of Irvine, who attended a Monday session by Rabbi Jane Litman titled “Educating the Community About Non-Traditional Families.”

Gregory proudly showed off a picture of her own family, a mix of stepchildren and foster kids of varied ethnic and religious backgrounds, some of them with developmental problems.

“There’s Lutheran homes, there’s Baptist homes, there’s Catholic homes--but there is no Jewish home,” she said. “I’d really like the Jewish community to become more aware of this population, because they can’t speak for themselves.”

Litman’s Laguna Beach congregation, Kol Simcha, caters to the gay and lesbian community. Most of the people who attended her session, however, didn’t need much convincing that Jews must more publicly acknowledge diversity within their community.

A Brea woman at Litman’s session said she started a support group for Jewish parents of gays and lesbians when her son came out to her four years ago. She asked that her name not be used to protect her son’s privacy.

She attended the discussion to meet other parents like herself and to learn what more she can do to break traditional stereotypes, she said.

For others, the study sessions are an encouraging sign that Orange County’s Jewish community is coming together.

“I think the Orange County Jewish community is still trying to create its own pathways and networks,” said Phyllis Lerner of Huntington Beach, who attended Goldberg’s session on male and female roles in the Bible. “It’s a very Christian-dominated county.”

To Kaye, the keen interest in the lunch sessions--about 150 people attended on Monday and Tuesday--is significant.

“I hope it brings the community together,” she said. “Orange County has not been known for its Jewish community, but there’s a tremendous hunger (for knowledge) here.”