Course Descriptions Fall 2026 – 5787

Fall Trimester Intersession – Monday – Thursday, August 10 – 13

SPI 385 Sacred Arts
Rabbi Jeff Hoffman, DHL
This course will engage the arts as tools to reveal interpretations of sacred text that go beyond explanations available through conventional approaches such as written commentaries. The visual arts including oil pastels and watercolor paints; creative writing including poetry and short story or a short script for a play; and music; will be utilized in a deep encounter with Jewish text from the Bible to the modern period. Students will be challenged to not only apply the arts to reveal midrashic (associative) interpretations as is often the goal in an artistic beit midrash, but also peshat (contextual) interpretations.
2 credits
Last offered Fall 2025; offered periodically
This intersession course is taught online Monday – Thursday.
Required Books and Materials:

• Jewish Publication Society, JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh ISBN: 0827607660. Available in various sizes and bindings. (The paperback “pocket-version” is not recommended because the print is so small).
• Various primary sources, articles and excerpts from books on Populi. Any required article or excerpt mentioned in the syllabus will be found on Populi

The projects for this class will require the art supplies listed below. For each one, I have provided a link to an inexpensive version on Amazon but similar materials are also acceptable.

• A set of oil pastels. Recommended: Rubens Oil Pastels Set of 24 colors available on Amazon for $15.99. Oil pastels can be thought of as sophisticated crayons or crayons for grownups. Link to Amazon here.
• Watercolor Paints & Brushes Set with Palette. Recommended: Watercolor Paint with 48 colors, three brushes and detachable palette. $8.99. Link to Amazon here.
• Watercolor/Oil Pastel Paper Pad. Recommended: Hapikalor 9” x 12”, 140 lb. cold pressed paper pad of 20 sheets. $8.99. Link to Amazon here.

PRO 353 Clergy and Couples: Counseling and Marriage Officiation
Rabbi Rob Scheinberg, PhD
Participants in this one-credit workshop will become certified to facilitate the Prepare-Enrich inventory, the most widely used marriage assessment tool (see prepare-enrich.com), and will learn strategies for guiding couples to have substantive conversations about their relationship strengths and growth areas. We will also focus on the role of the rabbi and cantor in homiletical, liturgical, and family dynamics dimensions of wedding officiation.
This course counts as an elective.
1 credit
This intersession course is taught only onsite at AJR in Yonkers on Monday & Tuesday, August 10 & 11.

PRO 354 Pastoral Approaches to Mental Health and Family Systems
Dr. Fran Mendelowitz
This course provides concrete skills that can be immediately applied across a range of pastoral settings. To enable clergy to accompany families with greater insight and compassion, students will be introduced to attachment and emotional development, parenting approaches, family systems, adolescent development, intergenerational relationships, and the role of ritual and community in fostering secure and healthy family life. Case scenarios will be explored to highlight key themes including secure attachment, emotional attunement, separation and individuation, resilience, repair after relational rupture, and intergenerational patterns.

This course will also include Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training. Because clergy are often the first point of contact for individuals and families in distress, this training prepares future rabbis, cantors, and Jewish communal leaders to offer informed initial support and guide individuals toward appropriate care. Research shows that MHFA training reduces stigma, increases empathy and mental health literacy, and strengthens confidence in helping others in distress. The course also encourages attention to clergy self-care and emotional sustainability in pastoral roles.
1 credit
This course counts as an elective.
This intersession course is taught only onsite at AJR in Yonkers on Wednesday & Thursday, August 12 & 13.

Fall Trimester

BIB 307 Thinking with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: Biblical Tradition, Free Society, and Sacred Responsibility
Dr. Job Jindo
This course offers a critical engagement with R. Jonathan Sacks as an interpreter of biblical and Jewish tradition and as a public religious thinker, with special attention to his To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility (2005). By the conclusion of the course, students will be able to articulate: (1) central features of Sacks’s interpretation of biblical and Jewish tradition; (2) his understanding of the relationships among autonomy, tradition, covenant, responsibility, and holiness; and (3) ways in which biblical and Jewish sources can illuminate contemporary questions about moral formation, social repair, and sacred responsibility, while also assessing what Sacks’s approach offers and what it may conceal. The course centers on Sacks’s use of biblical tradition, not on the construction of personal theology.
This course counts as a Bible elective.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Bible
2 credits
This is a new course.
Required Textbooks:

• Sacks, Jonathan, To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility. New York: Schocken Books, 2005
• Sacks, Jonathan, The Ḳoren Shalem Ḥumash with Rashi and Onkelos: The Magerman Edition. Jerusalem: Koren, 2024

BIB 421 Religion, Politics, and Leadership Failure in the Bible: Studies in the Book of Samuel
Dr. Job Jindo
This course offers a critical reading of the book of Samuel, revolving around two axes: (a) religion and politics and (b) leadership and human fallibility. By the conclusion of the course, students will be able to articulate: (1) the structure, purposes, and theological outlook of Samuel; (2) biblical insight into the relationships among politics, religion, and leadership; and (3) ways in which Samuel illuminates enduring questions about power, accountability, family and loyalty, gender and sexuality, divine and human law, agency and responsibility, and encounter with the Other. This course fulfills the Leadership in the Bible rabbinical school requirement.
Prerequisite: In order to count this class as a biblical text class, students must have taken Introduction to Bible. Otherwise, students may count this class as an elective.
2 credits
Last offered Fall 2025; offered periodically
Required Textbooks:

• Berlin, Adele, and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Jewish Study Bible. 2d ed. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2014
• Halbertal, Moshe, and Stephen Holmes, The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel. Princeton/Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2017
• Robert Alter’s translation of Samuel—one of the following versions will do: (a) Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. New York: Norton, 2019. OR: (b) Ancient Israel: The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. New York: Norton, 2013. OR: (c) Alter, Robert. The David Story. New York: Norton, 1999.

CAN 300 Halakhah for the Cantorate
Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD
Designed for those with no background in halakhah (Jewish law), this course offers a brief overview of the history of halakhah, the major sources of halakhah, and how to search for answers within the corpus of halakhah. We will dedicate time to foundational discussions about the nature and relevance of halakhah for all Jewish communities and in the majority of sessions we will dive into halakhot related to prayer on both in-depth (iyyun) and broad (bekiut) levels. This course fulfills the cantorial Introduction to Halakhah requirement.
Prerequisite: At the level of Hebrew 2A or above
2 credits
Last offered Summer 2023; offered periodically
Required Textbooks: None

CAN 388 Shir LaShalom
Rabbi Cantor Michael McCloskey
Peace, viewed as the quintessence of blessing, is elusive, demanding spiritual grit. How does music help us to develop the fortitude, equanimity, sensitivity, and patience that peace requires? What sacred texts can we rely upon that speak to the relationship of music and peace, leading us to insight and growth? What does neuro-science reveal to us about music, equanimity, and conflict resolution? We will engage this topic with the following goals:
(1) Cultivating psycho-spiritual resilience and humility, that we may have resources to draw upon in moments that call for peace-making
(2) Developing a proactive culture of peace in our communities bolstered by music-making and Jewish teachings about music
(3) Learning from the best practitioners of this art who do so from a global perspective.
This course fulfills the Peace Studies III requirement for cantorial students, and the Peace Studies requirement for rabbinical students.
2 credits
Last offered Spring 2026; offered periodically
Required Textbooks:

• Louder than Bombs: A Life with War, Music, and Peace by Ed Vulliamy
  Recommended Resources
• Music and Conflict Transformation: Harmonies and Dissonances in Geopolitics edited by Olivier Urbain
• This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, Daniel Levitin, PhD
• “Building Peace through Music” from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music Review, Benjamin Bergey, PhD
• “This D.C Area Musician Founded a Chorus for Palestinian and Israeli Youth”, Hector Alejanrdo Arzate and and Tyrone Turner from the digital news site DCist
• The Torah of Music: Reflections on a Tradition of Singing and Song, Joey Weisenberg
  “Jewish Musicians Want Jewish Israel Critics to Stop Singing Their Songs at Protests”, Philisa Cramer from The Times of Israel, Amitai Gross, Executive Director of Music in the Key of Peace Speaking at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
• “Johnny Clegg: Tikkun Olam in South Africa”, Richard D. Logan, PhD from Humanist Judaism Magazine
• “The Jewish Zulu” by Andrew Friedman from The Jerusalem Post

