Course Title: Ani Yosef: I am Joseph
Program: Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning: Texts and Traditions
Instructor: Naomi Gurt Lind (Read bio)
Day and Time: Sundays 12pm-1:30p.m. Eastern
Dates: March 3, 10, 17, 31, April 7, 2023 (5 sessions)
Session: Winter/Spring 2024
Location: Online via Zoom
Fee: $200 Financial scholarships available
Ani Yosef: I am Joseph is an exploration of the character of Joseph through Biblical, midrashic, and contemporary literature. Through our engagement with core texts and off-the-beaten-path ones, we will get intimate with the Joseph story and its many teachings about issues that are just as relevant today as they were in the Bible: parental favoritism, the far-reaching consequences of youthful mistakes, assimilation, emotional repression and release, and much more. This is a course for folks who like to read closely, think deeply, and speak reflectively. Our time will be spent in patient reading and thoughtful conversation. Note that the course takes place on five Sunday mornings over six weeks (i.e. there is a skipped week in the middle).
Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning is for learners of all backgrounds.
Canadian and other registrants from outside of the US: please email Cindy Bernstein to complete your registration. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Survey Course on the Rabbinic Period of Jewish History: Thursday Evenings Online via Zoom
Program: Hebrew College Me’ah Classic
Instructor: Rabbi Shayna Rhodes (Spring) (Read Bio)
Dates: 11 Thursdays, Winter/Spring 2024: 1/25, 2/1, 2/8, 2/15, 2/29, 3/7, 3/14, 3/21, 3/28, 4/4 & 4/11
Time: 7-9 p.m.
Course fee: $425, financial aid is available
Location: Online via Zoom
Hosted by: Hebrew College
The Rabbinic Period — the millennium from the Second Temple to the completion of the Babylonian Talmud (500 BCE to 600 CE) — refers to a time when new Jewish leaders, sages and rabbis emerged and developed rich texts of their own. Some of those texts took the form of extensive commentary about the earlier world of biblical Israel. During this seminal period, rabbinic scholars created a legal system which led to a Jewish belief system that has informed and ordered Jewish community, culture, and behavior for the past millennia.
What is the relationship between God and human beings?
How do we understand Jewish history and Jewish ethics?
What is the role of ritual, holy days and life-cycle events?
Readings illustrate the development of the rabbinic mindset and talmudic beliefs. As with the Hebrew Bible sequence, you’ll first cover selected historical, textual, and conceptual areas, then examine core concepts in conjunction with Bible study to illustrate how beliefs and practices evolved over time.
NOTE: This course is part of our Me’ah Classic program that we are opening to all who wish to learn about the Hebrew Bible. We hope you will enjoy taking this course and then register for the other sections of Me’ah Classic.
Please contact meah@hebrewcollege.edu for more information.
Survey Course on the Modern Period of Jewish History- Wednesday evenings online via Zoom
Program: Hebrew College Me’ah Classic
Instructor: Dr. Jacob Meskin (Modern) (Read Bio)
Dates: 11 Wednesdays, Winter/Spring 2024: 1/17, 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/28, 3/6, 3/13, 3/20, 3/27 & 4/3
Time: 7:15 -9:15 p.m.
Cost: $360, financial aid is available
Location: Online via Zoom
Hosted by: Hebrew College
Beginning with the 17th century Age of Enlightenment, modernity posed a significant challenge to traditional Jewish culture, community, and identity, creating new social and economic opportunities but also threatening traditional Jewish values and society. As in each of the previous eras, modern Jews remained preoccupied with sacred texts, suggesting that however great the impact of rupture and discontinuity, their passion for reading and re-reading classical Jewish texts became the creative wellspring for modern Jewish thought.
You’ll delve into some of these modern primary texts representing differing ideological viewpoints — works of Jewish philosophers such as Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig, and Zionist thinkers such as Ahad Ha’am and Micha Josef Berdyczewski — that mirror the issues faced by Jews of that era.
And you’ll wrestle with the subtle points of comparison and contrast between Jewish modernity and the civilization we’ve inherited. Texts will examine the emancipation of European Jewry; the rise of Hasidism; the Jewish cultural revolution of Eastern Europe; and the birth of Modern Zionism.
NOTE: This course is part of our Me’ah Classic program that we are opening to all who wish to learn about Modern Jewry. We hope you will enjoy taking this course and then register for the other sections of Me’ah Classic.
For more information, contact meah@hebrewcollege.edu
Each semester, our Me’ah team works closely with groups who want to learn together, offering them unique course topics that meet their interest.
