We are currently planning our program for the coming year. Please check back in September to learn more and to register.

10 Great Texts – Entire Series
Access all ten sessions!

Sign up for the entire two-year package of one of our most innovative programs. the 10 Great Texts series (sessions 1-10). The series features 10 HUC-JIR scholars. Take the opportunity to learn with Norman Cohen, Michael Marmur, Alyssa Gray, David Aron, Carol Balin, Reuven Firestone, Eliyahu Schleifer, Rick Sarason, Isa Aron, and our HUC-JIR President, David Ellenson. Each scholar introduces students to his or her “great text” during a four-part session. You have the chance to learn texts which inspire, challenge, and excite our teachers. This is a unique opportunity for both personal and professional growth! (immediate access to the recorded and archived material ready for download). Learn more...

Mini Course - Toward a Deeper Understanding of Islam and Muslim-Jewish Relations
Reuven Firestone, Zayn Kassam, David Elcott

Our Fall min-course is a must in our contemporary milieu of religious misunderstandings. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the fundamentals of belief in Islam, the role of Muslim women in shaping society and politics, and the considerations and goals for Jewish Muslim dialogue. Learn more...

They Did Not Teach Me that in Rabbinic School: Innovation and Revision in Biblical Studies
Ehud Ben Zvi & David H. Aaron

In this mini-course we will endeavor to learn and understand the implications of recent developments in biblical studies (Prophets and Pentateuch in particular) and how these developments might be integrated into our teaching as rabbis and educators. Learn more...

Beyond Nostalgia: Can Yiddish Continue to Shape Jewish Culture?
Nahma Sandrow, Kathryn Hellerstein, & Sarah Bunin Benor

With samplings from theatre, poetry and songs we will explore the unique and powerful ways Yiddush influenced and shaped the evolution of Jewish culture for over one hundred years. Learn more...

Remembering Rambam
Alyssa Gray, Marc Shapiro and Kenneth Seeskin

To mark Rambam's 800th yahrzeit, we will look at his legacy and his life from three perspectives: as a posek, as a philosopher and as a man in his historical context. Learn more...

Prayers for Health
Ruth Alpers, William Cutter, Evan Kent, Ruth Langer, Benjie Schiller, and Howard Silverman

Exploration of the concept and history of the MiSheBerach and other prayers for healing, the role of caregivers and their prayers, and the use of liturgy and music at the hospital bedside. Offered as a joint project of the Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health, this three-session course includes a discussion of historical prayers for healing as well as contemporary applications by clinicians. Learn more...

Post-denominational Judaism
Tsvi Blanchard and Jack Wertheimer

Recent years have witnessed the development of new religious alternatives that start with the assumption that denominations are part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. How are we, as a movement, and as individuals, to respond to this challenge? Learn more...

In Concert or in Conflict? Our American Economic Ethic and Jewish Values
David Saperstein and Barry Fruendel

How do we define Jewish economic justice, and how should our definitions play out in the context of political action? This three-part course analyzes how Jewish values relate to economic policy-making. Learn more...

Gender and Sexuality in Text
Rachel Adler, Aryeh Cohen and Wendy Zierler

What role does gender play in Jewish text? What are some of its underlying notions relating to sexuality? In this course, each scholar will investigate how the experiences of individual characters in Jewish literature provide insight into the sexualized aspects of knowledge. Learn more... Learn more...

Judaism and Islam
Reuven Firestone and Yossi Klein Halevi

In this timely mini-course, Reuven Firestone explores the history of Jewish-Muslim relations and investigates the intertextuality of these two faiths. Learn more...

The End of Life
Bill Cutter, Laurie Zoloth, Richard Address and Dayle Friedman

This course addresses the cultural foundations of our current ethical dilemmas and some practical strategies for addressing the changing realities surrounding death and dying. Learn more...

Warfare and Violence: The Boundaries of Zionism
Uri Regev, Adam Rubin and Michael Marmur

Our Scholars grapple with difficult issues, including: the formation and sustenance of our homeland, changes in the Zionist ideal reflected in present economic, political, and social climate, and the meaning of Liberal Zionism today. Learn more...

Confronting the Other within Jewish Tradition
Norman Cohen and Adriane Leveen

Norman Cohen and Adriane Leveen analyze "the other" through a study of Genesis 16 and 21, the stories of the tension-filled relationships among Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael, and the interpretation of this material in Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer. Learn more...

Israel Beneath the Surface: History, Faith, Politics
Michael Meyer and Paul Liptz

In two sessions, Michael Meyer examines "Jewish History and Israeli History: The Problem of Distinguishing Between Them" and "Religious Significance of the State of Israel: Is It the Beginning of Our Redemption?" Paul Liptz concludes with "Political Culture: Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael." Learn more...

Journey to a Decision: The Stem Cell Debate
Mark Washofsky and Elliot Dorff

In the first two sessions, Mark Washofsky surveys halakhic literature relevant to the stem cell debate. Elliot Dorff concludes this program examining relevant methodology and outcomes. Learn more...

Sefirah Study - Uncovering and Upsetting the Paradigms of Prayer: Liturgical Innovation from Antiquity to the Present
Rick Sarason, Laura Lieber, Ruth Langer

Prayer is where some of the most interesting and difficult struggles about tradition and change have occurred – where patterns of liturgical innovation create a roadmap of how Jewish prayer has survived and thrived throughout history. This year’s Sefirah Study is a seven week journey through the millennia to investigate the ways in which liturgy has changed, where paradigms have shifted, and how we can learn from those shifts and innovations in our own contemporary struggles in Tefilah. Learn more...

Seeing it Their Way: Egypt to Sinai through the Eyes of the Medieval Interpreters
Marty Lockshin, Jason Kalman, & Sharon Koren

The Sefirah Study will be organized and structured around each parshan. The instructor will identify the text(s), from within the first 20 chapters of Exodus, that best exemplify the parshan’s methodology. Learn more...

Portraits of the Holy Land: Antiquity to the Present
Dr. Barry Chazan, Dr.’s Hollander, Jonathan Krasner, Stanley Nash, James Rudin, and Ezra Spicehandler

Seven weeks of interdisciplinary study during Sefirat HaOmer featuring a study of classic and contemporary texts on images of the Land of Israel. Dr. Barry Chazan will lead a study with Ben Hollander, Jonathan Krasner, Stanley Nash, James Rudin, and Ezra Spicehandler. Learn more...

Talmud Torah as Spiritual Encounter
Linda Thal, Elsie Stern, Norman Cohen and Eitan Fishbane

As inheritors of the Western philosophic tradition, we tend to draw rigid distinctions between \"scholarly\" and \"spiritual\" endeavors, assuming that they are mutually exclusive domains. This course seeks to renegotiate these boundaries. Learn more...

Text in a Modern Age
Michael Chernick, David Aaron, Marc Bregman, and Dvora Weisberg

Michael Chernick, David Aaron, Marc Bregman, and Dvora Weisberg tackle the central questions surrounding how we as Liberal Jews approach our sacred texts. Learn more...

Pirkei Avot
Michael Chernick, Leonard Gordon, Leonard Kravitz, Charlotte Fonrobert, Richard Sarason, Ronald Brauner, and Dvora Weisberg

A look into seven selections from Pirkei Avot. Learn more...

Passover and Christianity
Michael Cook

Michael Cook discusses specifically Christian facets of the Passover season and how one might explain various subjects to fellow Jews, religious school youngsters, and Christian neighbors. Learn more...