CAN 395 Piyyut
Dr. Samuel Torjman-Thomas
The piyyut has long been a post-biblical vehicle for expressing a high-register Hebraic response to Jewish life in Diaspora. Often ensconced in localized trends, be they linguistic and/or musical, piyyutim involve the interaction between text, sound, thought, and historical memory. In contemporary Jewish life, piyyutim have also moved beyond the liturgical and paraliturgical function, to navigate modern Hebraic culture in Israel as part of a globalized context of popular music. This course examines different themes, settings, and impacts of piyyutim practice in Jewish history and culture. This course fulfills the Piyyutim requirement for cantorial students.
2 credits
Last offered Spring 2024; offered periodically
Required Textbooks:

• Carmi, T. ed., 2006. The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse. Penguin UK. (accessible through DTL)
• Scheindlin, R.P., 1999. Wine, Women, & Death: Medieval Hebrew Poems on the Good Life.
  Oxford University Press, USA.
• Scheindlin, R.P., 1999. The Gazelle: Medieval Hebrew Poems on God, Israel, and the Soul. Oxford University Press, USA

CAN 446 Advanced Nusah: Yammim Noraim 1
Cantor Sol Zim and Cantor Lisa Klinger-Kantor
An in depth extensive study of the vast Mi-sinai tunes that make up the Rosh Hashanah liturgy. Each student must develop an understanding of the various motifs and nushaot and how to use them in the course of davening. Targil section required.
4 credits
Last offered Fall 2023; offered periodically
Required Textbooks:

• The Sol Zim High Holiday Anthology for Rosh Hashanah
• Mahzor Lev Shalem, Rosh Hashanah an Yom Kippur, The Rabbinic Assembly
• Mahzor Hadash, The New Mahzor, for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, revised and expanded version
• Gates of Repentance, Central Conference of American Rabbis

HAL 460 Intermediate Codes
Rabbi Will Friedman
This course will focus on Joseph Karo’s Shulhan Arukh, the major medieval code of Jewish law that continues to inform contemporary practice. We will study many of the most important laws related to the observance of Shabbat and Holidays with secondary readings that offer more diverse perspectives for modern forms of observance and celebration.
Prerequisite: one trimester of Introduction to Codes
2 credits
Last offered Fall 2025; typically offered every 3-4 terms
Required Textbooks: None

HEB 251 Hebrew IB
Ayelet Rein
Using the second volume of Hebrew from Scratch (‘עברית מן ההתחלה ב), students will read and listen to texts of different genres, surrounding topics of Israeli history and culture, and everyday life. Special attention will be given to writing skills and presentational speaking. Grammatical topics follow lessons 7-13 in the book, and include future tense of various verb groups, preposition inflections, and sentence structures that are used in written language or use future tense.
Prerequisite: Hebrew 1A or sufficient Hebrew background as determined by the Hebrew Placement Test
4 credits
Last offered Fall 2025; typically offered every 3-4 terms or as needed
Required textbooks:

• Shlomit Chayat, Sara Israeli, Hilla Kobliner, Hebrew From Scratch Textbook Part II (English and Hebrew Edition) 2001 Edition, Amazon $65.00 ISBN: 084000849X

HEB 320 Biblical Hebrew
Rabbi Peg Kershenbaum
Introduction to Biblical Hebrew: examination of and exercise in the grammar, syntax and vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew, for the development of competence in understanding and translating the classical Biblical texts (with some attention to major differences between BH, Rabbinic and Modern Hebrew). Objectives: by the end of this course, students will be able to identify all parts of speech, including all the major binyanim in all their forms as they occur in prose passages of the Tanakh. They will be able to use BDB efficiently and accurately to find unfamiliar vocabulary by applying information learned about the forms and structures of different parts of speech. Students will learn to use a biblical concordance and Sefaria.com to produce a word study. They will be able to translate connected biblical prose passages accurately with the help of BDB and give analyses of specified words and constructions. Students will be able to use major conjunctive and disjunctive cantillation signs to aid in correct phrasing of syntactic units of the texts examined. And, if all goes according to plan, will even enjoy the process!
2 credits
Last offered Spring 2025; typically offered every 4-5 terms
Required Textbooks: None

