Mishnah and Tosefta

Course Description: This course is for students with a lower-level background in rabbinic sources who are looking to radically improve their capacity to read and understand those sources for themselves. Students will learn to unpack the highly compressed literary and legal texts of the Tannaitic period. We will aim to furnish students with the skills to become competent readers of Mishnah and Tosephta and to see the philosophical and religious issues at play behind the highly technical language of these texts. Later in the year we will begin to see how the meaning of those sources evolved when they were interpreted in light of the different concerns, genres and approaches of the later rabbis, the Amoraim. In the fall semester we will learn the opening chapters of Masechet B’rachot which deal with the recitation of the Shema.

Advanced Talmud: Tractate Berakhot

Course Description: This course is designed to strengthen students’ analytical skills in the study of Talmudic discourse. During the first semester, we will examine sugyot from the fourth chapter of Tractate Berakhot, and in the second semester, from the fifth chapter, both of which focus on the halakhot of prayer (tefillah). A central objective of the course is to analyze the various ways in which the Talmud engages with Mishnaic law and, through a close reading of these chapters, to trace the patterns by which halakhah develops and evolves.

Talmud Methodology

Course Description:

The Talmud: A Historical Perspective

Despite the divine origin traditionally attributed to the books of the Hebrew Bible, it was
rabbinic literature—and above all the Babylonian Talmud—that came to occupy the central position in Jewish intellectual and religious life throughout the centuries. This course traces the history of the Babylonian Talmud from the Middle Ages to the modern era. Among other topics, we will examine the transmission and dissemination of the Talmud following its redaction, the diverse interpretive approaches that have been developed in its study, its decisive role in shaping Jewish law (halakha), the pedagogical challenges involved in teaching the Talmud, and its place in Jewish–Christian–Muslim polemical discourse.

Genesis through the Eyes of Early Jewish Interpreters

This course introduces participants to the rich and diverse world of ancient Jewish biblical
exegesis—traditions and texts that are often overlooked in conventional approaches to the study of the Hebrew Bible. We will explore a wide range of interpretive sources, including the Apocrypha, Hellenistic Jewish literature, ancient Bible translations, early liturgical and poetic traditions, and the Masoretic systems of vocalization and cantillation. Each session will illuminate a different interpretive tradition and demonstrate how it enriches our reading of the weekly parashah in Sefer Bereshit.

Tanakh

Course Description: Why do 21st-century Jews around the world continue to read the Torah in Hebrew, even if they no longer speak the language? Wouldn’t it be more practical to read a modern translation? What is the true benefit of having adhered to the original Hebrew for the past 3000 years? Designed for beginners, this course gets to the heart of these questions by exploring several well-known narratives from the Five Books of Moses. While we will make ample use of English translations, our primary goal is to engage in a close reading of the original Masoretic text. Together, we will first improve your reading fluency by mastering Hebrew vocalization. Second, we will analyze the unique richness of the language to see how it sheds new light on the text’s meaning. To support this journey, we will also integrate short, accessible lessons on Biblical Hebrew grammar, verb conjugations, and syntax.

Talmud

Course Description: TThis course is for students with a stronger background in rabbinic sources who are looking to become independent readers of, and meaning-makers within those sources. We will focus on pin-pointing the philosophical, psychological, and religious issues at play in these sources and ask how they can be used as a prism through which to understand our modern world. This year we will learn selected sugiot that deal with rabbinic hermeneutics, pluralism and argument, with an emphasis on the period after the destruction of the Second Temple. 

The Book of Kings

Course Description: This course offers a captivating exploration of the biblical Books of Kings (מלכים א-ב), tracing the dramatic history of Israel and Judah from the twilight of King David’s reign to the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem. Together, we will analyze the political intrigues of the royal court, the building of the First Temple, and the intense clashes between kings and fiery prophets like Elijah and Elisha. Rather than just a list of historical dates, we will approach the text as a profound theological and literary masterpiece that wrestles with power, leadership, and national identity. This course is intended for all students at the Yeshiva. Depending on your level of experience, you will read the text in either Hebrew or translation.

The Prayer Nusach

Course Description: Have you ever wondered why the musical tunes of Jewish prayer change from weekdays to Shabbat, or from a regular Shabbat to the High Holy Days? This introductory course unlocks the art and structure of Nusach—the traditional liturgical melodies and prayer chants that form the musical backbone of Jewish worship. Designed for beginners, this course explores how these ancient melodic frameworks vary across different Jewish traditions, times of year, and specific prayer services. Participants will learn to identify core prayer motifs, understand how melody enhances the meaning of the liturgy, and gain the confidence to follow or lead communal prayer. No prior musical training or advanced Hebrew skills are required; a basic ability to read the Hebrew alphabet is helpful but not mandatory.

Livui Ruchani

Course Description: This course will focus on the practical skills required to engage in Rabbinic pastoral care. Emphasis will be placed on listening skills and students will engage in weekly exercises to develop their abilities. We will probe the halachic, anthropological and practical elements of the Jewish life cycle including birth, brit, sickness, death and mourning, and explore the role of the rabbi as sensitive mediator of the cycle of life. Where possible students will have an opportunity to accompany rabbis and observe these life-cycle events first hand.

Machshevet Yisrael (Jewish Thought)

Course Description: In this course, we will explore the world of Jewish thought to deepen our own Jewish worldviews and commitments. We will ground ourselves in the Five Books of Moses as the foundational story of Jewish identity, and through the prism of that narrative explore how different streams of Jewish tradition have understood what it means to be Israel. The course will be multidisciplinary, drawing on biblical, rabbinic, medieval and modern texts from a variety of literary genres.

The Mishnah: The Core Text of Rabbinic Judaism

Course Description: The Mishnah is the basic text on which almost all subsequent Jewish law and learning were founded. The Mishnah was composed in relatively simple Hebrew and seems to be an easy text to understand. But learning how to learn Mishnah properly requires serious training. In this shiur, we’ll learn not just what the MIshnah says, but how to derive a deeper understanding of what it is trying to accomplish. How does it pack a tremendous amount of content into such pithy, memorizable sentences? 

We will learn selections from various Tractates to get a better sense of what is in the Mishnah. And you’ll be learning with the guy who wrote the English language commentary on the entire Mishnah, found on Sefaria. Looking forward to learning with you all! 

Midrash Rabbah

Course Description:  In this class we will be studying classical midrashim from the early centuries of the Common Era. In the fall semester, which corresponds to the reading of Sefer Breishit in the Torah reading cycle, we will be studying midrashim from Breishit Rabbah about the earliest verses in the book of Genesis. All sources will be provided in the original Hebrew and Aramaic and in English translation. The goal is to understand how the rabbis expand upon the biblical text to create rich intertextual reworkings of the Torah’s timeless tales.