Afternoon Courses 2009
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Courses
At the center of the Institute are a wide array of courses offered in morning and afternoon sessions. Each course has a maximum of 20 students and is led by a teacher who is also an Institute participant, presenting material that she or he loves in an inclusive style that encourages everyone to participate. Choose from classes in traditional texts, Jewish politics, poetry, Jewish ethics, dance and singing, Judaism and world religions, and contemporary topics.
Extended Format courses meet during the regularly scheduled course time and the adjacent workshop time.
A02 - Walking in All Songs Ways
Alejandra Czarny, Poretsky Artist in Residence
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
Alejandra Czarny is a professional singer, born in Argentina in 1960 , who has been performing Latin American and Jewish songs for more than 20 years. She has recorded 2 CD´s with Yiddish songs (“Under the white stars” and “Songs about songs”), that include some compositions of her own. Nowadays, she is also performing her own songs in Spanish, based on Latin American rhythms. She used to conduct her own musical program in a Jewish Radio station in Buenos Aires. Ms. Czarny graduated from the University of Salvador in Buenos Aires as a Music Therapist. She is a professor of Musical Expression and has worked as a teacher trainer, delivering courses on such topics as “Music, games, and body expression in children’s education” and “Games, learning, and teachers' work”. She presently is the Music Director at Temple Sinai in Hollywood, Florida and performs at different events, concerts and festivals in the USA and abroad.
Categories
- Arts and Literature
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Extended Format
- Afternoon Course
A06 - Shabbat for the Land: Shemitah in the 21st Century
Ben Dreyfus
The Torah commands refraining from agricultural labor and letting the land rest every seventh year. The shemitah (sabbatical) year is observed to this day in the land of Israel. However, observing shemitah according to a literal reading of the Torah would pose practical challenges in a modern economy with Israel’s population density, and as a result, a number of competing solutions have been devised, reflecting the divisions in Israeli society and leading to a heated Supreme Court case.
Ben Dreyfus teaches physics at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, and has lived in Israel during the last two shemitah years. He blogs at Mah Rabu , Jewschool, and Sefer Ha-Bloggadah.
Categories
- Text for Everyone
- Contemporary Issues
- Afternoon Course
A08 - Walking in God’s Ways?
Bob Freedman
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.
Bob Freedman has served congregations as both rabbi and cantor, and has taught at NHC Summer Institutes, Renewal Kallot, and Elat Chayyim since 1996. He is continually amazed by the spiritual audacity and insight of the Hassidic masters.
Categories
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Advanced Text
- Afternoon Course
A10 - Kol Atzmotai Tomarnah / Let My Bones Praise God: Sign Language Prayer
Susan Gulack
There are about 200 root words needed to understand the siddur prayerbook. Improve your understanding of Hebrew and experience prayer in a new way by learning these words in sign language. This is a good way to reinforce meaning for ourselves and to use as a teaching tool for those who teach Hebrew and prayer to others. We will learn parts of the service in Sign and participate in the Shabbat davenning as a group
Susan Gulack is incapable of praying without using her hands. She has been signing prayer for more than 30 years and has used her skill both during services and in teaching children and adults Hebrew. She serves as a chaplain in three New York Correctional Facilities, a psychiatric hospital, and a VA hospital.
Categories
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Text for Everyone
- Afternoon Course
A12 - Piyyutim: A Musical Journey Through Jewish Liturgical Poetry
Benj Kamm
For over 2000 years, Jews around the world have written piyutim (liturgical poetry) to enrich prayer and express their yearnings for the Divine. In each region, piyutim were composed in local poetic and musical forms, creating a vast repertoire for different parts of the day, year, and life cycle. In addition to learning to sing piyutim in various styles from across the Middle East and North Africa, we will explore their imagery and ways to integrate their creativity into our own Jewish practice.
Benj Kamm lived in Jerusalem for the past two years, where he learned piyutim from around the world as a member of Kehilot Sharot, an Israeli organization that seeks to preserve Jewish liturgical traditions and share them with the public.
Categories
- Arts and Literature
- History and Culture
- Afternoon Course
A14 - Hebron: Burial Ground to Ghost Town
Emma Kippley-Ogman
Hebron carries a rich history of Jewish associations from Sarah and Abraham to its present-day prominence as a turbulent hot spot in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We will explore the nature of Hebron in Biblical and rabbinic texts as a prologue to a multimedia inquiry into the consequences of the current Jewish presence in the city. We will use written testimonies, maps, still photographs, audio and video materials, government policies, and eyewitness accounts to uncover the present nature of the city, the processes involved in maintaining and expanding Jewish presence there, and their profound effects on the Palestinian population.
