This course is an introduction to the study of the founding document of Rabbinic Judaism, the Mishnah, in the original Hebrew. It is intended for students with basic Hebrew language skills. Each unit of Mishnah will be analyzed as a textual unit, with particular attention to the vocabulary, syntax, and conceptual universe of the text. For each unit, a comparison will be made with associated rabbinic material—Tosefta, Midrash, or Talmud—to paint a fuller picture of rabbinic thought.

Tuition: $2,000*, reduced student tuition $500

This course is an introduction to the study of two canonical Rabbinic texts: the Mishnah and the Babylonian Talmud, and is intended for students with strong Hebrew language skills but little experience with the study of Talmud. Each unit begins with close linguistic, literary, and conceptual analysis of a section from the Mishnah, with an emphasis on both the concrete positions and open questions presented by the material. Analysis of the attendant Talmudic material will focus on extensive support in developing reading skills and will touch on more abstract conceptual and theological questions. Students completing this course will be able to independently parse and translate passages from the Mishna using dictionaries and other tools, follow the standard citation techniques in classical printings of Jewish texts, identify common conceptual and structural patterns of the Babylonian Talmud, and translate simple Talmudic passages with minimal assistance.

Tuition: $2,000*, reduced student tuition $500

This course, intended for students comfortable with learning Talmud with Rashi, will build skills for comprehending the Talmud more thoroughly through the use of Tosafot. In addition to learning the Talmudic sugyot with care, we will focus on strategies for decoding Tosafot, gaining a basic understanding of their literary and legal project, and developing the use of Tosafot as a window into deeper issues in the text of the Talmud itself. By the end of the summer, as student in this class will be able to offer independent interpretations of the thematized conceptual and literary aspects of a given section of the Babylonian Talmud.

Tuition: $2,000*, reduced student tuition $500

This course is an in-depth study of a section of the Babylonian Talmud and its commentators. Students learn the Talmudic passage in depth, with special attention to the difficulties and challenges present in the text. Medieval and modern commentators provide an additional level of analysis, as these authors pinpoint historical and literary disjunctures in the text. Manuscript evidence, parallels in rabbinic literature and scholarly literature on the passage are consulted extensively, as students aim to reconstruct the history of the Talmudic passage and to reflect on its later relevance in medieval and modern codes.

Tuition: $2,000*, reduced student tuition $500

Where can I find myself in the siddur? How can I better connect to the ancient words of prayer? In this class, we will look closely at a particular prayer - with a focus on the amidah - in order to invest our Tefillah experience with more historical, textual context and meaning. We’ll investigate the primary sources (Biblical and Rabbinic) that serve as background and inspiration for various prayers and will build an interpretive methodology that you can apply to your own intellectual and emotional exploration of prayer.

Tuition: $250*

Each meeting will focus on a different topic in Jewish law and practice, as we take an in-depth tour of the various sources and personalities that have weighed in on our question throughout Jewish history. Beginning with Tanakh, continuing with classical rabbinic literature and following through with the periods of the rishonim and aharonim, we will span the various genres of halakhic literature in a quest for a bird's eye view of the topic under discussion. Detailed source sheets and bibliographies will empower students to explore these various topics further. Topics may include: Keeping Kosher in a non-Kosher world; the halakhic bases for egalitarian tefillah; limits on and guidelines for liturgical flexibility; relations between Jews and non-Jews; negotiating potential conflicts between Jews of differing levels of observance; various issues relating to the observance of Shabbat; proper standards for conversion into Judaism.

Tuition: $250*

We will be exploring many of the principal personalities in early Hassidic life and the major themes that appear in Hassidic thought. Each week we'll encounter a new teacher and a new philosophy. On Tuesdays we’ll explore the roles of Talmud Torah, Tefillah, Faith and Doubt, among others and try to apply those lessons to our daily lives. What are our religious and spiritual values? What are our challenges? How can we think about old problems in new ways? And on Thursdays we will prepare for Shabbat by exploring some of the Torah that is connected to Shabbat. Encountering Shabbat through these different lenses will help us to develop our own unique connections to it.

We will be reading through the texts together in the original as a class.

Tuition: $250*

Esther and Ruth are two of the most fascinating—and theologically elusive—books in Tanakh. In this course we'll engage in a close line-by-line reading of both books, paying close attention both to what they say and to how they say it. We'll use midrash, parshanut, feminist interpretation, and modern scholarly commentaries to help us better understand the meanings and nuances of each book.

Tuition: $250*

In this class we'll investigate the world of the Rabbinic story. Using literary, psychological, and theological approaches, we'll study some very well-known Talmudic stories, and some largely unknown ones. We'll ask how stories function in Talmudic discourse in general, we'll see how Rabbis criticize themselves and their culture through stories, and we'll explore how theological questions and quandaries get played out through narrative. Although we'll make use of contemporary scholarship, our focus will be on close, careful readings of Talmudic narratives.

Tuition: $80*

In this class we will be studying a selection of interpersonal mitzvot, among them: returning lost objects, providing for the needs of guests and brides,visiting the sick, our obligations toward people after they have died, and to mourners. Drawing on sources surrounding each topic from the Bible, Rabbinic literature, the chassidic tradition, and later Jewish thought, we will examine the extent and character of obligation to care for the other using both an analytical and spiritual lens. Sources will be provided in the original and in translation.

Tuition: $80*

When we think of the Talmud, we think of the Talmud Bavli, the Babylonian Talmud, which has been accepted as authoritative by Jewish communities throughout the world and throughout history. But it has a lesser-known cousin from the Land of Israel, the Talmud Yerushalmi, with its own commentaries on the Mishnah, its own collection of Amoraic opinions, its own logical arguments, its own identity. A Talmud, but not the Talmud. While the Talmud Yerushalmi is often referenced, it is seldom studied. In this class we will study the Talmud Yerushalmi on its own terms and for its own sake. Doing so will expose us to paths not taken, giving us a window in the expansive world of our Sages and of the myriad possibilities of halakhah and interpretation. At the same time, we will bring our own powers of logic and close reading to bear on a text that is often oblique, but immensely rewarding.

Sources will be provided in the original and in translation.

Tuition: $80*

Looking for a vibrant Beit Midrash to study on your own or with a havruta? Come learn with us on Monday nights this summer!