enrichment & learning
The Minnesota JCC creates a wide range of day programs to add to your knowledge, deepen your curiosity and connect you to the community. Fitness programs, enrichment classes, field trips, speakers, enlivening Jewish education and social opportunities help you to stay active and engaged. No matter where your interests lie, we have something for you.
Whether in-person or virtual, we are here for you!
For more information, please feel free to contact: Irit Vinitsky at iritv@minnesotajcc.org.
ongoing programs
CREATIVE WRITING GROUP
MONDAYS • 10:30 AM – NOON
Do you have a passion for words? Join like-minded writers in this supportive and uncritical weekly creative writing group.
To join the group, contact Irit Vinitsky at iritv@minnesotajcc.org.
ART STUDIO – FOR THE ARTIST IN YOU
WEDNESDAYS • 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM • SABES CENTER
Learn Painting & Drawing in this supportive and fun class for those with no previous art experience and for those who wish to perfect their art techniques. Participants may bring their own subject matter or use a still life that will be provided. Instructor, Lou Kotlarz will offer guidance and advice per participant’s request. Please bring your own supplies. Reservations not required.
COST/PER CLASS: $8; Non JCC Members $10
Questions, contact Irit Vinitsky at iritv@minnesotajcc.org.
FREE MOVIE MATINEES
MONTHLY • 1 PM
The Minnesota JCC presents FREE monthly movie matinees at the Sabes Center Minneapolis. We are excited to bring you a variety of films – from new films to classics, comedies, dramas, musicals and more! Hope to see you at the movies!
To receive information about our next film, please CLICK HERE.
BOOK CLUB
4TH THURSDAY OF THE MONTH • 10 – 11 AM
Our Book Club reads a wide variety of texts: novels, memoirs, non-fiction, short stories and everything in-between! The conversations are enlightening and fun; the people are engaged and enthusiastic. Everyone is welcome to attend at any time.
November Book: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
by Michael Pollan
When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.
A unique blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, this book is an account of a journey to a new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self and our place in the world.
Group Discussion: November 16 • 10 AM (The group will meet1-week early due to Thanksgiving)
CLICK HERE to join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 841 4304 1087
Passcode: 190397
December Book: Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
In this interstellar adventure, Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
Group Discussion: December 28 • 10 AM
CLICK HERE to join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 814 7760 8038
Passcode: 791936
HINENI: ADULT JEWISH LEARNING AND CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES
PIRKE AVOT: ANCIENT RABBINIC WISDOM FOR TODAY’S WORLD
1ST & 3RD FRIDAYS • 11 AM – NOON ON ZOOM
The imperative to live life from your true self, as the image and likeness of God, flowers in the words of the early Rabbis (250 BCE–250 CE) who captured God’s call to be holy in Pirke Avot – a collection of pithy sayings on how best to live an ethical life. Come study this ancient work with much to say to our lives today. Drop in, no experience is necessary.
CLICK HERE for more information
special events
AARP SMART DRIVER COURSE – 4 HOUR REFRESHER COURSE
NOVEMBER 15 • 9 AM – 1 PM
COST:AARP Members: $20, Non-Members: $25
LOCATION: Capp Center St. Paul
This is a 4-Hour Refresher Course
This driver safety course will refresh you on current rules of the road, defensive driving techniques and how to operate your vehicle more safely in today’s increasingly challenging driving environment.
After completing the course, you will have a greater appreciation of driving challenges and a better understanding of how to avoid potential collisions and injuring yourself or others. Minnesota state law requires insurance providers to offer a 3 year, 10% auto insurance discount to licensed drivers aged 55 and older upon completion of an approved defensive driving course. First time participants must take this initial 8-hour course, then renew their discount every 3 years by taking this 4-hour refresher course.
To register please call: 952-835-1882.
AARP SMART DRIVER COURSE – 4 HOUR REFRESHER COURSE
NOVEMBER 15 • 9 AM – 1 PM
COST:AARP Members: $20, Non-Members: $25
LOCATION: Sabes Center Minneapolis
This is a 4-Hour Refresher Course
This driver safety course will refresh you on current rules of the road, defensive driving techniques and how to operate your vehicle more safely in today’s increasingly challenging driving environment.
After completing the course, you will have a greater appreciation of driving challenges and a better understanding of how to avoid potential collisions and injuring yourself or others. Minnesota state law requires insurance providers to offer a 3 year, 10% auto insurance discount to licensed drivers aged 55 and older upon completion of an approved defensive driving course. First time participants must take this initial 8-hour course, then renew their discount every 3 years by taking this 4-hour refresher course.
To register please call: 952-835-1882.
