Join us for the exploration of Jewish ideas and texts. Learning is the lifeblood of Judaism — the Jewish people can survive every internal and external challenge, as long as we have deep and personally meaningful knowledge of its rich heritage of history, philosophy, mysticism and law.

Jewish texts cover a great range of social, political, economic, legal, philosophical, spiritual and other issues.

If there is anything you want to study, explore, or even argue about and it's not here, we will provide it for you — just drop us a line.

These are some of the classes and courses that you can choose from. All classes are geared for students with limited or no previous experience in Jewish learning, unless otherwise noted. Class times are subject to change, so if you plan to attend, please email or call 617-547-6124 to confirm.

Harvard Law School: Tuesdays 11:50AM - 12:50PM; RSVP to Jhosh for your free kosher lunch. Comparative analysis and discussion of topics in American and Judaic law. Topics include Jurisprudence, Constitutional law, Family Law, paradigms of legal interpretation as well as philosophy of law.

The HBS Jewish Forum: Wednesdays 5-6PM; RSVP to Andrew The Great Ideas, Beliefs and Ethics of Judaism – and their real world applications. Join us for vigorous and open discussions of a full range of Judaism’s concepts, and their relevance to contemporary personal, economic and social issues.

Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health: Mondays (HSPH), Thursdays (HMS) 12:30-1:30PM; RSVP to Sammy for HMS; RSVP to Tamar for HPSH. The physicians of the immediate future will have to struggle with ever greater ethical, moral and policy issues. Jewish Law and ethics provide some remarkably prescient insights. Topics include Jewish Law and ethical consideration with regards to end-of-life issues, Judaism's approach to some of the ethical issues in pharmacological trials, the Talmud and the ethical and social issues surrounding health care funding, Triage, confidentiality issues, living wills and several other topics.

Harvard Divinity School: Fridays 12:30-1:30PM; RSVP to Michael. Join us for a lunch and learn at Harvard Divinity School. We will study and discuss together various texts of Judaic spirituality.

The Weekly Torah Portion: Mondays 7-8PM. The Torah — the five book of Moses — is the core document of Judaism. Traditionally we study a portion each week, completing the full book yearly. Join us for an in-depth exploration of the contemporary pragmatic, philosophical and spiritual implication of each week's ideas.

Jewish Mysticism: Mondays 8-9PM. Tanya, a classic of Jewish mysticism and User's manual for the soul. As the "captain of your soul", how can you ensure safe arrival at your port of call? This course investigates Tanya, a fundamental text of Chassidic thought. Its theme is how anyone of us may find self-actualization through self-knowledge and explore the dynamics of our inner complexities, thereby learning how to productively utilize all the dimensions of our self.

RaNaT: Tuesday Mornings 9-10:45AM. Discourses on the nature of language — Human and Divine. Join us in the study and discussion of one of the seminal texts of Hasidic and Kabbalistic perspective on the concepts of language, speech and communication and their role as the fundamental fabric of existence.

Talmud for Beginners: Tuesdays 7:30-8:30PM. Get introduced to the Talmud by Rabbi Yaffe — no experience required!
Explore the most quintessentially Jewish work of all — the book that gave the Jewish people their smarts and ensured their survival. The Talmud provides an amazing intellectual adventure as we enter into the 'laboratory' of Jewish law, practice and belief. The processes the Talmud uses are the sources of our present day interpretation of Judaism.

Read Hebrew: Tuesday Nights 7:30-8:30PM. Learn to Read Hebrew in six short weeks! To register, email Elkie

Talmud in-Depth: Tuesdays 8:30-9:30PM. For students with previous experience with the study of Talmud.

Judaism in a Semester: Wednesdays 7-8:30PM. An 8 week closed seminar on the fundamental themes and experiences of Judaism. This seminar is geared towards students with limited or no background in Jewish learning. All texts will be in English.

Maimonides: The Fundamentals: Wednesdays 8:45-9:45PM. We will be exploring the works of perhaps the greatest polymath and certainly the most influential single thinker (since the first Moses) in Jewish history — Moses Maimonides. We will explore his writings on the most fundamental questions of Judaism: The Nature of G-d, Free Will, Repentance, Prophecy, the End of Days, the ability or lack thereof of individuals to fundamentally change their character and more.

The Jewish Women's Learning Circle: Thursdays at 8PM An-in-depth look at women through the ages and what we can learn from their struggles, triumphs and way of life. For more information, email Elkie

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