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Rather than actress Meryl Streep, a lecture series at Temple Har Shalom in Warren features the biblical Joseph wearing Prada.

No, the upscale Italian clothing line didn't exist in Joseph's time, but his "amazing technicolor dreamcoat" was enough for the rabbis at Har Shalom to connect him with the 2006 movie about a demanding fashion magazine editor (played by Streep) called "The Devil Wears Prada" and form the lecture title "Joseph Wore Prada -- The Meaning of Clothing in Judaism."

Har Shalom's "Drive-In Judaism" adult education series, which kicked off earlier this month with "The Ten Commandments" and lasts through April 2010, uses popular motion pictures as a template for lectures on Jewish topics. At the programs, on Wednesdays from 7-8 p.m., short snippets of the films are shown before participants delve into textual sources like Torah, Midrash, and Talmud.

"You could actually imagine Joseph wearing Prada; I could," Rabbi Marcus Burstein, one of the rabbis at Har Shalom, said.

Burstein and Rabbi Randi Musnitsky came up with Jewish topics they wanted to discuss with congregants, and then brainstormed corresponding movies to use for the lecture titles. Explaining the creative process, Burstein said that when he thought of Jewish food, Jacob selling his birthright to Esau for lentil soup was the first thing came to mind. From that point, the movie "Julie & Julia," which also stars Streep as famous chef Julia Child, transformed into "Julie, Julia and Jacob."

"It's tongue-in-cheek, we are having some fun with it too," Burstein said.

Remaining lectures in the series include "Ferris Bueller's Day Off -- Taking Time for Shabbat" Dec. 2; "E.T. Phones Home -- Jewish Home Ritual Objects" Dec. 9; "How the Maccabees Stole Chanukah" Dec. 16; "Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride -- Jewish Traditions Around the World" Jan. 13; "Enchanted -- Love and Marriage in Jewish Tradition" Jan. 20; "Forest Gump -- Tu B'shevat" Jan. 27; "Little Shop of Horrors -- Magic and Mysticism in Jewish Tradition" Feb. 10; "Phantom of the Opera -- Unmasking Purim" Feb. 24; "Julie, Julia and Jacob -- Jewish Food" March 3; "Joseph Wore Prada -- The Meaning of Clothing in Judaism" March 17; "The Prince of Egypt -- Passover" March 24; "The Sound of Music -- A Sampler of Jewish Music" April 7; "The Wizard of Oz -- Stump the Rabbis with your Questions" April 14; and "Jews in the Movies -- How Hollywood Portrays Jews" April 21.

Some of the movies are Jewish related and some are simply hooks to get people's attention, but in either case, the goal is to "figure out ways to reach our congregants and teach them about all kinds of Jewish learning and culture," Burstein said. There will be a popcorn machine at the lectures, which were marketed though innovative flyers that mounted Har Shalom's logo on the entrance to a drive-in movie theater and also included a picture of Moses splitting the Red Sea.

As a rabbi for eight years in Falls Church, Va., Burstein said he held everything from one-night sessions to three-night "mini-mesters" to multiyear adult education classes. Har Shalom's series is attractive because participants are able to understand one movie-related session without having attended the others.

"It's hard for people to dedicate a whole year to coming every Tuesday night, for example," Burstein said.

Classes that have themes relating to Jewish holidays are scheduled right before those holidays, such as "The Prince of Egypt -- Passover" on March 24. The lectures allow Har Shalom to teach to a broader audience because by including both movies and Jewish texts, they are designed to be informative and entertaining for either beginners to Jewish learning or more experienced learners.

"It's a text-based class, but we are going to be breaking it up into easily digestible segments," Burstein said.

For more information on "Drive-In Judaism," call Temple Har Shalom at (732) 356-8777 or visit www.templeharshalom.org. The synagogue is located at 104 Mount Horeb Road in Warren.