Afternoon Courses 2010
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Courses
At the center of the Institute are a wide array of courses offered in morning and afternoon sessions. Each course has a maximum of 20 students and is led by a teacher who is also an Institute participant, presenting material that she or he loves in an inclusive style that encourages everyone to participate. Choose from classes in traditional texts, Jewish politics, poetry, Jewish ethics, dance and singing, Judaism and world religions, and contemporary topics.
Extended Format courses meet during the regularly scheduled course time and the adjacent workshop time.
A02 - Freedom Declared: Jewish Poetry Laboratories
Natalie Lyalin and Joshua Bolton, Poretsky Artists in Residence
Jewish poets are calling out to the universe: Listen up, universe! Listen up, Torah! Listen up, politicians! Join us for a series of poetry “laboratories,” where our instruments will be the written word and the collective neshama (soul) of the Jewish people. Using poetic techniques developed by our rabbinic and surrealist fore-folk, we will engage in: midrash (rabbinic story development), prayer composition, protest poetry, and the subverting of oppressive texts. Each laboratory will include a reading of poetic/Jewish source materials, individual and communal writing activities, and workshop. No previous poetic experience required, just a desire to pray with your pen!
Notes
Prerequisites: There are NO prerequisites to this series of classes. Jewish texts will appear in translation. The only requirement is an interest in exploring the written word as a mode of being Jewish and creating Jewish culture.
Categories
- Arts and Literature
- Contemporary Issues
- Extended Format
- Afternoon Course
Joshua Bolton is a rabbinical student at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, PA. He is also a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Program for Writers and Poets, from which he received an MFA in Poetry. Josh established the Hillel student organization at the University of the Arts in downtown Philadelphia.
Natalie Lyalin is the author of Pink & Hot Pink Habitat (Coconut Books, 2009). She received her MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Program for Writers and Poets. Natalie is the co-editor of GlitterPony magazine, an online poetry journal, and co-edits Agnes Fox Press, an independent poetry collective. She has taught Freshman Composition and Creative Writing at Temple University and University of the Arts.
A04 - The Art and Spirit of Prayer Leading
Julia Appel
How do we elevate our prayer experience and that of our communities? How do we best use the natural gifts of our voice, body, and heart toward that end? Together, we will explore central Jewish approaches, in texts from the Talmud to Chasidism to contemporary thinkers. We will also hone our use of voice, tone, and words to facilitate a prayer experience of clear, directed intention. Topics include defining our service leading goals, balancing kevah with kavanah (structure with intentionality), skillful use of and strengthening of the voice, and raising up others’ prayers. English translations provided, but text will be considered in the original Hebrew.
Notes
Prerequisites: Experience prayer leading (any setting). Familiarity with service structure and basic Hebrew comprehension.
Categories
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Afternoon Course
Julia Appel returns from a year in Jerusalem to enter her final year at Hebrew College Rabbinical School this autumn, where she develops her prayer leading skills with Rabbi Ebn Leader. She has prayed and led services with havurot, shabbatonim, and congregations across the Northeast and in Jerusalem. This is her seventh Havurah Institute.
A06 - Israel Through the Lens: Israeli Filmmakers Look at Their World
Susan Barocas
Israel’s film industry is recognized as one of the best, most productive and diverse today. The country’s talented directors, producers and writers are leaders in the international cinema scene. Quite willing to turn the camera onto their own lives and society, these artists are free to express themselves without censorship or government limits. Using excerpts from contemporary Israeli films, we will explore the themes, issues and ideas in the focus of Israeli filmmakers today. We will also examine the question of whether or not there is a distinctly “Israeli style” in the country’s cinema and how that style might reflect realities of life in Israel today.
Notes
Prerequisites: None
Categories
- Arts and Literature
- Extended Format
- Afternoon Course
Susan Barocas is a filmmaker and writer who currently directs DC’s Washington Jewish Film Festival, one of the leading fests of the nearly 150 Jewish film festivals around the world each year. A multi-year Institute participant, she directed the Kids Camp for three years and loves attending with her son, Sam, who is finally old enough for the Teen Program.
A08 - Lomir Zingen Frayheyt (Let's Sing Freedom)
Charley Beller
This course aims to build and deepen participants’ connection to Yiddish and Yiddish folk culture through learning and singing Yiddish songs from various traditions. Each day we will share stories and learn songs ranging from children's lullabies to the Partisan Hymn. No prior familiarity with Yiddish or Yiddish folksong will be assumed. Participants who do have prior familiarity will have opportunity to share favorites from their collections. Recording devices are welcome, as are musical instruments.
