Around the Calendar with Drisha

Shavuot 5781: ”A Talmudist Writes Poetry: On Yatziv Pitgam and its World” with Dr. Tzvi Novick

The poem Yatziv Pitgam, recited on the second day of Shavuot in connection with the haftarah, is an obscure but beautiful window into the religious world of medieval Ashkenaz, written by the great Tosafist, Rabbenu Tam. In this class we will read and unpack the poem in order to reflect on what it teaches about Shavuot, and on the intellectually rich but also tragic period in which it was written.

Pesach 5781: ”Seder Telling” with Rabbanit Leah Sarna, Rabbi David Silber, Dr. Tammy Jacobowitz, Darshanit Dr. Miriam Udel, and Rabbi David Ingber

Today our seder nights are guided by the liturgical prompts of the Haggadah, but it wasn’t always this way. Our tradition records that in the times of the Mishnah, Rabbis gathered in Lod and Bnai Brak on the Seder night to tell the story of the Exodus. Unscripted, in their own words. Join us and listen in as a gathering of scholars and rabbis re-enact this seder, at our event: Seder Telling. Presented in partnership with: Brandeis Hillel, Congregation Darchei Noam, Congregation Ohr Hatorah, Netivot Shalom, Romemu, Torat Chayim, Valley Beit Midrash, and Yeshivat Maharat.

Pesach 5781: ”Adoption or Resistance: The Structure of the Seder and the Greco-Roman Symposium” with Dr. Yair Furstenberg

While both Jewish and Christian authors in Antiquity openly confronted Greek and Roman practices of dining and celebration, the rabbis shaped the most important meal of the year in disturbing similarity to the Greco-Roman symposium. What is the cultural significance of this choice? While scholars hotly debated this question, I suggest a new perspective to this issue through a close analysis of the structure of the Seder in the Mishnah.

Pesach 5781: ”Remembering the Korban Pesach in Masechet Pesachim and in Ancient Jewish Sources” with Dr. Yedidah Koren

Pesach is a holiday of remembrance. In this class we will think about the ways in which the Seder night is intended at remembering - and reenacting - the Korban Pesach, and the ways in which the Korban Pesach itself was intended to reenact the first Pesach offering that was celebrated in Egypt. Alongside sources from Masechet Pesachim, we will study additional ancient Jewish sources that reminisce about this offering, but in a very different way.

Purim 5781: ”Ayeka: Searching for God in Megillat Esther” with Rabbi David Silber

Megillat Esther, more than any book of the Bible, lends itself to multiple readings. The session will suggest two readings of the Megilla, in contrast to the reading of the “hidden God.” In one reading God is wholly absent, in the other fully present. We will reflect upon the ethical and theological implications of each.

Purim 5781: ”The Hand in the Hiddenness” with Rabbanit Leah Sarna

The Talmud finds Esther in the Torah through a play on words in the curses of Sefer Devarim, “and I will hide, haster astir My countenance on that day.” Elsewhere the Talmud teaches in the name of Rav that to be a Jew one must experience God's hiddenness. Why is that, and what does it mean to experience God's hiddenness? And once we experience it, what are we to do? Join us in an exploration of these verses through the Talmud, Medieval Commentators and Hasidic Masters.

Thanksgiving 5781: ”Mapping Gratitude” with Adina Polen and Rabbi Ariel Evan Mayse

Adina Polen and Ariel Mayse of Atiq: Jewish Maker Institute ran this interactive Jewish learning and arts workshop. We used simple materials to help locate ourselves within our own lives and reflect back to us all that we have to be grateful for! This workshop was designed to be fun and accessible for all ages. Learn more about Atiq at www.atiqmakers.org!

Simchat Torah 5781: ”Simchat Torah: Concluding with Blessings and Starting Anew” with Rabbi David Silber

Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah is the conclusion of a series of Festivals and observances. It is the time that we complete a cycle of Torah reading and start anew.An analysis of the Torah readings will afford us a glimpse as to the place of this holiday within the cycle of holidays and its import for our daily living.

High Holidays 5781: ”Intention and the Mitzvot of Tishrei” (3/3) with Dr. Shana Strauch Schick

In the third class, we will probe different aspects of intentionality: whether sinful thoughts are treated with the same weight as sinful deeds, and what defines a sin as intentional or unintentional. We will see marked differences in how various sages approached these questions.

Yom Kippur 5781: ”The Kapparah of Yom Kippur” (5/5) with Rabbi Dr Shlomo Zuckier

This final shiur in the series will draw together the material we have studied throughout this series and draw some conclusions about the source of atonement on Yom Kippur. Does it stem primarily from people or from God? And does the answer to that question change over history?