Emma Kippley-Ogman is a rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Newton, MA. Supported by a Rabbi Richard J. Israel Social Justice Fellowship of the New Israel Fund, she has spent the past year bringing groups to Hebron with the Israeli organization Breaking the Silence.
Categories
- History and Culture
- Text for Everyone
- Contemporary Issues
- Afternoon Course
A16 - Jews, Blacks, and the Idea of Race
Diane Klein
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?
Diane Klein is a lawyer and law professor in Los Angeles. Some of her legal scholarship focuses on critical theory, particularly as it relates to race, as well as queer theory, two discourses in which being a heterosexual White Jewish woman and mother can be a challenging status/identity.
Categories
- Arts and Literature
- Contemporary Issues
- Afternoon Course
A18 - Objects of Our Affection: How Holy Objects, Old and New, Give Our Lives Spiritual Shape
Eleni and Neil Litt
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.
Eleni is a visual artist and independent scholar with a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology. She is a long-time Havurah teacher, having taught on a variety of Jewish practices and texts and is currently studying and practicing Mussar. She works at The New School in New York City.
Neil is an am haaretz with a Masters in American Literature from CUNY. He has previously taught at the Summer Institute on modern echoes of the Talmud and how to understand a Torah that is "not in Heaven." He is the Director of Editing, Design & Production at Princeton University Press.
Eleni and Neil live together in Princeton, NJ, where they are members of The Library Minyan.
Categories
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Contemporary Issues
- Afternoon Course
A20 - Rain in its Season: Coping with Exile
Louis Rieser
The second paragraph of the Sh’ma warns that disobedience leads to destruction and exile. Though the Temple was destroyed and the people were exiled, we continue to recite this warning twice daily. The Mishnah and Midrash preserve some responses of the early Sages to this catastrophe. We will study some of their responses to see how they chose to walk the path of Torah in the shadow of destruction. Their deliberations will help us construct a new understanding of this passage for our own day.
Louis Rieser is the rabbi at Etz Hayim Synagogue in Derry, NH. He teaches regularly and writes on topics related to the Talmud. His new book, The Hillel Narratives, was published this year.
Categories
- Intermediate Text
- Afternoon Course
A22 - Jewish Theories of Justice
Brent Chaim Spodek
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.
Brent Chaim Spodek is the Rabbi-in-Residence and Director of Jewish Communal Relations at American Jewish World Service. He graduated from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2007 with a master’s degree in Jewish Philosophy, and was recently the Marshall T. Meyer Fellow at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun.
Categories
- Intermediate Text
- Contemporary Issues
- Afternoon Course
A24 - Maimonides: Cure of Souls
David Weiss
Although many speak of their soul, few understand what the soul is. What are the characteristics of the soul? What are diseases of the soul? How can we cure our souls? The great Jewish philosopher, Maimonides, believed that “the improvement of moral qualities is brought about by the healing of the soul and its activities.” This course explores the ideas of Maimonides in Shemoneh Perakim, The Eight Chapters. Exploring these essential insights will enlighten your understanding of the soul and deepen your Jewish journey.
David Weiss is a rabbi, psychologist, and author. He also is the founder and President of the National Havurah Community of Canada, a past Vice-Chair on the NHC Board, and a passionate teacher of the Jewish mystical tradition. For a living, David leads an Organizational Psychology consulting firm based in Toronto. He is a co-author of Maimonides – Cure of Souls (SUNY Press, 2009).
Categories
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Intermediate Text
- Afternoon Course
A26 - How the Hasidic Masters Read the Torah
Aryeh Wineman
The Hassidic Masters offered readings of the Torah very distant from the more evident and conventional understanding of that sacred text. Examining passages from the homily-texts of Hasidism’s classical period, we will explore together the nature of the revolutionary transformation in the way Hasidism approached and understood the Torah.
We will also probe what the explicit and implicit ideas underlying that transformation might suggest to us today as a resource for a renewed Jewish spirituality.
Aryeh Wineman, rabbi and author, is engaged in research and writing in the areas of Hebrew literature and Jewish Mysticism. He has taught several courses at the Institute over the years.
Categories
- Arts and Literature
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Afternoon Course