Notes
Prerequisites: None
Categories
- Arts and Literature
- History and Culture
- Afternoon Course
Charley Beller is a Ph.D. candidate in Cognitive Science at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He is an avid musician and an enthusiastic Yiddishist. He has attended many past NHC Institutes and is excited to be offering a course for the first time.
A10 - So You Think You Can’t Dance
Walli Adler Chefitz
We will learn several Israeli folk dances and weave movement lessons in between them to heighten our ability and enjoyment of dancing. The movement lessons will focus on Balance, Alignment, Strength and Body Mechanics. We will learn dances with the theme of freedom such as: D'ror Yikra, Manginat Ha D'ror, and At Cheruti. This class is intended for anyone who wants a greater appreciation of movement possibilities; movement freedom; and is for all ages - especially for those who have not danced in a while.
Notes
Prerequisites: The course is not intended for anyone with serious physical problems.
Categories
- Arts and Movement
- Afternoon Course
Walli Chefitz has attended almost all Institutes and was co-chair in 1991. She is an occupational therapist and teaches Bones for Life® which is the basis of the lessons and has taught Israeli Dance. This course will combine two of her greatest interests, movement and Israeli dance.
A12 - Al Shlosha Devarim … On Three Things the World Stands: Truth, Justice and the American Way? Exploring the Relationship between Jews, Judaism and the American Comic Book
Brian Fink
What do Samson, the Golem of Prague, Superman and The Thing have in common? How have medieval illustrated manuscripts influenced the creation of modern-day haggadot and megillot? Is a comic book an appropriate medium for discussing the Holocaust? If you could have any one super-power, what would it be? These questions and more, as we explore this topic through hevruta text study, group discussion, art, and the movies. All Hebrew texts will include English translations.
Notes
Prerequisites: Brian recommends that students bring a copy of JT Waldman's Megillat Esther (JPS) to the Institute.
Categories
- Arts and Literature
- Text for Everyone
- Afternoon Course
Brian Fink, back for his 5th Institute, is a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He recently spent a year in Israel, studying at Pardes and Hebrew University. He loves to talk about Reconstructionism, social justice (especially Avodah and the American Jewish World Service), and archaeology. Like Superman, he someday hopes to be able to fly.
A14 - Walking Humbly with God: Towards a Progressive Definition of Tzniut (Modesty)
Marisa Harford
The Jewish concept of tzniut (modesty or humility) is most familiar to us as the basis for guidelines for modest dress, but it also concerns norms about appropriate behavior and boundaries. Tzniut is highly relevant to contemporary society—especially in an age when our culture increasingly represents both women and men in a highly sexualized manner and constantly blurs the boundaries between the public and the private. Are the laws of tzniut inherently oppressive? Is there room to engage authentically with the concept of modesty in a liberal context? We will study traditional and non-traditional texts and work together through them to create our own communal definitions of modesty.
Notes
Prerequisites: No prerequisites; texts will be provided in both Hebrew or Aramaic and English translation.
Categories
- Contemporary Issues
- Text for Everyone
- Afternoon Course
When she is not soaking up the learning at Institute, Marisa Harford is the director of the New Visions - Hunter College Urban Teacher Residency, an alternative certification program for teachers in New York City. She loves grappling with Jewish texts in chevruta, singing, cooking, and writing.
A16 - The Ground Where You Are Standing is Holy: A Jewish Theology of Place
Jill Jacobs
What does it mean to live in a place as a Jew? How does that place, or our choice of it, affect our relationship with God—whether through the place itself or the people we encounter there? What obligations do we have to that place and those people? And what does place mean in a globalized world? In this course, we will examine concepts of space and place in secular and Jewish thought, and we will work to construct a theology of place that helps us to define our spheres of obligation to the world around us.
Notes
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this class. All Hebrew texts will be provided together with English translations.
Categories
- Contemporary Issues
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Afternoon Course
Jill Jacobs is the author of There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice through Jewish Law and Tradition (Jewish Lights 2009) and the Rabbi-in-Residence of Jewish Funds for Justice. She is currently at work on a book about the theology of place as a framework for effective social justice work, which she began while on sabbatical as a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel Leadership Institute. She lives in New York with her husband, Guy Austrian, and their daughter Lior.
