Upcoming Event - Rav Rahel Berkovits in MA/NYC/NJ: 9 Events Starting Oct. 31!

 
PARDES FACULTY ARE ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
 
Rav Rahel Berkovits will be teaching at the following places, and we hope you’ll be able to join us for some invigorating and thought-provoking Jewish learning, conversation and connection. Please note that in-person events are open to those who are fully vaccinated, and masks are required in indoor sessions. Due in part to Covid-related guidelines, participation will be capped.
 
Interested in attending an event or connecting with Rahel? Email amira@pardes.org.
 
BOSTON AREA:
  • Sunday, Oct 31, 3:30-5:30 pm Tremont St. Shul (TBS) in Cambridge
    Messages from the Mishnah: On Teachers, Students, and the Study of Torah in a (Live!) Group Setting
    Snacks will be served. Meet local alumni and friends, and make new connections with others who love to learn!
    For more information and to RSVP, click here.

  • Sunday, Oct 31, 7:30 pm: Kadimah-Toras Moshe in Brighton
    Darkhei Shalom: Pathways to Peace
    For more information and to RSVP, contact Ann: anngeller@gmail.com.

  • Monday, Nov 1, 12:00-1:00 pm: Harvard Hillel
    Darkhei Shalom: Pathways to Peace
    Refreshments will be provided outside.
    For more information and to RSVP, contact Jaime Drucker: jaime@hillel.harvard.edu.

  • Monday, Nov 1, 5:00-6:15 pm: BU Hillel
    Sexuality and Sanctity
    For more information and to RSVP, contact Rabbi Elie Lehman: elie@bu.edu

NY / NJ AREA:

  • Tues, Nov 2, 7:30 pm: Kehillat Harlem
    Sexuality and Sanctity
    Dinner will be served. Meet local Pardes alumni and friends, and make new connections with others who love to learn!
    For more information and to RSVP, click here

  • Wed, Nov 3, 12-1:20 pm: Princeton Hillel (CJL)
    Sexuality and Sanctity
    This session is open to Princeton students, staff and faculty.

  • Mon, Nov 8, 8-10 pm: Prospect Heights Shul, Brooklyn, co-sponsored by Kolot Chayeinu
    Challenges to the Binary: Gender Queer and Judaism
    For more info and to RSVP, click here.

  • Tues, Nov 9, 12:30-1:30 pm: YCT/Maharat
    Messages from the Mishnah: On Teachers, Students, and the Study of Torah in a (Live!) Group Setting
    Open to current YCT, Maharat and Beit Midrash Program student.

  • Tues, Nov 9, 5:00-6:30 pm: Rutgers Hillel
    Darkhei Shalom: Pathways to Peace
    Refreshments will be served. This session is open to students, Pardes alumni, and friends.
    For more information click here

  • Wed, Nov 10: JTS
    Midday meetup. Details TBA.

  • Wed, Nov 10, 9:00 pm: Columbia/Barnard Hillel
    Sexuality and Sanctity
    This session is open to Columbia/Barnard students, staff and faculty.

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS:

Messages from the Mishnah: On Teachers, Students and the Study of Torah in a (Live!) Group Setting
While Pirkei Avot opens with a description of the Torah being passed down through the zugot (pairs) of the Taanaim, it is only in its second chapter where we meet Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai, the first teacher presented as having a group of students. Join us as we analyze the meta-themes and ideas of these mishnayot from a literary perspective about learning in groups of diverse people and students as we transition back into learning and living Torah in-person together in a continually polarized and divided world.

Sexuality and Sanctity: Consent and Individual Autonomy in Sexual Encounters
What does Judaism have to say about issues surrounding consent in sexual acts? Must one consent to each individual sex act? How does my personal individual desire for pleasure in a certain manner affect my partner? What does tradition say about intercourse while drunk or when the partners are fighting? What values and challenges can the rabbinic texts impart for us living with the modern sexual norms of the twenty first century? In this class we will examine, analyze and openly discuss rabbinic texts from the Torah and Talmud through to the modern responsa on issues related to sexual intercourse. The class aims to be a safe space for students of diverse backgrounds, orientations, and practices.

Darkhei Shalom (Ways of Peace) – the Path to Building Community

How important is it to compromise the letter of the law for the sake of peace amongst people? Whom do the Rabbis consider to be part of an average Jew’s concentric community?  How are people who are disabled, poor, or not Jewish viewed? Which areas in life do the Rabbis feel cause the most fighting and unrest in communities? (Don’t be surprised when the Synagogue tops the list!) How do I not compromise my personal identity when interacting with people who are different than myself? To answer these questions and more we will analyze the literary and meta-thematic structures of the Mishnayot in Tractate Gittim which deal with the laws of Darkhei Shalom- pathways to peace.

Challenges to the Binary: Gender Queer and Judaism
Judaism has always had a more expansive sense of gender that the modern binary. What do traditional Jewish texts have to say about transgender and gender non-conforming individuals? This session is a serious text study of sources from the Talmud to modern legal rabbinic literature examining ancient models of gender which are still relevant for today. The classroom will be a safe space for students of diverse backgrounds, orientations, and practices.