Adult Learning

Etz Hayim Synagogue’s Continuing Education Program

Years 2025-2026 Hebrew Calendar Year 5786

Programs are held in person on the Second Thursday of the month

at 7:00 PM at Etz Hayim Synagogue, 1 ½ Hood Road, Derry, NH 03038

Thursday, October 9, 2025

 Exploring Faith Through Poetry, Midge Goldberg

At synagogue, we say prayers that assume faith, talking to or about God, regardless of how we picture God in our own minds. Poems about faith give us a lot more leeway to explore that picture however we choose. We can admire, question, doubt, even challenge God directly. And a poem doesn’t have to be about faith to be about faith. Poems about spaghetti sauce, guinea pigs, whales, and baseball can also be about faith. In this discussion we’ll explore all the ways poems can help us understand what faith means to us. Feel free to bring a poem on the topic to share.

Midge Goldberg is the author of three books of poetry, including her most recent, To Be Opened After My Death, as well as the editor of Outer Space: 100 Poems, published by Cambridge University Press. She has published poems about faith (disguised as snowmen, Skilsaws, and junk mail) in numerous Jewish, Catholic, Christian, and nonreligious journals and anthologies.

Thursday, November 13, 2025

AI’s Next Act: Your Smarter Future, Wayne Kurtzman

Wayne Kurtzman leads an AI-enabled social, communities, and collaboration for a global market intelligence firm. He is a frequently cited expert on the future of organizational engagement and the future of workforce and customer experience.   

Discover what AI does now, what's next, and how it will transform work, life, and play. Learn practical steps to embrace AI and thrive in an (arguably) smarter world. Learn what is driving the changes, and how to embrace new skills in a changing world by learning to use (and enjoy) AI.

Thursday, December 11, 2025

How to beat inflammation and the chronic illnesses that it causes as we age, David Riese

David Riese is a retired aerospace engineer and has been studying, practicing and teaching healthy lifestyle habits for over 15 years. Most common chronic illnesses that plague Americans as we age are preventable and often reversible through diet and lifestyle modifications. This presentation will focus on systemic inflammation, its causes, and how to reverse it naturally through diet and lifestyle.

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Crying in the Wilderness: An Immigrant's Journey in Detention, Becky Field

Becky Field has been photographing the lives of immigrants since 2012. In 2021, met "Antony," an African immigrant who was tracked with an ankle monitor and detained under house arrest for years, simply for asking for asylum. Every week for almost 2 years, she photographed his experiences with the pain and humiliation of detention. 

Becky will show photographs of her work with "Antony," a pseudonym for his protection. She will talk about their times together and his status. Under current immigration policies, he still cannot travel freely, but she will play a short recording of him telling his story.

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Scams and Identity Theft, Lee Jason Goldberg and Antonia Tello

Lee Jason Goldberg and Antonia Tello are the consumer law attorney and consumer law paralegal, respectively, at 603 Legal Aid. As scams become ever more prevalent, Lee and Antonia will discuss the most common scams and how to avoid them. They will also explain how to prevent and address identity theft.

Thursday, March 12, 2026

The History of Etz Hayim Synagogue, Jill Pelunis

Pelunis will describe how The Etz Hayim Synagogue (“EHS”) evolved out of a Torah Study Group taught during the winter of 1991 into the center of Judaism in the Derry area. She will talk about the Interfaith Campus, building of the synagogue, and the many facets of it spiritual, educational, social, and community involvement growth.

Thursday, April 9, 2026

My Temple President is a German or "Gesundheit and L'Chayim!"  Milt Zweig

The current Etz Hayim president, Milt Zweig, has spent years doing genealogic research on his European roots including the tumultuous time of WWII.  His research and perseverance, as well as his drive to undo some of the wrongs done to his family led him to becoming a German citizen. 

Trying to undo some of the wrongs that were laid upon the Jewish people of WWII, Europe can be a lesson in futility, but some things can be done. Should a Jew regain the German citizenship that was wrongly taken away from them? Should Jews refrain from anything at all German or embrace a culture that has in some ways come to grips to things that happened a generation ago?

Thursday, May 14, 2026

Genetics and Jewish Ancestry: What DNA Can Tell You (and What it Cannot), Jill Madden

Jill Madden is a PhD geneticist and certified genetic counselor. She worked at Boston Children's Hospital for 6 years before joining a biotech company last year, where she now educates colleagues and health care professionals about genetic testing and the genetics of rare conditions.

Her talk will cover an introduction to the basics of genetics and the ways Jewish ancestry can influence health risks. She will explore commonly asked questions, such as: Can traits skip generations? Why do I have a condition that’s never been in my family before? What role does Jewish ancestry play in my health? When is the right time to talk to a doctor about genetic testing? And more!

Thursday, June 11, 2026

Solving the Food Crisis in Israel, Gilad Skolnick

Gilad Skolnick is the New England Director for American Friends of Leket Israel Gilad.  He will share stories that go beyond the headlines—about the food crisis in Israel, groundbreaking new Israeli laws enabling food rescue unlike anything elsewhere in the world, and how the war-ravaged agricultural sector is being restored.

Leket Israel, the National Food Bank, is Israel’s leading food rescue organization. Unlike other food banks, its sole mission is to rescue healthy, surplus food and deliver it to those in need through a network of nonprofit partners. It is believed to operate the largest gleaning program in the world, rescuing and distributing over 415,000 meals every week to vulnerable Israelis of all backgrounds—including single parents, Israeli Arabs, new immigrants from Ethiopia and Ukraine, and Holocaust survivors.

All programs are held at Etz Hayim Synagogue, 1 ½ Hood Road, Derry, NH 03038.

There is no charge, but donations are encouraged to allow us to continue with these and other programs. The presentation is part of Etz Hayim Synagogue’s Adult Continuing Education Program, Hot Topics and Cool Contemporary Stuff.  Please visit www.etzhayim.org/learn/adult-learning for a complete listing of Hot Topics.  For more information, please contact Stephen Soreff, MD, at soreffs15@aol.com or 603-895-6120.