A18 - The Black Fire
Solomon Mowshowitz
'R. Simeon ben Lakish said: The Torah given to Moses was written with black fire upon white fire…(JT, Shel. 6:1, 49d). How did the actual text of the Torah, the Black Fire, get to be the way it is today? The Talmud cites passages from scripture that don’t exist in our version; the sages acknowledge that they sometimes changed the text of the “original” Torah. We will explore the content and the physical text of the Torah, from both traditional and higher-critical perspectives. Content topics include the documentary hypothesis (J,E,P and D), “typos,” tikkun soferim (changes introduced by the sages), vocalization, cantillation and variant texts (e.g. the Samaritan and Karaite Torahs). We’ll look at the physical text and delve into the crowned Assyrian “font,” the significance of the many different kinds of blank spaces, the outsized or broken or upside-down letters, the strange dots. We’ll discuss: What is the spiritual meaning of all of these things to us?
Notes
Prerequisites: Since the course is about the actual text, some knowledge of Hebrew is required to get the most out of the course. Translations for some but not all texts will be provided. NOTE: It may be advanced text, but the course has an intense spiritual focus. These are not mutually exclusive.
Categories
- Advanced Text
- Afternoon Course
Mosh is a past Chair of the National Havurah Committee.
A20 - My Brother's Keeper: The Law of Lifnei Iver
Micha’el Rosenberg
To what extent are we expected to care about other people’s actions? To what extent am I responsible for actions I deem problematic when committed by others? In this course, we will study the Rabbinic law of lifnei iver, which prohibits people from—at least in certain circumstances—aiding others in transgression. As we follow the twists and turns in the debates about the extent of this law, we will ask ourselves the question: what is gained and what is lost when we take responsibility for others’ actions?
Notes
Prerequisities: None. Translations will be provided.
Categories
- Contemporary Issues
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Text for Everyone
- Afternoon Course
Micha’el Rosenberg is the rabbi of the Fort Tryon Jewish Center, an independent egalitarian synagogue in the Washington Heights section of New York City. A doctoral candidate in Talmud and Rabbinic Literature at JTS, he received his rabbinical ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel following his studies at Yeshiva Ma’aleh Gilboa. He has taught Bible, Tamud, and halakhah in a variety of settings, including Drisha, JTS, the Northwoods Kollel, and Yeshivat Hadar.
A22 - “Amish” Yisrael?— Technology, Radical Simplicity, and Jewish Freedom of Choice
Regina Sandler-Phillips
What happens to freedom and community in the proliferation of technology and media? This course will begin with consideration of the simple (“plain”) living practiced within the “peace churches” of the Amish, Mennonites, Brethren and conservative Quakers. We will relate such Christian choices to those of both insular and integrated Jewish communities, especially in the decision-making context of musar (ethical discipline). Finally, we will listen to how “freedom calls” in the traditional observance of Shabbat, as we consider the individual and communal choices facing us as 21st century Jews. Come prepared to combine midrash (study, teaching) with ma’aseh (practical action).
Notes
Prerequisites: None. Most texts are in English, with translations provided for those that aren’t (such as selections from Mesillat Yesharim and Ahavas Hesed).
Categories
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Text for Everyone
- Afternoon Course
Regina Sandler-Phillips grew up in contact with the insular Jewish communities of Monsey, New York, which informed a number of her subsequent life choices. She is the founding rabbi of Kehillat Tikvah, a trans-denominational Jewish “Community of Hope” in Jackson Heights, Queens and also serves as a hospice bereavement chaplain in her home borough of Brooklyn. Regina believes that we teach what we most need to learn, and has done both at 10 previous NHC Summer Institutes.
A24 - Reading (and Writing) Midrash
Devorah Schoenfeld
We will examine selected midrash from The Mechilta, Midrash Rabbah, and Midrash Tanchuma. We will examine how they work and how they generate new stories from biblical verses. Then we will compose our own ‘creative midrash’ using the same techniques observed in the classical texts. (If possible, students will benefit from hevruta study outside class.)
Notes
Categories
- Advanced Text
- Afternoon Course
Devorah Schoenfeld is the Ike Weiner Chair of Judaic Studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and has previously taught at University of California, Davis and at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Her doctorate is in medieval Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation, and she is currently writing a book on the history of the literal sense of scripture.
A26 - Who Jew? You Jew? - The Complexities of Contemporary Conversion
Brent Chaim Spodek
Many thousands of Jews are practicing a religion into which they were not born. We'll look at some of the classical sources on conversion, some of the contemporary issues around conversion in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere, and discuss what the future might hold for this issue in the Jewish community.
Notes
Prerequisites: None; translations will be provided for all Hebrew material.
Categories
- Intermediate Text
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Afternoon Course
Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek lives in Beacon New York with his wife Alison and their daughter Noa. When he isn't hiking or inexpertly playing the drum, he is the Rabbi in Residence at American Jewish World Service, where he writes, teaches and oversees a program to educate rabbis about human rights issues in the Global South.
