The Adas Yoshuron Hebrew school meets once a week on Thursdays for 2 hrs. from September through May. Students range in age from 6–12 years old and numbers average around 10–12 pupils. There is also a pre-Hebrew school that meets once a month for an hour. Students enrolled in this program range in age from 3–8 years old. We expect participation for a portion of each week’s class time by the spiritual leader that would enhance the depth of study offered to students and touch upon aspects including prayer, ritual, Torah and Jewish values. Adas Yoshuron has 1–4 bar/bat mitzvahs per year. Tutoring for students is offered by the Hebrew school teacher. The spiritual leader would provide assistance with tutoring as well as guidance in prayer leadership, dvrei Torah and community action.

Books and Bagels is a twentyish year old book group associated with the Synagogue.  We started out meeting in people’s homes but have gathered in the Synagogue for more than a decade. The group is open to synagogue and community members who want to discuss books seriously. We meet one Sunday morning a month, from Sept to June, with a group of about 18 regulars and other occasional attendees.  Our selection criteria include books about Jews, books by a Jewish author or about a topic important to us as Jews.  Someone in the group takes responsibility for leading each month’s session and circulates questions a week or two before the meeting. We’ve been fortunate in that the group is often joined—in person or online—by the author. We’ve been told our Books and Bagels has a reputation as one of the best book groups in the Midcoast.

Food in Jewish Culture is about 12 years old. Our interest is in learning about food Jews eat in different parts of the world, the role food plays in some holidays and in daily life.  We have invited authors (Joan Nathan, Louisa Shafia and others), food historians (Naama Shefi of the Jewish Food Society) and chefs to speak. We prepare food selected by the speaker for those who attend the talk. We sometimes provide food specific to a holiday for the Synagogue or for a group of participants and occasionally cook and share a meal representing Jews of a specific country or community. The talks often draw a full house. Due to the pandemic Food in Jewish Culture has been inactive the last few years, but we have plans to start up again, perhaps in March with a repeat of our 2015 tasting of about 20 different Charosets.

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