See a course you like in our online course catalog? Looking for something different? Interested in studying with a particular instructor? If you have a group of learners, from a synagogue, organization or just friends, who may wish to learn together and have a course designed to fit your specific interests, please contact us at meah@hebrewcollege.edu and we would be happy to work with you!
Sample Me’ah Select Courses from our Me’ah Faculty
Note: This is only a selection of courses and faculty from 2021-2023. Choose from these courses and instructors or the Me’ah team can work with you to create a course for your group.
Instructor: Dr. Jacob Meskin
An Introduction to the Modern Reading of Rashi
The Diverse Cultures of Contemporary Israel
Crucial Moments in Israeli History Through the Lens of Short Stories: Parts I & II
Tradition on the Screen II: Challenges & Joys of Traditional Jewish Life in Film
A Modern Introduction To The Thought Of Maimonides
Instructor: Rabbi Or Rose
Hasidic Narratives of Spiritual Growth, Loss, and Renewal
Abraham Joshua Heschel: Spirituality & Social Justice
The Mystical Quest: Kabbalah & Contemporary Jewish Experience
Instructor: Dr. Susie Tanchel
Ancient Responses to Modern Challenges
Honoring Many Voices
Connections and Disconnections: The Biblical World
Instructor: Rabbi Neal Gold
Sages and Dreamers: The Lives of the Rabbis of the Talmud
Encountering God Today
Beyond Statehood: How Early Zionism Transformed Jewish Life & Culture
The Passover Haggadah
Discovering the Art of Midrash
Instructor: Rav Rachel Adelman, PhD
The Problem of Evil Love
Love and Marriage in Rabbinic Tales of the Talmud
Bad@ass Broads of the Bible
Moses, A Life: A Study of Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s Biography of Moses
Bad@ass Broads in Midrash
Joseph and His Brothers
Instructor: Rabbi Benjie Samuels
The Biblical Book of Judges: Leadership Amidst Lawlessness
Profiles in Leadership and Resilience: Exploring Biblical & Jewish Historical Personalities
Changes and Challenges for a New Generation
Instructor: Rabbi Nehemiah Polen
Music and Melody in Jewish Spiritual Practice
Gender Symbolism in Bible, Talmud & Midrash, Kabbalah and Hasidism
Thank you for your interest in Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning.
Starting in 2016, Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning courses took place in living rooms and synagogue meeting rooms, creating safe, intimate spaces to strengthen social connections through shared learning journeys. Open Circle Jewish Learning has expanded with online learning to include learners from as far as the FIJI Islands and Australia!
Open Circle Jewish Learning brings groups of friends together to learn with veteran and new instructors. Designed for learners of all backgrounds, sometimes groups approach the Open Circle Jewish Learning team to request a course in a specific topic, and we work to match instructors with groups. Sometimes instructors submit course proposals (in May and November) after coordinating with student groups.
Some topics that groups of students are interested in are: Jewish Texts, Ritual, Israel, History, Jewish Thought, Holidays, Calendar, Social Action, Young Adults, Mussar, Spirituality, Parenting, Grandparenting, Art and Culture. We welcome the opportunity to match your interests with instructors.
For instructors wishing to teach through Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning, we welcome the opportunity to understand your particular passions and keep your name handy for groups looking to learn a topic within your area of expertise.
Student groups and instructors are invited to contact the Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning Team at opencircleregistration@hebrewcollege.edu.
Course Title: Advanced Mussar Study/Practice Group Spring 2024
Program: Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning: Mindfulness
Instructor: Rabbi Marcia Plumb (Read bio)
Dates: March 6, 13, 20, 27; April 3, 10, 17; May 1, 2024 (May 8-makeup session if needed)
Day and Time: Wednesdays, 5:00-6:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Partner: Temple Shir Tikvah Winchester
Location: Online via Zoom
Fee: $320 * Temple Shir Tikvah members, $284 (TST register here)
Partial scholarships available
Join Rabbi Marcia Plumb to delve into texts from Jewish tradition and contemporary sources, with particular focus on the study of Mussar. Explore the middot (“soul traits”) of Mussar through ongoing textual study, reflection, journaling, and kabbalot (small mindfulness exercises). The class engages with these texts in full group session, and in small breakout groups. Some of the essential questions we will delve into are: how do we understand the selected middot? How do we engage with the middot and each other to enhance our personal spiritual growth, our daily behavior, and the alignment between the two? How can each of us contribute to the growth of others in the group, and bring our learning to repair the world?
Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning classes are for learners of all backgrounds.
Canadian and other registrants from outside of the US: please email Cindy Bernstein to complete your registration. We apologize for the inconvenience.
