Image: A graphic representation of rabbinic literature. Graphic by Ruth Adar, all rights reserved.
There’s a lot of talk online and elsewhere about “Daf Yomi” right now. It means “Page of Talmud of the Day” – actually TWO pages of Talmud per day, for seven plus years until the whole thing is read. If that’s your cup of tea, mazal tov. But as Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) said very eloquently recently on Twitter, Daf Yomi isn’t for everyone, and that’s OK. There are lots of other ways to swim in the sea of Talmud.
If you’re new or nearly new to Jewish texts, I have an an option for you. This coming Sunday, I start teaching an online class called “Introduction to the Jewish Experience: Israel and Texts.” We learn about Jewish text study by studying texts together on one kind of text after another.
Jan 12 – Welcome — A Shabbat Text: the Kiddush
Jan 19 – Ancient Israel — The Land where the Bible is set and where it may have been written
Jan 26 – Torah, Tanakh, and Midrash — What they are, how we engage with them.
Feb 2 — Rabbinic Judaism – The pressure cooker and its cooks.
Feb 9 — Mishnah, Gemara, Talmud and Codes — Lions and Tigers and Bears, O My!
Feb 16 — What is “Jewish Law” – and What it is Not.
Feb 23 — Antisemitism
Mar 1 — Zionism(s) and History
Does this sound interesting? It is an introduction to the texts along with the history that gives rise to them. It doesn’t last seven years, but it will give you the basic information you need to engage in pretty much any Jewish text study class that intrigues you.
Registration is open NOW on the HaMaqom,org website.
The fees are on a sliding scale. Classes meet on Sunday afternoons from 3:30-5 Pacific Time, but many people take the class by following the video recordings of the live classes.
See you there?
IMPORTANT NOTE: Registration goes through the HaMaqom office, which is open M-F. If you sign up for the class on a Saturday or Sunday, I won’t get the information until Monday. However, the class you missed will be available via a recording and I will send you the link as soon as I become aware of you as a student.
Question, Rabbi: You wrote above: “many people take the class by following the video recordings of the live classes.”
Does that mean that these videos are available “on demand”, after each class is over?
No, videos are available only to class registrants. After the class is over the recordings are destroyed. I do this to preserve the privacy of my students.