Learning the connection

Michele Marr

Vicki Kain considers learning the greatest of human pleasures.

All the same, she has in her 76 years “sat through a whole [heck]

of a lot of boring classes,” wondering, as her mind wandered, when

the instructor was going to say something interesting.

“There are teachers, then there are teachers,” said Kain, a

retired public school teacher herself.

At the Jewish Learning Institute in Huntington Beach, she has

found a teacher who can hold her attention and make an hour and a

half seem too short, week after week, course after course.

“We just totally love him,” Kain said. “[Rabbi Berkowitz] is a

fabulous teacher. He sticks in a story here, a joke there. He

elaborates. He explains something and then explains it again -- gives

a different viewpoint. So you say, ‘Oh, yeah. Oh yeah!’”

On Wednesday, Jan. 22, Rabbi Aron David Berkowitz of Congregation

Adat Israel of Huntington Beach, Chabad of West Orange County, will

teach the first class of a new eight-week course called “Kabbala

Rhythms: A Spiritual Roadmap to Higher Living.”

It is the first course in the Jewish Learning Institute’s fourth

year of offering classes in Huntington Beach.

The institute, with headquarters in New York, was established in

1998 to develop and provide classes in the fundamentals of

traditional Judaism that are academically rigorous, yet still

accessible, short and reasonably priced.

It began with 15 pilot locations. This year, the nationally

accredited institute will offer classes in 65 cities worldwide, with

four classes in Orange County -- two in Huntington Beach, one in

Newport Beach and another in Yorba Linda.

The courses are intended to be a way for Jewish people to

reconnect to their heritage, explore the fundamentals of Judaism and

broaden their knowledge of the faith, regardless of their

affiliation.

“No matter what kind of affiliation within Judaism they have, the

foundation comes from traditional Judaism,” Berkowitz said. “So, it

would be in their interest to understand the origins of their own

faith. Then they can end up wherever they want.”

Many students come to the classes with no affiliation at all. Some

are not Jewish, but are considering conversion. Others simply want to

know more about Judaism.

After taking a course last spring called “From Sinai to

Cyberspace: The Development and Relevance of Jewish Law,” Kain told a

friend, “You know, we learned what to do in Judaism -- that you are

supposed to light the Sabbath candles and all these different things

-- but we never learned why. In these classes, you learn why.”

More than 70 students attended the class on Jewish law. Berkowitz

anticipates a larger enrollment for “Kabbalah Rhythms.”

“There is a tremendous interest in [Jewish mysticism],” he said,

“People want to find something more than the superficial life they

are experiencing. They aren’t finding meaning in the ordinary routine

they have. That is why cabala has become very popular.”

The curriculum will provide students with a basic understanding of

cabalistic principles, not as esoteric concepts, but as practical

means to a richer and more meaningful life.

Kain confessed she had thought about not taking the course. She

remembers thinking, “I’m not going to take that one. What do I know

about that?”

Then she read the brochure.

“All of a sudden it hooked me because it’s all about your body and

mind and your soul and how they are all hooked together.”

She has also been reading “The Anatomy of an Illness,” by Norman

Cousins, a book about how he healed himself of what doctors told him

was a terminal disease.

Kain has read the book before, but is reading it again because she

now has physical problems of her own.

She believes the book, she says. She believes that the mind, “if

you give it the chance,” has magnificent capabilities of healing. And

she “wouldn’t mind getting well.”

Cabala might be just what the Physician of physicians ordered.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at [email protected].