Spring 2008 Courses Let Justice Roll Down Like a Mighty Stream: Sefer Amos and the Prophetic Charge Sefer Amos is a small book with a big voice. Over the course of four sessions, we will study essential passages from Sefer Amos with an eye to both its literary medium and its moral message. Please bring a Tanakh. Wednesdays, 7:30 - 8:45 PM From Esoteric Circle to Mass Movement—
Hasidism in its First Generations Through excerpts from Hasidic literature such as Shivchey haBesht and Keter Shem Tov, we will consider the origins of Hasidism in four lectures. Our first session will spotlight Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov and his circle and ask, was the Besht the founder of Hasidism? Next, we will investigate the early Hasidic courts as centers of conversion—why and how were so many transformed by this approach? The Hasidic Tzaddik will be the focus of our third meeting, and we will explore the new paradigm for religious leadership that these Rebbes provided. Finally, we will look closely at Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi as examples of competing modes of Hasidic leadership. Sundays, 8:00 - 9:15 PM Judaism and Science in the Medieval Period For Jewish rationalists during the Medieval Period, philosophy, including natural philosophy, i.e., science, was understood to be a religious imperative. In four sessions together, we will explore how Medieval Jewish thinkers understood scientific knowledge to be a form of Divine revelation. Surveying some of the scientific theories of the medieval period, we will assess the religious import they held for Jewish theologians. Wednesdays, 7:30 - 8:45 PM
Talmud: Massekhet Chagigah: Ein Dorshin The second Mishnah in perek bet (chapter two) discusses the first recorded machloket (disagreement): ‘somkhin o ein somkhin.’ Studying this Mishnah and the Gemara which discusses it will refine our insight into Chazal’s (our Sages’) understanding of the proper transmission of knowledge and the consequences of improper transmission. One consequence is the lack of consensus—machloket—which we will explore further by learning the first six Mishnayot in Massekhet Eduyot. These elaborate on the sources of machloket and the New students welcome! Women’s Beit Midrash: Chumash with Nehama Leibowitz Join us in a beit midrash (study-house) setting as we delve into the intricacies of the Chumash using the methodology created by the renowned teacher Nehama Leibowitz. Class time includes chevrutah study and group discussion of Nehama’s questions and answers. Shuli Taubes, a skilled facilitator, will guide our learning. Participants should bring a Chumash—Sefer Breishit (Genesis)—and Tanakh to class. New students welcome! Hebrew Poetry of Peoplehood and National Identity Since the Jewish golden age in Spain, themes such as the unique destiny of the Jewish people, the relationship between the Jewish people and God, the prospect of redemption, and Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) have echoed through Hebrew poetry. We will read selected poems by Judah Halevi and Solomon Ibn Gabirol relating to Am Yisrael (the people of Israel) in light of these themes and compare them to poems by modern Israeli poets, such as Uri Zvi Greenberg, Avraham Shlonsky and Yehudah Amichai, treating the same themes in a modern post-Holocaust context. Our interpretations will consider historical and cultural background, the impact of traditional texts (e.g., Tanakh and Midrash), and discussions of these themes in the poets’ philosophical writings when relevant. Tuesdays, 8:00 - 9:15 PM Counting the Omer:
The Students of Rabbi Akiva in Mishnah and Tosefta Long associated with the mourning observed during Sefirat haOmer (the Omer counting period), Rabbi Akiva's students will be the focus of this course. Beyond examining the texts that link Rabbi Akiva's students to Sefirat haOmer, we will also get to know this prolific generation of contributors to the Mishnah, both individually and as a group. Tracing a selection of their opinions in the Mishnah and Tosefta, we will consider the possible impact of the Bar Kokhba rebellion on their halakhic interests, and, by extension, on rabbinic thought as a whole. Tuesdays, 8:00 - 9:15 PM Save the Dates: Ma’ayan Celebrates Israel’s 60th Birthday! The Prophecies of Shivat Zion
& Modern Zionism The prophecies of Shivat Zion (the redemption and return to Zion) evoke many elements of modern Zionism. In this short series we will examine prophecies from Chagai, Zekharia, Yirmiyahu and Yechezkel. Among other questions, we will ask what is meant by Yom Hashem (the day of Hashem)—destruction or redemption? And we will investigate the role of the prophets and scholars as moral critics in the process of renewing the Jewish settlement in Israel—then and now. Saturday Nights, 8:00 PM
Prepare for the Regalim (Festivals) Before Pesach: The Seder: Looking Inward and Looking Outward How strange the Seder must have felt in the first few years after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., when we could no longer perform korban Pesach (the Passover sacrifice)! What strategies did Chazal (our Sages) develop to cope with the void created by the loss of this community-defining sacrifice? We will study several Tosefta texts to discover Chazal's genius for survival—and for making sacred use of all the ideas and forms available to them. Sundays, 8:00 - 9:15 PM Before Shavuot: Revelation (and Concealment) on Mount Sinai Filled with symbols of concealment, the Torah’s description of the revelation on Mount Sinai includes “dark clouds” as well as “fire.” Drawing on classical commentators and Hasidic masters, especially Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and Rebbe Leibele Eiger of Lublin, we will explore the significance of this perceived distance from G-d—“You were hearing a sound, but saw no image…” (Devarim 4:12). According to these thinkers, concealment functions paradoxically as an essential part of revelation, ensuring that Mount Sinai was no mere isolated (if amazing) moment, but rather a living model for our relationship with G-d. Sundays, 8:00 - 9:15 PM |