HEB 400 Hebrew IIIA
Pelleg Halfin
The purpose of this course is to transition students from intermediate to advanced level of Hebrew. The course will focus on vocabulary expansion and reading comprehension and will provide training in speaking and listening. Students will develop their productive language skills via class discussions, presentations and listening practice, and via reading and writing assignments. The course will include a review of the verb system.
Prerequisite: Hebrew 2B or the equivalent
4 credits
Last offered Summer 2026; typically offered very 3-4 terms.
Required Textbooks:

• Tishler, Goni, Poal Yotse (Verbs in Transition): The Verb for Intermediate Level (Academon, 2011). ISBN: 978-965-350-122-5; $29; https://www.magnespress.co.il/en/book/%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%9C_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A6%D7%90_(%D7%9E%D7%94%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94_%D7%97%D7%93%D7%A9%D7%94)-2718

HEB 402 Hebrew IIIB
Ayelet Rein
This course is a continuation of Hebrew IIIA. The focus of this course will be on reading and listening comprehension of informative and narrative texts in Modern Hebrew. Written, oral, and aural assignments will enhance communication and comprehension skills while improving absorption and integration of vocabulary and grammar.
Prerequisite: Hebrew IIIA or its equivalent
2 credits
Last taught Summer 2025; typically offered every 3-4 terms.
Required Textbooks: TBD

HIS 400 Ideas and Debates of Jewish History I
Dr. Alan Levenson
This course will examine the ideas and debates that affected Jewish belief, culture, and society from the Second Temple period through the medieval world. Our first topics will be the nature of the Diaspora and the canonization of the Hebrew Bible; our last topics will the Maimonidean controversy and the Disputation of Barcelona (1263). Our central focus will be the rise and consolidation of classical rabbinic Judaism in the era often called Late Antiquity. We will explore internal arguments within Judean society, the developing concepts of Jewish identity, the similarities and differences between Jews in Eretz Yisrael and in the Diaspora, Jewish interactions with pagan and early Christian society, and the dramatic changes in Jewish life caused by the Muslim conquest and the Christian reconquest of Spain (Reconquista).
2 credits
Last offered Spring 2026: Typically offered every 3-4 terms
Required Textbooks:

• Shaye J.D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah, 3rd edition
• Mark Cohen, Under Crescent and Cross

INT 395 After Faith Breaks
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Faith is often imagined as unshakable, but what is faith? And what happens when it is challenged, fractured, or even lost? This course explores the ruptures in faith through Jewish texts, theological reflections, and contemporary voices. Through selections from Tanakh, Midrash, and Talmud, alongside Hebrew Poets and the writings of figures such as Gershom Scholem, Viktor Frankl, James Fowler, Jill Hammer, David Hartman, Hayim Soloveitchik, Judith Plaskow, Paul Tillich, Louis Ginzberg, and others, we will examine personal and communal confrontations with and crises of faith. All Hebrew texts will be available in English translation. This course will count as a spirituality or general elective credit.
2 credits
Last offered Summer 2025; offered periodically
Required Texts: None

LIT 307 Festival Liturgy
Rabbi Jeff Hoffman, DHL
A study of the liturgy of Pesah, Shavuot, and Sukkot from biblical origins to the present era. Features: Variations from the weekday liturgy, especially in the Amidot; the development of Hallel customs; the form, function and texts of principal piyyutim, e.g., Hoshanot and Akdamut; Yizkor. These will be studied from historical, literary, and theological perspectives.
Prerequisites: Introduction to Liturgy; Hebrew must be at least at the level of Hebrew IA.
2 credits
Last offered Spring 2026; typically offered every 3-4 terms
Required Textbooks:

