One Congregation/One Book Returns!
Food for the Body/Food for the Soul
| Click here to sign up for Food for the Body Track |
Click here to sign up for Food for the Soul Track |
One Congregation/One Book will return in October. This year there will be two tracks and a total of three books. (And yes, we are still calling it One Congregation/ One Book.) You can join either track, but it is best to do both.
Track 1: Food for the Body
We will explore the world of Jewish food by reading two books. First, we will read The 100 Most Jewish Foods: A Highly Debatable List. This book is anthology of essays on all things edible and Jewish. Consider it an appetizer for our main course, Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages, by David C. Kraemer. This book explores the tie between food and identity, examining not just what Jews eat, but also “how, when, and with whom they eat it.”
The 100 Most Jewish Foods is readily available in print or as an ebook (click here). Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages, is less easy to come by. Apologies for the high price of the ebook. Like a nice kugel or plate of hummus, we may want to share around some copies. It is the best book of its kind, so we will make do. Click here for information from Amazon. Let us know if you find other sources for the main course of Track 1.
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Track 2: Food for the Soul
Our food for the soul will be Robert Alter’s The Book of Psalms: A Translation and Commentary. The Psalms have been our people’s constant companion in times of joy and sorrow. Join us as we spend a year in the world of the Psalms, seeing them in a new light through Alter’s beautiful translation and insightful commentary.
The book is available in print or as an ebook (click here).
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| Robert Alter will join us for a Q & A (via Zoom) on Saturday, 23rd October at 9:30 AM. Click here for Zoom link. Prof. Alter will also be joining us as a scholar-in-residence (via Zoom) on Shavuot. Details to follow. (This program is made possible through the generous sponsorship of the Salata Family.) |
See below for the schedule of check-ins and suggested reading schedules.
Food for the Soul Track Check-in Dates
October 24
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
October 27
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
November 14
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
November 17
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
December 15
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
January 16
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
January 19
-Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
February 13
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
February 16
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
March 20
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
March 23
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
April 13
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
May 22
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
May 25
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
Suggested Reading Schedule for Food for the Soul Track
October – Psalms 1-20
November – Psalms 21-40
December – Psalms 41-60
January – Psalms 61-80
February – Psalms 81-100
March – Psalms 101-120
April – Psalms 121-140
Food for the Body Track Check-in Dates
November 21
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
November 24
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
December 22
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
January 23
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
January 26
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
February 20
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
February 23
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
March 27
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
March 30
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
April 24
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
April 27
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
May 29
– Sunday at 10:30 AM in The UJC Sanctuary and on Zoom
June 1
– Wednesday at 12:30 PM via Zoom
Suggested Reading Schedule for Food for the Body Track
November – All of The 100 Most Jewish Foods,
Chapter 1 of Jewish Eating
December– Chapters 2-3
January– Chapters 4-5
February– Chapters 6-7
March – Chapters 8-9
April– Chapter 10
May – Catch up
About Robert Alter
| Robert Alter is Professor of the Graduate School and Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. Prof. Alter has written extensively on literary aspects of the Bible. His twenty-eight published books include two prize-winning volumes on biblical narrative and poetry and award-winning translations of Genesis and of the Five Books of Moses. In 2018, after two decades of work, Prof. Alter published his complete translation of the Hebrew Bible with commentary. In 2009 he received the Robert Kirsch Award from the Los Angeles Times for lifetime contribution to American letters and in 2013 the Charles Homer Haskins Prize for career achievement from the American Council of Learned Societies. |  |