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The Mechinah/Preparatory Distance Learning Program
Click here for full program description and 2-year cycle of classes.
NEW! - Due to increased administrative expenses, we have insituted the following incentive to alert us as soon as possible if you must withdraw from a class:
DROP FEES
An administrative drop fee of $25 will be charged for anyone withdrawing their registration less than two weeks prior to the first date of class through the first week of class.
Full fees will be charged for any registrant who does not withdraw before the second class.
Registration for Beit Midrash courses implies knowlege of and agreement with these terms. Thank you for your understanding.
Previews of Spring Term Classes
Click here to view complete current Course Descriptions and to register for current classes.
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Biblical Hebrew 102
Yes, We Can! No, We Can't! -- Food and the Body in Jewish Practice
- Eight 2-hour sessions, beginning March 6, 2012 (Register by Feb 27.)
- Tuesdays, 6:30 - 8:30 pm Eastern; 3:30 - 5:30 pm Pacific
In this course, we will survey the Jewish traditional practices pertaining to food and the body. The course will be organized according to eight different dichotomies intrinsic to the system of applied Halakha (Jewish Law and Custom). As we explore such categories as the permitted and the forbidden; the pure and the impure (tahor/tamei); liability and exemption; we will simultaneously frame and examine specific practices pertaining to kashrut, sex, mikveh, tallit and tefillin.
This course is part of the Jewish Traditions series in the ALEPH Mechinah Program.
TEACHER: RABBI VIVIE MAYER
viviemayer@gmail.com
Click here to view complete current Course Descriptions and to register for current classes.
You must be logged in as a member to view classes. If you are not logged in click here
Click here for full program description and 2-year cycle of classes.
Recent Classes Offered
Mishnah as Malchut: Reading the Rabbis
- Eight 2-hour sessions, beginning March 7, 2012
Mishnah is the textual embodiment of Malchut, and helps us bring God’s sovereignty into every detail of our lives. This class will use readings in the Mishnah to introduce students to the language and style of rabbinic literature. We will look at selections concerning prayer, responsibility, and other facets of human life, seeking to understand how the Mishnah brings the abstract principles of the Torah into everyday life, and thinking about how we can bring its teachings into our own lives. This class will also introduce students to the different types of early rabbinic literature and their relationships, to help students understand how early rabbis thought, and why they thought the way they did.
TEACHER: RABBI DAVID B. SIFF
Torah b’Ivrit: Introduction to Parshanut
- Eight 2-hour sessions, beginning October 31, 2011
Studying Torah is an act of love. This love helps us find meaning in the details of the text as well as maintain an awareness of wholeness of the text. The course will focus on methods of interpretation, using the lens of the Four Worlds and PaRDeS, a fourfold method of textual interpretation that opens the text, adds the spiritual dimension and provides a holistic approach to text learning.
This course is part of the Jewish Traditions series in the ALEPH Mechinah Program. Biblical Hebrew 102 or the equivalent is a pre-requisite.
TEACHER: RABBI ORI HAR-DiGENNARO
Introduction to Jewish Renewal & Reb Zalman’s Thought
- Eight 2-hour sessions, beginning October 27, 2011 (No class on Thanksgiving)
Crucial to a full understanding of Jewish Renewal is knowledge of the history and development of the movement, its structures, its leaders and their thought, including the principles and development of Paradigm Shift, Integral Halachah, and Davvenology. Students will be introduced to the rabbis and teachers who embraced Reb Zalman's thought and invitation to renew Judaism with their own unique gifts. As the final assignment for this course, each student will be given a sound file of Reb Zalman teaching to hear, evaluate, and catalog.
This course is essential for those connecting with Jewish Renewal for the first time, as well as for those with a history of participation in Renewal communities and events such as the ALEPH Kallah and Ruach HaAretz.
TEACHER: RABBI LEANA MORITT
A Walk Through the Siddur: An Introduction to the Liturgy
- Six two-hour classes, beginning Thursday, March 31, 2011
Entry into the ALEPH Rabbinic Program and completion of the Rabbinic Pastor and Cantorial programs require a basic understanding of our liturgy and its central concepts and terms. In this course, we will explore basic terms such as matbe'a ha-t'fillah, chiyyuv, sh'ma u-virchote'ha, and heiche k'dushah. We will look at what makes a shacharit service whole and how weekday, Shabbat, and holiday services are similar to and different from each other.
This course is part of the Jewish Traditions series in the ALEPH Mechinah Program.
TEACHER: RABBI DANIEL SIEGEL
Jewish Traditions of Sacred Time
- Six evening sessions: Beginning the week of January 31 and ending by March 10
This course will cover shalosh regalim and yamim noraim, paying attention to the ways that seasons give way to seasons and moods and foci shift through time. Course goals:
1. To understand the patterns and moods of the Jewish calendar as they express agricultural, mythic-historical, halakhic, and mystical points of view
2. To become familiar with the particular practices and liturgies associated with each of the festivals and their seasons.
This course is part of the Jewish Traditions series in the ALEPH Mechinah Program.
TEACHER: RABBI VIVIE MAYER
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