This 18-week course is taught by members of The Oregon Board of Rabbis, representing a variety of Jewish affiliation. A carefully constructed curriculum includes Jewish history, life cycle events, holidays, ritual and daily practice, theology, study of Torah and contemporary Jewish America.
This class, in itself, is not a conversion class. Students come from a variety of backgrounds: some are Jews reclaiming their heritage, some are people on a spiritual journey and/or interested in converting to Judaism, all want to learn more about the Jewish faith and what it has to offer. While not a conversion class, most members of The Oregon Board of Rabbis consider this course a prerequisite for students beginning study for conversion.
The course fee is $360 (per student or per couple sharing materials) and includes a Chumash (Hebrew/English Bible), a notebook of reference materials, as well as supplementary material distributed throughout the course. Classes are held on Thursday evenings from 7-9 pm. During the 2023-24 academic year, we are testing the model of offering the Intro to Judaism class ONLINE ONLY during fall term, and IN-PERSON ONLY during spring term. Online classes will be offered using Zoom Cloud Meetings. In-person class locations rotate among synagogues in the Greater Portland area (see map below).
Spring 2025: Jan 30 – June 12, In-Person ONLY, Spring ‘25 schedule
Fall 2025: Aug 28 – Jan 22, Online ONLY (schedule TBD)
Please Note: We are unable to process same-day registrations. If you register for class on a Thursday once the term starts, you will not be able to attend until the following Thursday.
For more information about the course and registration contact JoAnn Bezodis, Class Facilitator. If you registered for our next class and would like to pay the course fee online via PayPal or a Credit Card, please click the button below. Thank you!
Past Schedules: