The Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-El


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The discovery of the first Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 has become a crucial turning point in the research of ancient Judaism and Christianity. But who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? What do these writings contain? Do they shed light on the historical reality of John the Baptist, Jesus or Paul? Do they contradict some teachings of the Rabbis? Delve into the fascinating world of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and familiarize yourself with the current state of research on one of the world’s most controversial topics.



What happens when a leader needs guidance? Encounter two patriarchs, Abraham and Moses, in moments of personal and spiritual crisis. Meet the mysterious foreign priests, Melchizedek and Jethro, who counsel them. Who are these priests? Is their foreignness a potential impediment to their role as counselors, or is there something about their "non-Jewish" status that lends legitimacy to the role they play? See how these stories relate to modern-day questions concerning the relations between Jews and non-Jews and between insiders and outsiders.



In American culture, people consume media much in the way they consume fast food, but how much cultural and spiritual nourishment do they actually take in? View and analyze film clips and explore such topics as providence and free will, good and evil, faith and doubt; engage in study of what is at stake in this subject for Jews, and how Judaism contributes to the discussion, drawing on biblical, rabbinic and medieval as well as modern Jewish texts.



Rabbi Rehumei loved studying so much that he would come home only once a year. Then one year he forgot. . . . This Talmudic story opens a conversation about the art of relationships and the challenge of balancing our jobs and our homes. Not just for couples but for all of us managing relationships—discover how these age-old stories of our tradition have the power to enlighten and inspire our own relationships today.



Where is my tradition when I’m facing a changing body and an aging mind? How can I harness the wisdom and creativity of my Judaism to mark milestones previously ignored by Jewish custom? How do Jewish lifecycle rituals address transitional moments for Jews in modern societies? Investigate the call for Jewish creativity as life becomes ever more complex, and explore the growing need for powerful ritual in this exciting, confusing and dynamic world of ours.



How do we read Genesis 1 in an age of science?

What is the potential role of art as contemporary Midrash?

Join the Skirball Center for a viewing of the painting installation "Genesis: New Translations" by artist Jill Nathanson, followed by a discussion with these renowned scholars.

This event will take place the Derfner Judaica Museum at The Hebrew Home at Riverdale, 5901 Palisade Avenue, Riverdale, New York 10471

Note: Transportation to the Derfner Judaica Museum will be provided upon registration only. Space is on a first-come first-served basis.

Register today to ensure availability.

To register, please call 212.507.9580.



God! (Part 1)
Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 01, Nov 08 Mon 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Father,Mother, King,Nothingness? We use many words to approach and describe God, but don’t often have an opportunity to understand and discuss the images and sources of these words.Where do they come from? Are we restricted to them? Inspired by Talmudic stories, medieval philosophy and Kabbalah, as well as modern poetry, revisit the ways Jews imagined God, and enrich your own language in approaching the Divine in your life.


This course is made in partnership with Congregation B'nai Jeshurun



God! (Part 2)
Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 06 Mon 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Father,Mother, King,Nothingness? We use many words to approach and describe God, but don’t often have an opportunity to understand and discuss the images and sources of these words.Where do they come from? Are we restricted to them? Inspired by Talmudic stories, medieval philosophy and Kabbalah, as well as modern poetry, revisit the ways Jews imagined God, and enrich your own language in approaching the Divine in your life.


This course is made in partnership with Congregation B'nai Jeshurun



God (Full Semester)
Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 01, Nov 08, Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 06 Mon 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Father,Mother, King,Nothingness? We use many words to approach and describe God, but don’t often have an opportunity to understand and discuss the images and sources of these words.Where do they come from? Are we restricted to them? Inspired by Talmudic stories, medieval philosophy and Kabbalah, as well as modern poetry, revisit the ways Jews imagined God, and enrich your own language in approaching the Divine in your life.


This course is made in partnership with Congregation B'nai Jeshurun



The Struggle with God in the Literary Imagination
Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 01, Nov 08, Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 06 Mon 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

Delve into such major theological issues as the nature of God, the problem of suffering, the end of days and others as they appear in some of the great books of world literature. Discover how the story of the Garden of Eden as well as authors Philip Roth, Archibald MacLeish, Elie Wiesel, John Updike and others demonstrate that theological inquiry is not restricted to the academy.


NOTE: This is a new version of a course that was first offered in Spring 2010, featuring all new materials.



Is the contemporary American Jewish community in steady decline, or is it experiencing a breathtaking renewal? Beginning with the aftermath of the Holocaust and the rise of the State of Israel, examine American Jewish movements, conflicts and institutions (community, family, religion, Zionism, responses to anti-Semitism, etc.) to understand how we got to where we are today and what the coming decades might bring.



The End Is Near . . . Again: The Origins of the Apocalyptic Worldview
Oct 18, Nov 01, Nov 08, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 06, Dec 13 Mon 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

In the face of calamity humanity finds solace in the vision of a sanguine uber-future.The religious, political and social pressure-cooker of the Second Temple era gave rise to apocalypsis (literally, revelation), a world view and a literary form that embraced notions of the end of days, final judgment, messianic delivery, life after death and heavenly mysteries. Explore these concepts and their historical context in readings from Daniel, the Book of Enoch, the Book of Revelation and more.



Face to Face with Levinas
The Harrison S. Kravis Course in Jewish Studies
Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 01, Nov 08, Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 06 Mon 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

If it’s possible to speak of a philosopher being “hip”, then in the Jewish world Emmanuel Levinas is currently that philosopher. Study the thinker famed for his philosophical works and his modern Talmudic commentaries in which he attempts to “translate Hebrew into Greek” (as he put it), engage in translating his own dense prose in order to understand what he meant by “totality” and “infinity,” and discover what on earth all of this has to do with Judaism.



Moses: A Comparative Exploration in Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 01, Nov 08, Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 06 Mon 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Who owns Moses? What happened to him between that day he was rescued from the Nile and his rediscovery of his roots as an adult? Who inculcated him with a sense of compassion and justice? What prompted him to kill? Study how the Torah, the Rabbis, Philo of Alexandria, the New Testament and the Koran as well as modern Jewish thinkers filled the textual gaps in the life of Moses, transforming him into the ultimate religious seeker and a paragon of perfect humanity.



Artists’ Beit Midrash
Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 01, Nov 08, Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 06 Mon 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Apply your artistic talents to the theme “Water and Its Power” as you explore Jewish sources, inspiring you to create new visual commentaries on the ancient texts of our tradition. Now in its ninth year, the Artists’ Beit Midrash is co-facilitated by a rabbi and a renowned artist whose own work blends modern art with the life of the spirit.



Writers' Beit Midrash
Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 01, Nov 08, Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 06 Mon 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Join a group of creative non-fiction and memoir writers to explore texts that inspire and amaze us, encourage us

to wrestle with meaning, and stimulate the connections between our writing and our lives. Engage in discussions that will spur creativity and spark imaginative exchange on the theme “Water and Its Power.” Interested new students should submit a writing sample upon registration to: sample@adultjewishlearning.org.



NOTE: No professional writing experience is required.



Classical Hebrew Grammar
Oct 18, Oct 20, Oct 25, Oct 27, Nov 01, Nov 03, Nov 08, Nov 10, Nov 15, Nov 17, Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 01, Dec 06, Dec 08, Jan 31, Feb 02, Feb 07, Feb 09, Feb 14, Feb 16, Feb 23, Feb 28, Mar 02, Mar 07, Mar 09, Mar 14, Mar 16, Mar 21, Mar 23, Mar 28, May 02, May 04, May 09, May 11, May 16, May 18, May 23, May 25, Jun 01, Jun 06, Jun 13, Jun 15 Mon Wed 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Join Temple Emanu-El’s senior rabbi for an intensive, year-long biblical Hebrew adventure. Engage in a highly structured presentation of the grammar of biblical Hebrew, through constant reference to comparative Semitic languages, especially Arabic, Aramaic and even proto-Semitic, and explore the broad, underlying concepts of Hebrew and Semitic grammar. The text used will be A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, by J. Weingreen. Familiarity with the Hebrew print alphabet is the only prerequisite.



NOTE: This course will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays twice weekly from October 13 through June 15.Weekly homework assignments will be given.



Dreams and Dreamers
Oct 19, Oct 26, Nov 02, Nov 09, Nov 16, Nov 23, Nov 30, Dec 07 Tues 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Dreamers did not end with Jacob and his ladder. The Bible and Talmud are rich with dreams of messages from God to humans, or the dead to the living. For centuries scholars debated dreams’ interpretation and legal status. Prayers were devised to nullify or fulfill dream-omens. Using sources from Maimonides to Soloveitchik, Freud to Gilligan, Glueckel to “Mendele,”we will examine the world of dreams and how it is distinguished from intuition, imagination,dybbuk-possession, hallucination. . . and madness.



The Holy, the Humor and the Wisdom in Jewish Folktales
Oct 13, Oct 20, Oct 27, Nov 03 Wed 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Wherever Jews have lived in the world, they have told and retold stories. Explore the holy tales found in Talmud and Midrash, the humorous Helm and trickster tales, and tall tales (often called "Bobe Maises"), the Hasidic stories as well as various folktales found in Ashkenazic and Sephardic oral traditions. Delve into this rich repertoire and discover how these stories continue to teach us the timeless values, ethics, traditions and wisdom of the Jewish people that we can integrate into our lives.



The Bible continues to engage us as great literature. the people of the bible, like characters in a novel, are never too saintly to be real; their emotions never too lofty for us to identify with. Look closely at a variety of biblical stories and discover how, as in every great work of literature, conflict is resolved by psychological and dramatic means, and the suspense of the tension-fraught narrative explodes into the expressivity of magnificent poetry.



Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages
The Leon Finley Course in Jewish Studies
Oct 13, Oct 20, Oct 27, Nov 03, Nov 10, Nov 17, Dec 01, Dec 08 Wed 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

They say that “you are what you eat.” But you are also what you don’t eat, how you eat it, and with whom. Examine the history of Jewish eating from the Bible to Brooklyn, asking how Jews have expressed their identities through the ages through their eating practices and food choices. Learn how kashrut has developed through the generations, and how those developments reflect on the struggles of Jewish identity in every age.



Great Debates in Jewish History
The Hans A. Vogelstein Course in Jewish Studies
Oct 13, Oct 20, Oct 27, Nov 03, Nov 10, Nov 17, Dec 01, Dec 08 Wed 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Judaism has always fostered disagreement even on the very essentials of Jewish belief and practice.Many of these disagreements have led to memorable debates that have resounded through the ages:Moses and Aaron over the golden calf,Maimonides and Yehuda Halevi on the uses of philosophy, Herzl and Ahad Ha’Am on the nature of Zionism, and Heschel and Kaplan on the demands of modernity. Renew these debates under the guidance of two master teachers.



In Genesis, Sarah is twice detained by a king, once by Pharaoh and once by Avimelech. Rebecca is almost taken by Avimelech, and Dinah is abducted by Prince Shechem.Why were the matriarchs exposed to such danger? How are their relationships with family and land affected by these experiences? Engage in a close study of the relevant chapters of Genesis and discover how their stories are relevant to our lives today.



Jesus, the New Testament and Jewish Law
The Jane Moyse Gilder Course in Jewish History
Oct 13, Oct 20, Oct 27, Nov 03, Nov 10, Nov 17, Dec 01, Dec 08 Wed 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

What was the relationship between early Jewish law and early Christianity? What images of Jesus were preserved in the Talmud and for what purpose? What does the New Testament share in common with the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud and Midrash? Examine legal, literary and theological issues in the New Testament and discover how scholars use the New Testament to discover pre-rabbinic halakha, and how the rabbis of the Talmud reframe traditions about the historical Jesus.



Jewish Thought: The Medieval Period (Iyun Year 3)
Oct 06, Oct 13, Oct 20, Oct 27, Nov 03, Nov 10, Nov 17, Dec 15 Wed 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM

For those who have had a taste and are ready for more intensive study. Join a warm and supportive group of committed students to take your Jewish learning to the next stage. The medieval period was Jewish philosophy’s golden age, as thinkers including Judah Halevi and Moses Maimonides grappled with some of the most challenging metaphysical issues. In a lively and comprehensive survey, with all concepts explained in a clear, non-technical fashion, explore questions such as: Did God create the world? Can human freedom be reconciled with divine foreknowledge? What is the nature of the good life? and finally: Are the commandments rational?



Always wondered what that Talmud thing is all about, but haven’t found the serious context to uncover it? Love Talmud and want to return to that counterintuitive discourse? Join an intimate group of dedicated Talmud students of all levels for a foray into the mind of the Talmud. Enjoying an intellectual workout at an early hour, this fun group turns Talmud into a relevant, enticing and often biting endeavor. This semester,we will be exploring Chapter Four of Tractate Gittin, which discusses the idea of “Tikkun Olam”—the improvement of the world through social and judicial action. It’s easy to say you want to fix the world, but where do you start? How to allocate resources? What to do when the best-meant ideas fail and bring opposite results? These contemporary questions are elucidated through the prism of Talmudic thought.
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