Program:Hebrew College Tamid Instructor: Matthew Schultz (Read Bio) Dates: 6 Sundays, Fall 2024: 11/3, 11/10, 11/17, 11/24, 12/8 & 12/15 Time: 12-1:00 p.m. EST Course fee: $180, financial aid is available Location: Zoom Hosted by: Hebrew College Registration:Click here
Sometimes it feels like it’s the end of the world. We are confronting ecological destruction, political polarization, and global instability and things only seem to be getting more chaotic. Amidst these bewilderments, I invite learners to turn to the Hebrew Bible. There we will discover a book of impermanence, filled with stories of wanderers in a precarious and ephemeral world. If there is a more effective guidebook for the end of the world, I have not found it.
Program:Hebrew College Tamid Instructor: Rabbi Mona Strick (Read Bio) Dates: 7 Thursdays, Fall 2024: 10/31, 11/7, 11/14, 11/21, 12/5, 12/12 & 12/19 Time: 7-8:30 p.m. EST Course fee: $280, financial aid is available Location: Zoom Hosted by: Hebrew College and co-sponsored by The Boston Synagogue Registration:Click here
We will delve into contemporary ethics through a Jewish lens. As we study texts – traditional and modern to inform our conversation (and arguments) such as: Who is a Jew, Medical Ethics, Abortion and organ donation, Kashrut and eco- Kashrut, Jewish Identity and much more.
Program:Hebrew College Tamid Instructor: Rabbi Jeffrey Amshalem (Read Bio) Dates: 8 Mondays, Fall 2024: 9/23, 10/7, 10/21, 11/4, 11/18, 12/2, 12/16 & 1/6 Time: 7:15-8:45 p.m. EST Course fee: $280, financial aid is available Location: Zoom Hosted by: Hebrew College and Co-Sponsored by Temple Sinai in Brookline Registration:Click here
In this course we’ll study recent archaeological and historical research about the interrelated origins of the Jewish people, the Torah, and what would come to be known as “Judaism,” and discuss their ramifications for our own identities and practices as 21st century Jews. The goals are for the learners to understand current theories about the development of the Jewish people as a self-identified nation and the narratives and laws — which would become the Tanakh — used to develop, maintain, and shape this identity. The class will include scholarly sources, in light of which we will study classical Jewish texts with an investigator’s eye to see how they align with the new scholarship.
Colliding Dreams: The Modern Zionist Movement as Told Through the Eyes of its Inhabitants
Program:Hebrew College Tamid Instructor: Jan Darsa (Read Bio) Dates: 6 Thursdays, Fall 2024: 10/31, 11/7, 11/14, 11/21, 12/5 & 12/12 Time: 7:30-9:00 p.m. ET | 4:30-6 p.m. PT Course fee: $240, financial aid is available Location: Zoom Hosted by: Hebrew College Registration:Click here
The Course will explore the evolution of Zionism from a concept to a modern reality and necessity. Through film, poetry, music and readings we will explore the evolution of modern Zionism and its impact on the people who live in the modern state of Israel. We will examine the Jewish national rebirth in its historical homeland in Palestine- one of the most dramatic stories of rebirth the world has ever seen. Yet its history is fraught with conflict. The very legitimacy of the Zionist idea and the state of Israel are questioned more today than ever before. The debate over Israel, triggered by the latest conflict, is often guided by emotion rather than substance, by fear, anger or deep loyalty, rather than an understanding of Zionism and its history. The course is an attempt to bring these issues and the questions they raise to the forefront of our conversations. Drawing on the latest historical scholarship and the celebrated documentary film Colliding Dreams, we will address the internal battles as well as the continuing conflict between Jews and Palestinians, between Jews and Jews, attentive to a wide range of viewpoints. The course will provide a powerful antidote to the lack of knowledge many have regarding these issues. We will read Daniel Sokatch’s relatively new book “Can We Talk About Israel” and portions of “My Promised Land” by Ari Shavit as well as articles, poetry and literature.
Program:Hebrew College Tamid Instructor: Fran Zamore (Read Bio) Dates: 6 Thursdays, Fall 2024: 10/31, 11/7, 11/14, 11/21, 12/5, & 12/12 Time: 9:30-10:30 a.m. ET Course fee: $180, financial aid is available Location: Zoom Hosted by: Hebrew College Registration:Click here
Jewish tradition is filled with allusions to the benefits of mindfulness meditation. The aspirational tradition of saying 100 blessings a day encourages us to pay attention to what we are experiencing and then take a moment to notice and appreciate it. In this course, participants will gain an appreciation for meditation through a Jewish lens. This class will introduce participants to the principles of mindfulness meditation using a Jewish framework. Over the 6-week course, we will explore meditation focusing on breath — in Genesis God breaths life into Adam; body — using the notion of b’zelem ehohiem (humans in the image of God); sound — listen — the instruction from the Shema; lovingkindness — focusing of the attributes of chesed (expansive love), rachamim (compassion), simcha (joy), and shalom (peace/wholeness); meditation as a Shabbat moment. Each one-hour session will include teaching about meditation, a drash related to the week’s topic, and time in meditation followed by a discussion, with participants having an opportunity to share insights and observations and ask questions. Handouts will be emailed to participants to support them in establishing a daily meditation practice. Participants in this class will learn the benefits of mindfulness meditation, Jewish orientation to meditation, and several different ways to approach meditation.
Dreaming Together: Engaging in the Torah of Dreamwork
Program:Hebrew College Tamid Instructor: Yael Linda Schiller (Read Bio) Dates: 6 Tuesdays, Fall 2024: 10/29, 11/12, 11/19, 11/26, 12/3 & 12/10 Time: 7-8:30 p.m. ET Course fee: $240; financial aid is available Location: Zoom Hosted by: Hebrew College Registration:Click here
Our history and tradition contain text and midrash about dreamers and visioners. The difference between these two is often whether the dreamer is sound asleep or in some state of wakefulness. We will explore this history of dreamwork in Torah, Talmud, and Kabbalah, learn a method of dreamwork based on the Pardes designed by the instructor, and then explore our dreams together in the safe container of a dream circle.
