jews d

in
the

Toronto Educators

Beth Shalom to host couple at
its annual Nelson Legacy Event.

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

D

The Probate Law Firm of
Thav, Ryke & Associates

www.michprobate.com

The Probate Law Firm of Thav, Ryke & Associates handles

the administration of Estates, Trusts, Guardianships, and

Conservatorships, Life Insurance Disputes among many other

related legal matters. Our focus is mainly on Probate Litigation

and Administration. Going to court to make sure you receive

what your loved one has intended for you to receive. Tragically,

it is all too often that money is stolen from decedents, minors,

the elderly, and disabled people, and too frequently nothing is

done to put a stop to it. Innocent family members often don’t

realize until the person dies or becomes legally incapacitated

that their will has been changed, property has been deeded or

dissipated, or a bank account or life insurance policy has a new

unintended beneficiary. If you are in this situation, call us; the

consultation is free. We also do estate planning, wills, and trusts

so you can rest assured that if something does happen to you,

the right people will get their assets. So, if you have a simple

estate or trust that needs administration, or you find yourself in

the fight of your life, call the law firm that handles these issues

every single day.

24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034

1-800-728-3363

24

May 24 • 2018

jn

o men and women read the Bible differently?
That’s the question Rabbi Elyse Goldstein will
answer as the keynote speaker for this year’s Nelson
Legacy Event at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park,
which will start on Wednesday, June 6.
For the second half of the event, a lunch-and-learn
program at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, June 7, Baruch Sienna,
Goldstein’s husband, will present an interactive workshop,
“Making Letters Dance and Fly,” a history of the Hebrew
alphabet showing how pictures became words.
Gender colors many people’s experiences in the academic,
personal, emotional and spiritual realms, says Goldstein,
founding rabbi of the City Shul in Toronto. In Bible study, gen-
der may seem invisible, but recognizing how others feel and
hear things may change our minds about it. Goldstein will
examine whether Bible study can ever be truly gender-neutral.
Before starting City Shul,
Goldstein served as the director
of Kolel: The Adult Centre for
Liberal Jewish Learning.
She graduated summa cum
laude from Brandeis University
in 1978 and, in 1981, earned a
master’s degree from Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion, where she was ordained
in 1983.
Her articles have appeared in
scholarly and popular journals.
She is the author of ReVisions:
Rabbi Elyse Goldstein and her husband, Baruch Sienna Seeing Torah through a Feminist
Lens and the editor of The
Women’s Torah Commentary, The
Women’s Haftarah Commentary and New Jewish Feminism.
In 2005, Goldstein received the Covenant Award for
Exceptional Jewish Educators, one of the most prestigious
Jewish education awards. The Covenant Foundation sponsored
her appearance in Detroit last year at Limmud.
Toronto Jewish educator and artist Sienna will present at the
second part of the Nelson Legacy Event.
He will show how the Hebrew alphabet has evolved and
continues to be transformed. Using an interactive format, he
will lead participants in playing with letter forms, turning let-
ters and words into pictures and transforming text into visual
midrash (interpretation of the Torah).
Sienna was the first person to create Hebrew fonts on the
Apple Mac computer system. He has designed educational digi-
tal media, and now works as a visual digital artist and graphic
designer with a focus on Jewish texts and letters. He has taught
calligraphy, designed ketubot and created siddurim for syna-
gogues and Jewish day schools.
A master Jewish educator, Sienna has taught in day
schools and served as webmaster for Kolel: The Adult Centre
for Liberal Jewish Learning in Toronto. He is the author of
The Natural Bible, an encyclopedia of Judaism and the envi-
ronment.
Admission to Goldstein’s lecture, which includes a dessert
reception, is $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
Admission to Sienna’s lunch-and-learn program is
$22. Lunch will be provided by Bloom’s Kosher Catering.
Reservations are a must.
Reserve for either event or both by calling the synagogue
office at (248) 547-7970 or emailing cbs@congbethshalom.
org. •