FEATURED EVENTS
02.08.12 Community of Elders Wednesdays at the Temple Full Day On the second Wednesday of the month - LBT’s Community of Elders offers classes and interactive presentations in the morning, followed by a bag lunch, and choice of Yoga with Norm Gee or Fun & Games.
FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH . . . Arrive at 9:30am for coffee, tea, fruit - followed by:
10:00 - 11:15 CLASS with Bob Farrell, Freedom Rider and former Los Angeles City Council member for 17 years, speaking on: LA City Council . . . Then and Now.
11:30 - 12:30 CONVERSATION with Sandy Banks, Los Angeles Times journalist, activist/writer.
Then stay the afternoon for a 12:30 Bring Your Own Bag Lunch (Dessert & Coffee provided)
1:30 - 3:00 Yoga with Norm Gee (for ALL ages) OR
1:30 - 3:00 Fun and Games: Stay the day and play bridge, Scrabble or enjoy our lending library of books.
02.09.12 Research Training Action Community Organizing at LBT is taking off! "Research Training Action" takes place Thursday, February 9, 7:00-9:00pm at Leo Baeck Temple. Join us as we launch the research phase of our work. For the next two months we will be researching opportunities for strategic action on the economy, education and health care system, at the local and state level, with a goal of finding the most strategic focus for our campaign. Then, mark your calendar for Contact us by email at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call the temple office at 310.476.2861 to let us know to expect you.
02.09.12 People of the Book Club Join us for our monthly meetings on the second Thursday at 7:30pm in the LBT Community Lounge.
Book title for February 9 - The Last Jump: A Novel of World War II by John E. Nevola. All are welcome.
For March 8 begin reading The Last Resort by Douglas Rogers.
02.10.12 Shabbat Evening Service / Scholar-in-Residence with Professor Daniel C. Matt - "Shekhinah: the Feminine Half of God" (see details below and on 2/11 and 2/12)
Each year, since 1980, an outstanding scholar visits Leo Baeck Temple for a weekend of study and discussion. Join us this year, as we welcome our 2012 Scholar-in-Residence: Professor Daniel C. Matt
Topic: From Kabbalah to the Big Bang: Ancient Wisdom and Contemporary Spirituality
Professor Matt will introduce us to some of the central themes of Kabbalah. On Friday night he will focus on the concept of Shekhinah (the feminine aspect of God) in the context of Shabbat. In his subsequent presentations, he will show how the Zohar interprets and reimagines the Torah, and how the mystical tradition enables us to discover God in the material world. Finally, he will address the question of “God and the Big Bang,” exploring parallels between Kabbalah and contemporary cosmology, and seeking to find harmony between science and spirituality. Please see the February/March Bulletin (page 5) for additional information and to register.
02.11.12 Scholar-in-Residence Program with Professor Daniel C. Matt
Kabbalah to the Big Bang: Ancient Wisdom and Contemporary Spirituality
Shabbat Morning Minyan / Session One 9:30-12:00 Join our Shabbat morning minyan for song, prayer, and learning, as Professor Matt teaches a passage from the Zohar on the Shabbat Torah portion. Minyan is followed by a vegetarian potluch Kiddush lunch.
Session Two 1:30-3:00 The Mystical Meaning of Torah
Session Three 3:15-4:45 Raising the Sparks: Finding God in the Material World
Havdalah 5:00
See 2/10 and 2/12 for additional topic information. Go to page 5 of the February/March Bulletin to attend Saturday's program.
02.12.12 Scholar-in-Residence Program with Professor Daniel C. Matt
From Kabbalah to the Big Bang: Ancient Wisdom and Contemporary Spirituality
On Sunday morning - Session Four 9:30-11:30, Professor Matt will address the question of “God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony Between Science and Spirituality.” Please see 2/10 and 2/11 for additional topic details; to register go to page 5 of the February/March Bulletin.
Leo Baeck Bio
Penetrating insight tempered by a profound awareness of human worth marked Leo Baeck as an intellectual and spiritual leader. Born in Germany in 1873, his rabbinic career paralleled the flowering of Jewish culture there.
The son of an Orthodox rabbi, Leo Baeck received both a traditional Jewish education and secular training in the Lissa Gymnasium. He continued his dual interest in Judaism and secular thought throughout his studies, and in 1897 received a rabbinical degree from the Hochshule and a doctorate from the University of Berlin.
Rabbi Baeck’s traditional rabbinical experience included tenures at the synagogue in Oppein, Silesia, and the larger synagogue in Dusseldorf. Before Hitler came to power, Baeck was widely respected both as the Rabbi of the Oranienburger Synagogue in Berlin and as one of the foremost Jewish scholars in Europe. No doubt, it was because of Rabbi Baeck’s international reputation that Hitler hesitated to destroy him.
Rabbi Baeck’s reputation and spirit were solely tried during the Nazi years when he served first as leader of the council of German Jews established by Hitler in 1933 and later in Thersienstadt as head of the Aeltestenrat, a council of elders. Both organizations were transparent shams created by the Nazis to suggest that Jewish autonomy existed in Hitler’s Germany. Although Rabbi Baeck was criticized by some for his cooperation with the Nazis in their attempts to mask their atrocities with the appearance of justice - he was nevertheless able to utilize the positions and his international reputation to promote prayers of protest and mobilized Jewish learning as a means of resistance to the Nazi effort to annihilate the Jews.
Rabbi Baeck refused several opportunities to flee Germany stating, “I will go when I am the last Jew alive in Germany.” For those who endured the Holocaust with him at Theresienstadt, Rabbi Baeck was a heroic model of the human capacity to rise above the most degrading experiences. Ignoring his own predicament, he dedicated himself to helping his people in their misery. He lectured to them secretly on Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, and Kant. Without telling them what was happening at Auschwitz and other death camps, he comforted them, preparing them to face death with composure.
True to his word, only after the last Jew had been cared for at Theresienstadt, did Rabbi Baeck go to live in London. Though physically scarred by his ordeal, he had survived and retained the resilient spirit that characterized his life. Until his death in 1956, he lectured in England, the Hebrew University in Israel and at the Hebrew Union College in the United States, the latter establishing his association with the Reform Movement of Judaism. The Liberal Jewish seminary in London is named after him.
The decency, compassion, and gentle manner of Rabbi Baeck radiate through his powerful teachings, reiterating his affirmation of life and serving as his timeless legacy to the temple that bears his name.