Summer 2021 @ OASIS Abq

Great Courses of Jewish Interest

Abq Jew is pleased to inform you that
OASIS Albuquerque has just announced
their Summer 2021 line-up of classes!
Registration opens on
Wednesday May 5
but you can Wish List your selections now.

OASIS Albuquerque Executive Director Kathleen Raskob and her staff continue (as always) to bring you new and interesting class offerings, and continues to make sure there are plenty of courses of Jewish interest.

This summer, OASIS Albuquerque will offer classes via Zoom only.

This session's courses and instructors include, but are by no means limited to:

Judaism and Jews:
A Religion? A Culture? An Ethnicity?
Wednesday May 26 @ 12:30 - #69zm

Instructor: Harry Rosenfeld

What It Is: What is Judaism? Throughout the centuries, scholars have looked at and debated the question. How has the answer changed over time? In ancient times, Judaism was considered a nationality with religious rites. In Christian and Muslim worlds, Judaism was seen as a religion. The Nazis defined Judaism as a race. 20th century American Jews and non-Jews alike understood Judaism to be a religion and an ethnicity. Just how different is the definition of Judaism in the 21st Century than in centuries past?

Love, Laments, Libations and Longing:
Jewish Poetry from Medieval Spain

Wednesday June 2 @ 2:30 - #70zm

Instructor: Paul Citrin

What It Is: Jews lived in Spain for nearly one thousand years under Visigothic, Moslem and Catholic rulers. Under Arab Moslem rulers, Jewish culture especially flourished. Influenced by Arab poets, Jews began  to write verse. Jewish Spanish poetry, written in Hebrew, addresses both spiritual and secular realms of life including love, loss, joy, friendship, and redemption from exile. This poetry may be the most elegant since the songs of the Psalmist who wrote two millennia earlier. This material touches hearts and make you smile.

Memoir Writing Workshop:
How to Tell Your Story

Thursday June 3 @ 10:00 - #67zm

Instructor:  Norma Libman

What It Is: Everyone has a story to tell, and now is the time to tell yours. In this memoir writing workshop, Norma Libman shows you how to retrieve memories you thought were forgotten, how to get them written down, and how to organize them into your own life story. Bring paper and pen for writing exercises and you will have written a start to your memoir when the workshop is over. Please bring a hard surface to write on (notebook or clipboard). Limited enrollment.

Albuquerque Retailing:
The Cook & Gardenswartz Families

Thursday June 17 @ 10:00 - #96zm

Instructor: Noel Pugach

What It Is: Explore the history, role, and impact of the Cook and Gardenswartz families on the creation and development of the sports retailing business in Albuquerque and the region. H. Cook opened for business in 1939 and quickly prospered. Subsequently, members of the families expanded into other lines of commercial activity. What contributed to their success? How did they affect the commercial and general culture? What insights does such a study provide on the history and economy of New Mexico?

Another Way Forward:
Grassroots Solutions for New Mexico

Wednesday July 7 @ 10:00 - #6zm

Instructor: Dede Feldman

What It Is: Grassroots Solutions from New Mexico is a tour through innovative organizations and inspiring local leaders who are changing the world from the bottom up, one classroom, one clinic, one neighborhood at a time. Together they point to an alternative form of community and economic development and present alternatives in a challenging time. Hear about asparagus farmers, EMTs, neighborhood hell raisers, radical teachers and health care reformers. This class is based on Feldman’s book, Another Way Forward: Grassroots Solutions from New Mexico. 

Introduction to the Talmud

Tuesday July 20 @ 10:00 - #74zm

Instructor: Shlomo Karni

What It Is: The Talmud is a post-Biblical encyclopedic body of Jewish civil and religious laws. It constitutes the greatest contributions to rabbinical literature in the history of Judaism. Shlomo Karni examines its historical evolution and its contents and structure. The class reads and discusses a few short selections. 

Jewish and Other Ethnic
Agricultural Settlements of the 19th Century

Monday August 16 @ 12:30 - #46zm

Instructor: Naomi Sandweiss

What It Is: One typically thinks of Eastern European Jewish immigrants arriving in the US to live in crowded urban centers. Yet, Jews were settled in isolated farming communities throughout the US in the 19th century, largely funded and organized by well-meaning Jewish charitable organizations. Learn about the many varieties of Jewish (and other Ethnic) agricultural settlements and how the pioneers adapted to their newfound prairie and rural existence in the US.

Beloved OASIS Albuquerque instructor (and award-winning composer and recording artist, and soon-to-be Floridian) Jane Ellen also continues (as always) to bring you new and interesting class offerings, and continues to make sure there are plenty of courses of musical and Jewish interest.

Jane's courses this session include, but are by no means limited to:

Stephen Sondheim
Putting It Together

Thursday August 19 @ 10:00 - #62zm

What It Is: Although Stephen Sondheim (1930- ) has a reputation for penning songs that people cannot sing along with, few would deny his unique place in American theater history. Beginning with early collaborations with Leonard Bernstein on West Side Story and Jule Styne on Gypsy, Sondheim’s passion to control both words and music have culminated in works such as Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods; and a new theatrical format: the concept musical.