Intro to Judaism with Rabbi Kerry

BEGINNING JANUARY 2025 | SUNDAYS | 5 - 7 PM

This series is for people who want to learn more about Judaism and Jewishness, whether their own or that of the people they care about. It’s for conversion-curious folks and people who feel like they want to know more about where they come from. It’s for everyone who is trying to sort out where they belong and why they belong there. Each class will contain three components: history, practice, and thought/philosophy.

The series will occur on Sunday evenings, 5pm-7pm, at the SIJCC between January and August 2024. Dates listed below.

The cost for the class is $550. Please email Rabbi Kerry if cost is the only reason you aren’t participating, or if you have any questions or concerns at rabbikerry@sijcc.net.


Class Schedule + Curriculum

Click here for a pdf of the class schedule.

Jan 5 - Our Stories

Jan 19 - Origins Part I

Jan 26 - Origins Part II

Feb 2 - Living Values

Feb 9- Jews in LA

Feb 23 - Jewish Time Part I

Mar 2 - Jewish Time Part II

Mar 9 - Food

Mar 16 - THE GOD CLASS

Mar 30 - Jewish Prayer

Apr 27 - Anti-semitism & Oppressive Systems

May 4 - Our People: Family & Community

June 22 - Solo Quests: Life Cycle Moments

June 29 - Genders & Sexualities

July 6 - Shabbat

July 13 - Zionism & Anti-Zionism

Aug 10 - Days of Awe(some)

Aug 17 - Jewish Art

Aug 24 - Ritual for Right Now


As a ritualist, teacher, and spiritual counselor, Rabbi Kerry Chaplin (yes, that is her real name) practices and preaches an embodied, living spirituality through authentic relationship with one’s own mind, body, and spirit. He believes that sharing this authenticity with others and with the Divine, however you understand the Divine today, deepens connections that help us live better.

Before becoming a rabbi, Rabbi Kerry was a community organizer, living all things justice. In every community where she has served as a rabbi, from Hillel at UCLA and Vassar College, to Lab/Shul, to Beit T’Shuvah, Rabbi Kerry has been committed to helping those at the margins experience connection with themselves, others, and Something Bigger.
She is grateful for her teachers at the Ziegler School, Washington University in St. Louis, her yoga teachers, and so many others known and unknown. He lives and plays with her kiddo Frankie, wife Julia, and kitty Smudgy.