News Highlights A Taste of Hebrew College Me’ah Classic

In May, Hebrew College’s Me’ah Classic Adult Learning program held a virtual “Taste of Me’ah” with Professor Jacob Meskin. Meskin explored the purpose of the Mishna written during the early Rabbinic period which led to the writing of the Talmuds (Babylonian and Jerusalem) and began the great body of Jewish exegesis throughout Jewish history.

Among the topics Meskin discussed was a text from the Mishnah, asking, “When do we say the evening shema prayer?” The answer, he says is “When the priests go in to eat their terumah.” Terumah was a sacrificial food offering that the priests in the Temple generally ate only at night. Prof. also points out that the Mishnah was compiled in 200 CE—when there had not been a Temple or sacrifices for 130 years! In other words, the very first text in the Mishnah teaches students the history, and the memory, of their people’s life before the Roman destruction. As scholars say today, the Mishnah is both an educational text and a form of resistance.

Hebrew College Me’ah Classic is a comprehensive in-depth adult learning experience open to adults of all ages. Students take a 100-hour (“Me’ah” is Hebrew for 100), two-year journey through the narrative of the Jewish people. Classes are led by outstanding faculty who empower students to become part of the conversation. Students receive a certificate during a graduation ceremony at the end of their second year.

Learn more about other Hebrew College Adult Learning programs and visit our online course catalog. Summer 2023 courses are now enrolling.