Summer 2010 Courses
Break away from the mundane with a summer course from Ma'ayan

Readings in Rehovot ha-Nahar, Uri Zvi Greenberg’s great Holocaust lament
Leah Orent, Ph.D.
Level: 3 — Language of Instruction: Hebrew

On Tisha b’Av, the day of collective mourning for Jewish national disasters both ancient and modern, it has become customary to read Holocaust literature. Greenberg’s Rehovot ha-Nahar is an epic Holocaust lamentation, published in 1951. Reading a representative selection from the text, we will reflect on the differences between traditional liturgical kinot and modern poetry. We will examine how the poet’s private voice merges with that of his persona as spokesperson for the Jewish people, addressing a silent God in heaven and confronting the murderers on earth. We will consider the speaker’s struggle to balance the guilt of a survivor with his sense of prophetic vocation. Ultimately, the collection articulates a vision of Jewish history flowing like an eternal river from Abraham to Sinai through the horrors of the Holocaust towards the revival of the kingdom of Israel and messianic redemption.

Tuesdays, 8:00 - 9:15 PM
4 Sessions: July 6, 13, 27; August 3
Location: Congregation Shaarei Tefillah
Tuition: $65
Click here to register online

Dollars and Sense: The Mitzvah of Tzedakah in Our Day
Rabbi Elliot Kaplowitz
Level: All
Although we may take the mitzvah (commandment) of Tzedakah for granted, the current economic environment has forced many of us to think about it in new ways. This course will provide a textual and conceptual grounding for many of the difficult issues that we must face in our attempt to fulfill this obligation. We will consider how to prioritize causes given limited resources, whether the global nature of our society (and economy) affect the classical halakhic hierarchy for Tzedakah distribution, and what, if any, halakhic responsibility we have to causes or persons that are not specifically Jewish. Texts will include Talmudic passages and contemporary readings, and will be available in the original and in translation.

Wednesdays, 10:00 – 11:15 AM
4 Sessions: July 7, 14, 21, 28
Location: Sephardic Community of Greater Boston
Tuition: $65
Click here to register online

Poetry and Tragedy: Midrashic Themes of Tisha b’Av
Rabbi Reuven Z. Cohn
Level: All

Many of the piyutim (liturgical poems) that we recite on Tisha b’Av were written in Israel over a thousand years ago. Despite the stature of the paytanim (pious religious poets), their creations often strike the modern ear as wooden and all but inaccessible. This course will aim to recover the beauty and power of these liturgical poems by tracing motifs from the Tanakh through the Talmud and Midrash and considering how they have been selected and molded by the paytanim. Each week we will explore a seemingly obscure theme—from the murder of an otherwise unknown prophet to the on-going practice of the priestly rotations, which continued even after the Temple’s destruction. We will also consider a modern piyut that responds to the Holocaust. Students will understand the issues that the paytanim considered relevant to Tisha b’Av and will come away able to connect this ancient poetry to modern religious concerns.

Wednesdays, 8:00 - 9:15 PM
4 Sessions: July 7, 14, 21, 28
Location: Congregation Shaarei Tefillah
Tuition: $65
Open to men and women
Click here to register online