• The Complete Artscroll Siddur (Ashkenazic, Orthodox), edited by Rabbi Nosson Scherman,
  Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz. ISBN: 0-89906-650-X
  $27.99 on the Artscroll website: https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9780899066509.html
• Arthur Waskow, Seasons of Our Joy: A Modern Guide to the Jewish Holidays, 1982 and
  reprinted many times since. ISBN: 9780827609303, 0827609302 $18.45 new on Amazon.
• Jeffrey Hoffman, Weaving Prayer: An Analytical and Spiritual Commentary on the Jewish Prayer Book, 2024. ISBN: 13 978-1-953829-60-3
  $27.95 for paperback edition on website of the publisher, Ben Yehuda Press: https://www.benyehudapress.com/
  In addition to the three books above, students are required to have available at least one of the
  following siddurim from the major movements in North American Judaism. Students may purchase copies from the various movements or new or used from any other source. Another possibility is borrowing a siddur from a local synagogue:
• Siddur Lev Shalem (Conservative), The Rabbinical Assembly, 2016. ISBN: 978-0-916219-64-2
  $55 from The Rabbinical Assembly.
• Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat Vehaggim (Reconstructing Judaism), The Reconstructionist Press, 1994 and reprinted many times since. (Note that the weekday and Days of Awe versions are also titled Kol Haneshamah; this course requires the volume with the subtitle, Shabbat Vehaggim). ISBN: 0-935457-46-1
  Available for free at this website: https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/files/kh/kh-shabbat-hagim.pdf
  Available in hard copy for $65 on the website of the Reconstructionist Press: https://readandrite.com/products/shabbat-and-holidays-shabbat-vehagim
• Mishkan T’filah: A Reform Siddur, Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2007, ISBN: 0-88123-114-4, $48 on website of the CCAR Press: https://www.ccarpress.org/shopping_product_detail.asp?pid=50203

PHI 480 Pluralism
Rabbi Len Levin, PhD and Rabbi Cantor Michael McCloskey
What is pluralism? What are its core value commitments, and how does it differ from relativism? In this class we will endeavor to clarify our core convictions regarding truth and pluralism; to determine to what extent pluralism is an authentic Jewish value; to extend and deepen our knowledge base concerning pluralism in general and the discussion over pluralism within classical and modern Judaism; to cultivate the virtues of pluralism in dealing with each other, with Jews of persuasions different from our own, and with fellow human beings of different faith communities or no faith community. We will use Studies in Judaism and Pluralism: Honoring the 60th Anniversary of the Academy for Jewish Religion as a study guide.
2 credits
Last offered Summer 2025; typically offered every 3-4 terms
Required Textbooks:

• Leonard Levin, ed.: Studies in Judaism and Pluralism (Ben Yehuda Press, http://benyehudapress.com/books/studies-judaism-pluralism/ ) (The opening chapters are duplicated on Populi: Files: 1 “General Concepts” for the convenience of those who cannot obtain the book in time for the beginning of the course.)
• Moshe Halbertal: People of the Book (Harvard)
• Donniel Hartman: The Boundaries of Judaism (Continuum)
• Avi Sagi: The Open Canon (Continuum)
  Recommended Books:
• Sami Adwan, Dan Bar-On, Eyal Naveh, eds. Side by Side: Parallel Histories of Israel Palestine (PRIME: Peace Research Institute in the Middle East)
• Alan Brill: Judaism and Other Religions, Models of Understanding (Palgrave /Macmillan) (see Populi: Files: 5.0 and 5.0A)
• Irving Greenberg, For the Sake of Heaven and Earth — The New Encounter Between Judaism and Christianity (JPS) (See Populi: Files: 5.11 and 5.11A)
• David Hartman, A Heart of Many Rooms — Celebrating the Many Voices Within Judaism (Jewish Lights) and The God Who Hates Lies (Jewish Lights)
• Richard Hidary, Dispute for the Sake of Heaven: Legal Pluralism in the Talmud (Brown Judaic Studies) (rather technical, but if you really want to get into the advanced Talmud scholarship on this issue, Hidary and Sagi are tops)
• Yossi Klein Halevi, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor
• Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference (Continuum)

