2009 Courses

For centuries, Jews have told stories to one another, many of them adapted from the folktale traditions of their neighbors. And the reverse is also true: As they traveled and traded, Jewish storytellers transmitted Persian, Indian, and Arabian folktales throughout Europe. What was gained and lost in this process of translation? How do Jewish stories differ from their counterparts in other nations’ lore? In this course, we will read Jewish folktales from various Jewish communities, compare them with tales familiar to many of us from childhood, and explore what makes them different—and universal.

Gaining admission to the Bible was a hard-fought, tooth-and-nail process in antiquity, and many fine, upstanding, and spirited candidates were unfortunately forced to take their business elsewhere. This course will laugh and cry with books that didn’t get the Jewish canonical stamp of approval. We will be looking in particular at Judith, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, III Maccabees, and Tobit. Discussion ranging from the transcendentally existential to the humorously mundane will focus on the texts themselves and on a range of issues they bring up, particularly the process of canonization, and the nature of heroism, especially female heroism.

Singing is much more than simply lyrics plus melody -- it is also the vocal experience itself, the feelings involved, and sometimes even our body movements may be part of the journey. Awareness of the songs' historical and cultural backgrounds also play a part. In this course We will be learning some Yiddish and Hebrew songs, revealing through them different aspects of sound, and experimenting with our voices and movements. We will share our Jewish musical heritage, create and improvise new tunes to old poems, make vocal arrangements, and explore our musical skills while enjoying doing music together

With a Black president and a Jewish Chief of Staff, the relationship between African-Americans and Jews is poised to (re-)emerge on the American political scene. In this course, we will use the tools of Critical Race Theory, one of the most exciting and challenging intellectual developments in the American academy today, to think about the idea of race itself. Should Jews and/or African-Americans embrace or reject the idea of “race”? What would it mean to move “beyond race,” and is that somewhere we wish to go (as Jews or otherwise)? Are Jews White? Is antisemitism a form of racism?

Is there a literal approach to biblical interpretation in Jewish tradition? Or are there, conversely, different kinds of interpretation called literal? This course will examine four Jewish Bible commentaries that have been termed “literal”, Targum Onkelos, Rashi, Rashbam, and Ibn Ezra, on three key biblical passages: the parting of the Red Sea, Song of Songs, and the Akedah. We will also look at different theories of pshat and drash in the Talmud and Midrash. In these texts we will see alternative approaches to literal interpretation that exist in Jewish tradition and ask what, if anything, they share

This course provides a look at how the rituals of Shabbat and Kashrut are based on the creation story of Genesis 1. We will discuss how this creation story was transformed from earlier pre-Biblical creation stories and came to represent a new understanding of God, the world, and the relationship between God and humanity. We will also explore how the covenantal relationship between God and the Jewish people and Jewish ritual practices such as Shabbat and Kashrut evoke and sustain the order of the world that God created, as described in Genesis 1.

Sefer HaAggada (The Book of Legends) is the classic Bialik-Ravnitzky collection of aggadic (non-legal) material from Talmud and Midrash. Its contents are diverse — midrashim (comments supplementing Bible stories); stories about the Rabbis themselves; and stories and ideas about the Land and People of Israel, Torah, Shabbat, etc. The Sefer HaBloggadah project started at last year’s Institute uses a blog to facilitate study of this text, one page per day. The course will study sample pages covered by the project so far, and will introduce people to the variety of Rabbinic aggada. Participants may volunteer to present one of these texts in the Shabbat afternoon siyyum on part one of the book.

Do Jewish theories of justice look beyond our own community? What, if any, is the philosophical basis for concern with those who aren’t part of our ethnic or religious group? We’ll look at classical concepts such as mipnei darchei shalom, tikkun olam, and tzedek umishpat, practical frameworks from the tzedakah system of the Geniza period and the contemporary Federation system, and theological perspectives articulated by thinkers such as Levinas and Buber. Most importantly, we’ll explore the theological framework that actually underpins our own conception of Judaism, and explore the implications of our beliefs on our political commitments.

Change in Course:

When preparing challah, traditional bakers separate a small piece of dough and say a b’racha (blessing) in commemoration of the biblical challah offering. In this class, while learning to bake a different bread each day, we will also look at the mitzvah of separating the challah and related practices and texts, and explore their meaning in terms of what we eat and how we eat it. On Friday we will bake the challot for the Institute’s Shabbat meals. No prior baking experience is necessary.

How do the objects in our environment embody who we are and reflect our many identities? We start by taking inventory of our bodies and the objects that we use to adorn ourselves (and that may signal our identity to others), moving outward to the objects with which we surround ourselves in our homes and workplaces, our communities, and finally the world at large. How do these objects communicate who we are (to ourselves and others?) Do the objects take on special or even spiritual meaning to us? What do we hold close to ourselves? What do we yearn to own? What would we be devastated to lose? Do we build rituals around these objects? Do we share these rituals with others? Through text study that suggests a traditional context for how we live now, through lively discussion, and  by constructing written (and/or visual) narratives around the objects in our lives, we will develop a deeper understanding of what we own and (hopefully) why.

For the Hassidic masters the entire purpose of the Torah is to teach us how to walk in God’s ways. We’ll study commentaries to this week’s parasha, Ekev, by two of the greatest rebbes: Moshe Chaim Efrayim of Sadlikov (1748-1800), grandson of the Baal Shem, and Sholom Noach Berezovsky (1911-2000), the late Slonimer rebbe. Hearing them in stereo will inspire us to reexamine our own spiritual steps. All texts will be in Hebrew, and translations into English will be provided.