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Pray With Transgressors is a six-week series (August 5-September 9) to help you get ready for the High Holidays.
The phrase “to pray with transgressors” is taken from the Kol Nidre prayer that opens Yom Kippur services, in which the cantor declares that the congregational “we” is permitted on this night “to pray with transgressors.” The series is an unconventional tour through the High Holiday prayerbook.
Tova Birnbaum and Zoe Jick, faculty members of BINA’s Secular Yeshiva at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, will reread six of the most important and well known High Holiday prayers. Each class offers the opportunity to learn one prayer in greater detail and to connect that prayer’s themes to modern, secular texts that turn the prayer on its head.
This project is part of the Secular Yeshiva in Palo Alto, a partnership between the Oshman Family JCC and BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change.
Session 1 (August 5) - Avinu Malkenu (Our Father, Our King), or “Daddy Issues”
Session 2 (August 12) - U’netaneh Tokef (Who By Fire?), or “Are We All Going to Die?!”
Session 3 (August 19) - Avodah (The High Priest Service at the Temple), or “The Original Yom Kippur”
Session 4 (August 24) - Kol Nidrei (Annulment of Vows), or “Promises Made to be Broken”
Session 5 (September 2) - Viduy (Confession), or “A-Z Mistakes”
Session 6 (September 9) - Shofar (Ram’s Horn), or “The Wake Up Call”
Tova Birnbaum is the Director of Jewish Content at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. She was born in B'nai B'rak in an Ultra-Orthodox home and was one of the founders of the BINA Secular Yeshiva in Tel Aviv. Tova previously served as the Central Shlicha (emissary), Director of the North America Region, of the World Zionist Organization. She is a teacher of Talmudic Rabbinic Literature, a Judaic studies lecturer and a Theater Midrash workshop facilitator. She is also a secular Jewish lifecycle ceremonies officiant. Tova is an actress and a Jewish performance artist. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and Jewish philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a master's degree in theater from Tel Aviv University.
Zoe Jick is the Associate Director of Jewish Content at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. Previously, she worked at BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change, where she founded an English Beit Midrash for the Secular Yeshiva in Tel Aviv. Zoe studied religion at Wesleyan University and has a Master's Degree in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. She is also a proud alumna of several immersive Jewish learning and Israel programs, including EIE, Kivunim, Pardes, and Yeshivat Hadar. Zoe is a Wexner Graduate Fellow in Jewish Education and a member of The Schusterman Foundation's ROI Community.
BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change is an Israeli-born movement at the intersection of Jewish education and social activism. BINA works to advance democracy, pluralism and justice in Israel and the Jewish world through limud (study), ma’ase (action) and kehilla (community), emphasizing Jewish culture and values of tikkun olam (repairing the world).
As a hub for the Silicon Valley Jewish Community, the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center creates meaningful, inclusive and joyful experiences for everyone and explores innovative ways to integrate Jewish traditions and values into contemporary life. The Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life is a welcoming, innovative, multi-generational destination where individuals and families live, learn, play and connect.