PHI 515 Sefer Yetzirah
Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD
Sefer Yetzirah is one of the earliest works of Jewish mysticism. This brief and cryptic ancient book imagines letters as the building blocks of the universe, introduces us to the sefirot or divine realms, and focuses our attention on the components of space, time, and soul. Its goal is to allow adepts to contemplate, and even partake in, the Divine creative process interwoven with the details of the physical universe. We will be reading the work in its entirety, plus secondary literature, to understand the meaning of Sefer Yetzirah and its potential role in contemporary Jewish belief and contemplative practice. We will also be exploring the book’s meditative approach through our own exploration of its methods. This course will count as the Mysticism requirement or as a Spirituality elective.
2 credits
Last offered Spring 2024; offered periodically
Required Textbooks:

• Hammer, Jill. The Magic, Meditation, and Mystery of Sefer Yetzirah (Teaneck, NJ: Ben Yehuda Press, 2020).
• Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation in Theory and Practice (Boston: Weiser Books, 1997)

PRO 005 & 006 Core Concepts V & VI
Rabbi Boaz Marmon
This is a multi-year sequence of seminars. The seminars cover some of the fundamental values, concepts and vocabulary of Jewish tradition. Students are expected to first gain a basic acquaintance with these terms and to then delve more deeply into them so as to appreciate their range of significance. The goal of the seminars is not simply to gather information, but to develop an integrated way of thinking about and expressing these value concepts, so that students may grow from having an appreciation of the tradition to actively and creatively participating in the discourse of Torah. Every student is required to take four trimesters of the seminars given in the sequence, but they need not be taken in order. Core Concepts V begins with ‘ot and Concepts VI begins with the term teshuvah. No tuition is charged for this course. This course is only open to matriculated students who are also registering for other courses.
Note: Core Concepts 005 and 006 are offered as two separate courses, one or both may be taken, see schedule.
Core Concepts V meets October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and November 5
Core Concepts VI meets November 5, 19, December 3, 10, 17, 24
Note that these two courses overlap on November 5.
0 credits

PRO 305 Current Issues Surrounding Jewish Education
Susan Werk
How do Jewish professionals address the hot topics that our Jewish institutions need to grapple with? We will be dealing with topics such as the media, antisemitism, multiple opinions in a community, leadership, separation of church and state, and other areas that impact on how we decide what to teach our children, and about the communities we are forming in doing so. This course will be drawing on the writings of educators and clergy, and is designed for class discussion to allow students to tease out the many ramifications of these contemporary struggles. Listening skills will be emphasized and encouraged.
2 credits

PRO 315 Counseling I
Cantor Michael Kasper
This course is an introduction to the practice of pastoral counseling, offering the philosophical / religious / psychological underpinnings as well as developing actual practical skills. Emphasis is on acquiring the ability to actively listen and assess situations, and then respond appropriately, knowing when to offer various kinds of help, and when to recommend appropriate referrals.
Specific issues in this course involve counseling for life cycle events, pre-marital meetings, helping people cope with illness, losses and grief/bereavement, as well as crisis situations and the stresses of life. We explore ways to use Jewish texts, song, prayer and ritual for healing. Classes often have an experiential component.
2 credits
Last offered Fall 2025; typically offered every 3-4 terms
Required Textbooks:

• Friedman, Rabbi Dayle, Jewish Pastoral Care – A Practical Handbook, 2nd edition, Jewish Lights, 2008
• Sullivan, James E., The Good Listener. Ave Maria Press. 2000
• Remen, Rachel Naomi, M, Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal. Riverhead Books. (2006 or later publishing date, if possible)

PRO 342 Life Cycle II
Rabbi Jef Segelman
This course will focus on life cycle issues and rituals beginning after the marriage ceremony and continuing through death and mourning. Topics will include: innovative rituals addressing transitions in individual adult life, milestones in marriage and parenting, and concerns regarding the end of a marriage and divorce. Also included will be the topic of bikkur holim and issues of caregiving to elderly parents, end of life concerns, and a practical and philosophical study of the laws of death and mourning. Students in this course will be able to: create innovative rituals surrounding adult life cycle events, articulate issues and guide families with regard to end of life decisions, explain and facilitate the process and ritual of the Jewish divorce. Students will also learn how to officiate at funerals, burials, and other rituals associated with Jewish practices of death and mourning.
Life Cycle I is not a prerequisite for this course.
2 credits
Last offered Summer 2025; typically offered every 3-4 terms
Required Textbooks:

• Martin Cohen, ed. The Observant Life
• Goldie Milgram, Living Jewish Life Cycle

PRO 710 FWSS
Rabbi Jen Schlosberg
This seminar group focuses upon issues that arise in the course of rabbinical and cantorial work. Students will explore the challenges that they face in their work and in their developing rabbinate/cantorate through the presentation of a case study. Participation is required of all students whose work is counting as a required internship experience.
All Fieldwork must be approved prior to the beginning of the trimester by Rabbi Jef Segelman.
2 credits
Last offered Summer 2026; typically offered every term.

