An Introduction to Talmud

with Dr. Ilana Goldhaber-Gordon, Etz Chayim Rabbinical Intern

Class times:

          Thursday noons, January 26, February 2, 9, 16, 23 & March 1 (bring your own lunch)

"Don't let (your children) study too much Scripture, because it will draw them in."

Sound like the words of an anti-religious paranoid? Guess again. That was Rashi, the great medieval Torah & Talmud commentator. Ironically, though they read from a Torah scroll four times a week, lifted their eyes to it and declared it an "Etz Chayim/Tree of Life", pre-modern Jewish scholars believed that studying too much Bible was a waste of time. Real truth lay in Talmud. 

Come get a taste of what our ancestors valued so much in Talmud. We'll look at "Tractate" (the treatise on) Brakhot (Blessings) to discover how Talmudic rabbis dealt with prayers that felt false or shallow (sound familiar?) We'll read some of their thoughts on the tough philosophical question of free will. We'll encounter heart-wrenching folklore about the words of a teacher on his deathbed. Ultimately, we will see our own selves in the pages of the Talmud.

All texts will be available in the original, but the class will be working from translations and no prior Hebrew is required.   It is ok to join this class in middle of the six-week unit.