Program
- Education Series
The Past, Present, and Future of Queer Torah: Between Sunlight and Shade With Rabbi Avigayil Halpern
This class takes its name from the Rabbinic sage Rabbi Yochanan, who is often read as queer – his beauty is described as that of a silver goblet filled with pomegranate seeds and crowned with roses, set between sun and shade. It is in the beauty of that middle space that queer Torah emerges. In this series, we will examine texts and narratives from ancient to modern to ask: Is there such a thing as a canon of queer Torah? What qualifies Torah as “queer?” And what are the stakes of these questions for us as we approach an uncertain future?
Course Sessions:
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July 14th 7:00-8:30 EST More than “More than the love of women:” Biblical Literature
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July 21st 7:00-8:30 EST “It’s intended for joy:” Rabbinic and Medieval Torah
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July 28th 7:00-8:30 EST Into the Streets and Into The Synagogue: The 1970s-2000s
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August 4th 7:00-8:30 EST Torah Queeries and Queering Torah: Contemporary Queer Exegesis
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August 11th 7:00-8:30 EST Beyond Permitted and Forbidden: Contemporary Queer Halakhah and Why It Matters
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August 18th 7:00-8:30 EST The World To Come: Dreaming the Future
Related Programming
- Education Series
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Raging in Diaspora: Writing Workshop with Aaron Kreuter
November 3 and 10 at 6:30pm Eastern
This 2 -session, free online workshop with writer and English literature professor Aaron Kreuter is designed for writers of all levels of experience who are interested in writing from an anti- or non-Zionist worldview. Split over two weeks, the workshops will incorporate reading and discussion of Jewish anti-Zionist writing, writing prompts and exercises, and a generative writing session, where participants will have time to write fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, as well as time to share their work with the group.
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- Education Series
- Streaming
Introduction to Judaism Beyond Nationalism with Student Rabbi Noa Leba
Introduction to Judaism Beyond Nationalism is a broad-stroke survey of Jewish life, culture, belief and non-belief, and the major ideas that have shaped Jews and Judaism across time. The course offers participants a grounding in the practices, philosophies, and expressions of Jewish life from the ancient world to the present.
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- Education Series
Parshanut: An Intro to Jewish Commentary
Parshanut: An Intro to Jewish Commentary
Wednesdays at 6:00-7:30 PM EST October 21st - November 25th
This six session class will introduce students to the world of Jewish Torah commentary, known as parshanut. We'll study the weekly Torah portion with some of the most foundational commentators, exploring the approaches of these medieval and early modern rabbis to interpreting Tanakh.
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