Mesillat Yesharim is VIRUTAL! Register here!
Women's Table proudly invites you to join us in study once again!
Facilitated by the amazing Rabbi Deb Gordon of Congregation Berith Sholom in Troy.
Beginning June 16 on Wednesday mornings, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
$36 suggested donation for the course semester (June–December 2021) plus the cost of the textbook.
Registration required for Zoom access. Questions? Contact KB Goodkin.
This year, we will gather and begin each Wednesday by continuing our learning around ethics and how they impact our lives today. Mesillat Yesharim is a classic of Jewish ethical literature. Written by Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto, one of the leading kabbalists of the late Middle Ages, it is also a window into the kabbalist’s understanding of the connection between ethics and mystical vision. Luzzatto was one of the great Hebrew stylists of his time, and is acknowledged by some as the first writer of modern Hebrew; thus Mesillat Yesharim is also important for its place in Hebrew literature.
We will be using this text. The text is available online, both used and new, and we will have a few copies available for sale.
Rabbi Debora S. Gordon was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1997 and came directly to Congregation Berith Sholom. In her more than two decades in New York's Capital District, she has guided Berith Sholom into a dynamic congregation of learners and leaders, while the congregation has nurtured Rabbi Gordon in practices of Tikkun Olam—deeds that repair the world. Music and Jewish text are passions she inherited from her grandfathers, and she infuses these loves into her teaching and davvening (praying) to make them meaningful, full of life, and grounded in reality.
Rabbi Gordon attended Carleton College in Minnesota and Indiana University, graduating with a degree in Near Eastern Language and Literature (Hebrew). Her senior thesis in rabbinical school addressed the topic of “disqualified witnesses" in Jewish law, seeking to understand how Jews whose behavior does not follow halachic norms have been viewed by Jewish tradition.
She grew up in the Reform Movement, attending Oconomowoc (OSRUI) and Camp Swig, and she has served as faculty at URJ Crane Lake Camp in West Stockbridge for many years. Her family also has roots in the Conservative Movement, and she is as at home davvening a traditional service as she is leading Debbie Friedman melodies with guitar.
Rabbi Gordon is a founding member of the local chapters of Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, member and past president of the Capital District Board of Rabbis and Cantors, past member of the Sidney Albert Lectureship Board at the College of St. Rose, and on the board of Troy Area United Ministries.
You may find her on Facebook.com/RebDebGordon, Twitter @RebDebGordon, and Instagram as RebDebGordon.
Sponsor: Women's Table, Jewish Federation of NENY