JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 29

T

emple Shir Shalom’s 
Tea, Talk & Torah 
is returning in 2023 
with its first class on Jan. 
25. 
The monthly sessions 
at the West Bloomfield 
temple invite all to gather 
for an afternoon tea, 
light treats, 
schmooze and 
a brief study of 
the day’s text. 
Shir Shalom’s 
Rabbi Daniel 
Schwartz and 
Rabbi Michael 
Moskowitz take 
turns teaching the classes.
The class started off 
meeting over the summer 
of 2021 at the end of 
dealing with some of the 
COVID challenges.
“It just started off as 
an experiment, giving 
people an opportunity 
to be outdoors together 
— we studied a little bit, 
schmoozed a little bit, 
had iced tea and hot tea, 
depending on what people 
were interested in, and 
then a little bit of a nosh 
as well,” Schwartz said. 
“People really enjoyed it, 
so we’ve continued to have 
them once a month.”
In the classes, it’s usually 
three different texts that 
are studied. The first 
text is always the Torah 
portion of the week. The 
second text is something of 

interest, something that’s 
going on in the world that’s 
connected to Judaism, 
or something of interest 
somebody may have 
mentioned that the rabbis 
were interested in sharing 
with others. The third text 
is always from Pirkei Avot.
Schwartz says the 
program has been a hit, 
even with non-members. 
“The majority of people 
who are coming are 
Shir Shalom members, 
but some non-members 
have come and checked 
it out, and we’ve gained 
a couple members from 
this class as well — people 
who enjoyed the study, 
enjoyed the community 
and wanted to be a part of 
the community and part 
of other programs, too,” 
Schwartz said. 
Overall, Schwartz 
hopes the classes provide 
an opportunity to build 
community. 
“It’s the opportunity to 

make smaller communities 
within a larger community 
and then to be able to 
walk away with a little bit 
of knowledge about how 
Judaism and Jewish texts 
speak to our lives today — 
and what meaning we can 
bring into them and raise 
our spiritual awareness 
based on some of these 
texts.”
No matter what, the tea 
and nosh are always tasty. 
“We always bring it in 
from different bakeries, 
so people enjoy trying 
different bakeries from 
around town,” Schwartz 
said. “It’s a wonderful 
group. If people are 
interested in checking it 
out, we’d love to have them 
join us for it.” 

Each session stands alone. Join 

for one or all. RSVP required at 

shirshalom.org. No charge for 

members; $10 for non-members. To 

register, visit www.shirshalom.org/

event/tea-talk-torah.

Rabbi 
Daniel 
Schwartz

Temple Shir Shalom program is a fun way to learn.
Tea, Talk & Torah

BY DANNY SCHWARTZ

More Chanukah 
Art Winners

The results of our online 
voting for Chanukah art are 
in and winners are: 6 and 
under: Rossi Joseph; Ages 
7-9: Ariella Yeshurun; and 
ages 10-12: Alec Pulliam. 
Congratulations! 

