Title: Who Is A Jew? How Women of Multiple Judaisms connect with G’d
(4 sessions)
Program: Open Circle Jewish Learning Texts and Traditions, Arts and Culture
Instructor: Kohenet D’vorah Grenn, PhD, Mashpi’ah
Day and Time: Tuesdays, 10-11:30 a.m. PST, 1-2:30 p.m. EST
Dates: May 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2024
Location: Online via Zoom
Fee: $160 Scholarships available
How do women of multiple Judaisms connect with God? There are cultural Jews, secular Jews, religious Jews, Jews by birth, Jews of color, Jews by choice, political Jews, Goddess Jews (sometimes called “Jewitches”), Jewish pagans and those who describe themselves as Jews who may not affiliate with any religious organization.
Explore the ways we imagine, construct and connect with God. What rituals, prayers or blessings hold the most meaning for us? Can we define what makes us feel Jewish? What traits give us our Jewish identity? What in our Jewish belief system or practices gives our lives the most meaning?
Readings will include excerpts from Dr. Grenn’s dissertation, “For She Is A Tree of Life: Shared Roots Connecting Women to Deity- an Organic Theological Inquiry Into Identities, Beliefs and Practices Among South African Lemba and European American Jewish Women.” Our other main text will be excerpts from Rabbi Rami Shapiro’s “Judaism Without Tribalism: A Guide to Being a Blessing to All the Peoples of the Earth.”
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.
Creative Practice Studio in a Jewish Paradigm (6 sessions)
Program: Open Circle Jewish Learning Young Adult/Arts and Culture
Instructor: David Mahfouda
Day and Time: Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Dates: 3/27; 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 5/1, 5/8, 2024
Location: Online via Zoom
Fee: $150 Scholarships available
In this six-week Zoom and studio course, we will investigate and reflect on our own relationship with creativity — alongside themes that have accompanied creative practice and the Jewish imagination for millennia. We will read texts that pertain to: the roles that listening, rest, repair, and praise play in spiritual practice and in the creative process; what happens when creations go out of control; the relationship between artistic freedom and spiritual grace; and the poetics of darkness and light. We will also make small, optional weekly experiments in our own lives and artistic practices, to share with the group if we choose. We will draw liberally from Torah, Talmud, and Jewish liturgy, in addition to texts written by Audrey Lorde, Tara Brach, John Berger, Christopher Alexander, and other contemporary authors and artists.
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.
The Newest Forms of
the Oldest Hatred:
Understanding Contemporary Antisemitism
Program: Hebrew College Me’ah Select
Instructor: Dr. Jacob Meskin (Read Bio)
Dates: 6 Tuesdays -1/23, 1/30, 2/6, 2/13, 2/20 & 2/27
Time: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Course fee: $270, financial aid is available
Location: Zoom
Hosted by: Kerem Shalom, Concord
A number of dangerous forms of antisemitism are poisoning our world. Where did they come from? How did they arise? And based on that, what can we do to counter them?
In this course we will first explore the ancient and medieval historical contexts of Christian and Islamic anti-Judaism, out of which modern forms of antisemitism have arisen. We will then turn to the nineteenth century, which saw decisive reinterpretations of these earlier materials in both Christian and Islamic theological circles.
We will however spend the bulk of our time analyzing precisely how subsequent movements in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries helped to spawn the notorious and vicious manifestations of antisemitism we encounter today. A short list of these manifestations would include various forms of contemporary Islamic antisemitism; total denial of legitimacy to Zionism and thus of the right of Jews to have a majority nation state of their own; radical right-wing and radical left-wing hatred of Jews and Judaism; different forms of online antisemitism, and the horrifying absolute enshrinement of antisemitism as dogmatic truth among academics and on college campuses, particularly though not exclusively in America.
We will conclude by studying groups who are, happily, opposed to these terrible and dangerous slanders, and by pondering some proposed strategies for responding to them.
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: Jewish Narratives in Pop Culture: Winter Spring Edition ( 6 sessions-2 hybrid and 4 online only)
Program: Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning
Instructor: Elisha Gechter
Day and Time: Mondays, 8:00-9:30 p.m. ET; *hybrid sessions, 7:30-9:00 p.m ET.
Dates: 2/12, *2/26; 3/4, 3/18, 3/25, *4/1 2024 (6 sessions)
Location: Online via Zoom; hybrid in-person at Lehrhaus, Somerville, MA
Fee: $150 Financial scholarships available
Back by popular demand! Join this course to unpack specific episodes from television series featuring Jewish characters and/or themes, and discuss the ways that Jews show up in pop culture today. We will examine the narratives being raised and interrogate in which ways they are stereotypical or perhaps inclusive and expansive. Between sessions participants will watch 30–50-minute episodes of shows including Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Weeds, Shtisel and more. Come ready to discuss and reflect on examples of overtly Jewish shows and characters, as well as ones that are more subtle, or creative. You’ll be with an eclectic group to consider how the stories and people portrayed land with you, and why representation matters. While this is a continuation of a fall 2023 course, all are welcome – no prior participation required.
Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning classes are for learners of all backgrounds.
Canadian and other registrants from outside the US: please email Cindy Bernstein to complete your registration. We apologize for the inconvenience.
