Currently

Click the links below to watch four short video presentations with Rabbi Klein
(2023 and 2024, JLearn "Sneak Peek Week")

"Thank God We Got Out of the Garden"
"Cain as Tragic Hero"
"The 'Ten Commandments' - What did the people actually hear?"
"Pharoah's Heavy Heart"

Rabbi Klein teaches each year September- May
in the Federation's JLearn Adult Education Program.
For registration information and course fees
(248) 205-2557 • E-MAIL: [email protected] or go to https://thejdetroit.org/culture-education/jlearn/

Spring 2025
Reading the Prophets
We know their names and many of their quotations. This course will examine the best known of the Biblical Prophets, their histories, the context of their messages, and who in fact they really were. Rabbi Klein will place them within the historical reality of the Biblical narrative, suggest how their messages would have been received then, and what they can mean for us today.

Fall 2025
21st C Jews and a 1st C Theology: Faith, Belief and the Prayerbook
The theology of the Biblical Israelites and the rabbis of 2000 years ago does not work for 21st C Jews. This course explores the background and development of the traditional siddur, past challenges to its theology, and possible responses and changes that modern Jews might make to our prayerbook, that prayer and worship might be more satisfying and meaningful.
The seder of the siddur
Why Biblical theology doesn’t work
God has a “name”?!
Challenges to Biblical theology: Philo, Maimonides, ibn Ezra, Spinoza
Theodicy and Rabbi Harold Kushner
Affirming the affect of the traditional siddur
Can we, and should we, rewrite the siddur?

Winter 2026
Jews in America: Insiders and Outsiders
Jews have been in America since 1654, coming in three waves of immigration, each with its own response to “becoming American”. In what ways have we preserved Jewish distinctiveness as “American Jews”? In what ways have we acculturated as “Jewish Americans”? This course is about our story in America, answering the question “Is there room for ethnic and religious distinctiveness, and if so what form should that distinctiveness take?” Are we looking at integration, acculturation or assimilation?

Spring 2026
Reading the Gospels with the Rabbi
We know something about the New Testament Gospels, hearing about them each year at Christmas and Easter, but Jews don’t usually study them to see what they really say. Rabbi Klein will explore the three “Synoptic Gospels” of Matthew, Mark, and Luke as they separately tell the story of Jesus, his mission, and his message to the Jews. Each has a different history and very different perspectives on Jews, Judaism, and being “in covenant” with God. For the Jewish community, productive and meaningful interfaith dialogue depends upon our understanding these Christian Gospels.

Grosse Pointe Jewish Council -- Spring 2025
Jewish Messiahs
Messiahs in Hebrew Scripture
                        Pre-Exilic Prophecy, 960 -586 BCE
                        Post-Exilic Prophecy, 530 – 200 BCE
                        Daniel, 2nd C BCE.
Messianic Claimants in the 1st – 2nd C. CE
Rabbinic Messianic Expectation 2nd – 6th C. CE
During the Crusades and Middle Ages
Shabbtai Tzvi and Jacob Frank
Modern Messianism
The idea of the “Jewish Messiah” has changed dramatically since such a savior was predicted by the Biblical Prophets. And though it may surprise you, there have been dozens of Jewish claimants throughout history, even into the 20th C. We will discuss that history and meet those pseudo-Messiahs.

Rabbi Klein is Adjunct Professor at Oakland University and Rochester Christian University
Ketuvim: Psalms, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, Rochester Christian University, Fall Semester 2025
The Book of Genesis, Oakland University, Fall Semester 2025
Introduction to Judaism, Oakland University, Winter Semester 2026
The Book of Exodus, Rochester Christian University, Fall Semester 2026