Upcoming Programs – 2019 / 2020

NEW!!!  This class will be available to watch via livestream. Register for the class and then send us an email to let us know you’d like to watch online. [email protected]

10:00 am - 11:30 am

Price: $250.00

Course Description:

Massekhet Megillah discusses two main topics: the reading of Megillat Esther and communal Torah reading, interspersing throughout the discussion a broad variety of other topics. By means of close reading techniques and intertextual analysis, we will try to understand how and why the Mishnah redactor has structured the discussion in this way, and what messages regarding Megillah and Torah readings are encoded in the text. Many of the Mishnah’s textual cues point towards the historical background behind the institution of communal reading of Scripture and guide us to a deeper understanding of how Jewish communal life was restructured in the wake of the destruction of the Temple.

Syllabus:

Class 1: Biblical Background and Introduction to Mishnah Megillah – How does the Mishnah’s presentation of the festival of Purim compare to the presentation in the Bible?
Class 2: Chapter 1, Mishnayot 1-3 – Three kinds of communities and their different dates for reading Megillah: how and why?
Class 3: Chapter 1, Mishnayot 4-11 – The “Ein Bein” interlude: its structure and purpose.
Class 4: Chapter 2 – The laws of Megillah reading and their hidden sources.
Class 5: Chapter 3, Mishnayot 1-3: The sanctity of the synagogue.
Class 6: Chapter 3, Mishnayot 4-6: Torah reading and the sanctity of festivals.
Class 7: Chapter 4, Mishnayot 1-3: Torah readers and the nature of communal worship.
Class 8: Chapter 4, Mishnayot 4-10: Torah reading as the foundation of community.

Dates: Feb 2, 9, 23, Mar 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

Required Books:

Mishnah Megillah. Other sources will be provided as needed.

Teacher:

Until his recent retirement, Avraham (Avie) Walfish taught Talmud and Jewish Thought at the Herzog College in Alon Shvut, and headed the M.Ed. program in teaching Talmud and Jewish Thought in Michlala College in Jerusalem.  At Yeshiva University he completed his B.A. in philosophy, while studying Talmud with Rav Aharon Lichtenstein and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik. After making aliyah, he received his rabbinic ordination from R. Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg and completed his M.A. and Ph.D. at Hebrew University, writing his dissertation on literary features of Mishnah. He has taught and lectured in many frameworks in Israel and abroad, including Pardes Institute, Bar Ilan University, and Drisha. His extensive publications in different areas of Jewish studies include the Iyun Mishnah website and a recently published commentary on Mishnah Berakhot, Mishnaic Tapestries. In 2005 he was awarded the Prize of the Israeli Minister of Education for creative work in Jewish culture.

Note: This is an online class.  The virtual classroom will be accessible during session times online using video-conferencing software. The course will be conducted as though a typical in-person course with assignments and preparation requirements.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Price: $200.00

Course Description: Discussion of moral and theological ideas in the weekly parasha based on close examination of the text and its literary devices. Lessons are constructed so that students with limited knowledge of Hebrew may follow using a translated text.

Topics will include:

• How are the ten plagues structured and what theological messages do they communicate?
• How do legends about Moshe relate to the biblical text?
• What moral messages do the Torah’s law collections impart?
• What does it mean that Moshe saw God’s back but not his front?
• How does Sefer Vayikra relate to the rest of the Torah structurally?
• How do Jewish interpreters understand the purpose of sacrifices?

Dates: Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25, Mar. 3, 17, 24, 31

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Price: $150.00

NEW!!!  This class will be available to watch via livestream. Register for the class and then send us an email to let us know you’d like to watch online. [email protected]

10:00 am - 11:30 am

Price: $250.00

NOTE NEW DATE: Feb 9, 2020

Featuring Dr. Shai Secunda
כי האדם עץ השדה – Each Person a Tree: A Short History of a Tall Metaphor

Over the past few years, we have become increasingly aware of the deep and complicated relationship between humans and the environment. The questions recently raised are nothing new, though they burn ever urgently.

Following the twists and turns of the interpretation of one Biblical phrase – “are trees of the field human” (Deuteronomy 20:19), we will explore the multivalent wisdom of Torah and its interpretation, as Parshanim struggled to make sense of a difficult verse and a thorny set of real world problems.

Location:
Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun
125 East 85th Street, New York 10028

The event is free, but please register in advance.
Sponsored by their grandchildren, Elissa Shay Ordan and Daniel J. Ordan

7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Price: $0.00