RAB 100 Introduction to Mishnah
Laynie Soloman
This course will introduce students to the study of Mishnah and its place in rabbinic literature. Combining an overview of the Mishnah with in-depth study of a sampling of mishnayot from each of the Mishnah’s six orders (shisha sedarim), we will gain a deeper understanding of this unique text’s structure and the various literary styles reflected within it. Additionally, we will explore the historical context that gave rise to this foundational rabbinic text, and its reception history as part of the classical rabbinic corpus.
Prerequisite: At the level of HEB 350 Hebrew 2A or above
2 credits
Last offered Spring 2026; typically offered every 3 terms
Required Textbooks:

• Students should have access to a full set of Mishnah.

RAB 150 Pirke Avot
Rabbi Jef Segelman
In this class, we will explore a selection of the mishnayot in Pirkei Avot. Delving deeply into rabbinic, chassidic and modern texts and commentaries, we will focus our attention on how clergy can use this work to evolve our personal theologies and to inspire and strengthen our spiritual leadership.
This course counts as a general elective.
2 credits
Last offered Summer 2025; offered periodically
Required Textbooks: None

RAB 231 Introduction to Talmud II
Rabbi Jeff Hoffman, DHL
In this second half of the two-trimester Introduction to Talmud course, students will continue to develop their skills in decoding the dialectic of the talmudic discourse. This term, the text will be studied in its original languages. Students will prepare the Steinsaltz commentary (Hebrew) with the help of vocabulary sheets provided by the instructor. Modern critical methodologies of Talmud study – identifying the three layers of Tannaitic, Amoraic, and Stam material – will be introduced. Study of basic Aramaic terms and Talmudic organic logic will resume. The content will be the various halakhic and theological approaches to the Amidah found in Tractate Berakhot, chapter 4.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Talmud I or the equivalent
2 credits
Last offered Spring 2026; typically offered every 3 terms
Required Textbooks:

• Steinsaltz Talmud, volume 1, Berakhot. This is the all-Hebrew edition of the Steinsaltz Talmud. Copies of the textbook from previous trimesters of this second Talmud trimester course will not be helpful; that edition is quickly going out of print. The best way to order it is through Koren Publishers. Sometimes students have tried to order through other outlets and occasionally the book was shipped literally via ship from Israel and took months to arrive. The following link will bring you to the exact volume required: https://korenpub.com/products/koren-talmud-berakhothardcover
• Marcus Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Bavli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrashic Literature. This book is available in standard, hard-copy form. It is also available, in its entirety, available for free on Sefaria.org but it is easier to use in hard-copy.
• Yitzhak Frank, The Practical Talmud Dictionary. This, too, is available for free online, but is easier to use in hard-copy

RAB 430 Intermediate/Advanced Talmud
Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD
This course will hone students’ abilities to critically read, parse, and understand Talmudic material that is relevant for understanding contemporary Judaism. This semester will focus on sugyot related to Shabbat practices and prohibitions, which will provide students with a historical and literary understanding of the underpinnings of contemporary Shabbat observances. Prerequisite: Three trimesters of Talmud
2 credits
Last offered Summer 2026; typically offered every 1-2 terms
Required Textbooks: None

SPI 400 Contemporary Midrash
Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD
In this course, we will explore contemporary poems and stories on biblical characters in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish, as well as some paintings, and discuss how the modern era has brought new forms of Midrash. We’ll consider the biblical texts and rabbinic legends that have informed modern authors, and interpret the messages these new writings convey. We will end the course by creating and sharing our own modern midrashim. This course can count as the Midrash II requirement or as a Spirituality elective.
2 credits
Last offered Spring 2023; offered periodically
Required Textbooks: None