Programs

Parshanut: An Intro to Jewish Commentary

Wednesdays at 6:00-7:30 PM EST October 21st - November 25th

This six session class will introduce students to the world of Jewish Torah commentary, known as parshanut. We'll study the weekly Torah portion with some of the most foundational commentators, exploring the approaches of these medieval and early modern rabbis to interpreting Tanakh.

Join ACJ board member Miriam Eisenstat and Author Aaron Kreuter for a conversation about Aaron’s new book Asunder. The first English-language anthology dedicated solely to Jewish anti-Zionist fiction, Asunder charts a new direction in Jewish literature as it takes a stand against the violent ethnic nationalisms that are currently destroying both Palestine and the world.

Want to host Shabbat but not sure where to start?
Join us for Hosting with the Shabbat Haggadah, a live class on using ACJ's monthly Shabbat guide to bring people together around your table.

We'll walk through the blessings, talk through the questions hosts run into (What about the Hebrew? What if my guests have very different backgrounds? What if I'm the least experienced person there?), and help you plan your own Shabbat meal.
No experience or Hebrew required. You'll leave with a worksheet, a marked-up guide, and a plan.

For the last three years on Yom Kippur, the ACJ has joined with Rabbis for Ceasefire and other partners to hold a public Yizkor ritual in New York City to mourn for the victims of Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

This ritual guide can be used to follow along virtually to the in-person Yizkor ritual in NYC, to host your own Yizkor ritual using the prayers we have provided, or as material for personal reflection on loss, grief, and recommitment to justice.

The guide includes instructions on how to use the material to conduct your own public ritual on or around Yom Kippur.

We hope this guide invites you into deep reflection and concrete action. May we all be sealed in the book of life, and may our prayer and deeds be in service of the liberation of all people.

The ritual of Tashlich—casting bread into water while reflecting on the wrongdoings of the previous year—is a potent, tangible way to reset and recommit for the year ahead.

This Tashlich guide uses the four worlds of Kabbalah, the layers of reality our ancient mystics saw as integral to human existence, to engage with different forms of wrongdoing. Each page of this guide invites you to reflect on one world of wrongdoing, providing a Kavanah (intention), an excerpt from the high holiday liturgy, a responsive reading (to be split between individuals or groups), and an invitation to cast off our wrongdoings in the past year.

This ritual can be done alone, with family, in a havurah, or with a large group any time during the 10 days of Teshuvah between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The Shabbat Haggadah: Av 5786 is a guide for your Shabbat table during the month of Av, a season of deep mourning for ancient calamities and present-day suffering.

Rather than a single Kiddush, this haggadah offers four cups, each paired with a text and reflection prompts drawing from the traditional texts of Tisha B'av: the Megillah of Eicha (Lamentations) and Kinot (Elegies). The cups move through four themes: poetry and song, action and doing, ethical responsibility, and spiritual practice. You can use all four in a single evening, or one cup per Shabbat throughout the month.

This haggadah was created by the American Council for Judaism in collaboration with Rabbis for Ceasefire.

Whether you gather with a havurah, a family, a few friends around a table, or for personal reflection, this haggadah offers a structure for Shabbat that is rooted in tradition and oriented toward the world we are working to build.