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Jewish Studies Courses
Fall 2024
Classes are either online using the Zoom platform or in-person at the Gratz Mandell Campus. A link will be sent to view the recording of online classes if you missed it live. The recording will be available for 3-4 weeks.
Jews on Stage and Screen
Dr. Steven Chervin
Mondays: 10am - 12pm ET
October 28 - December 16 (8 weeks)
Zoom only, $250
CLASS IS CLOSED
Most people (including Jews!) are completely unaware of the essential roles that individual Jews played in the founding and growth of the Hollywood movie industry, as well as the Broadway theatre, particularly the Broadway musical. We will highlight a number of these personalities, and explore how they fused their Jewish identities with their American sensibilities. Producers, actors, directors, composers, lyricists, musicians, singers and others will be featured in this panorama of stage and screen.
Deuteronomy and Jeremiah
Dr. Marc Leuchter
Mondays: 3 - 5pm ET
October 28 - December 16 (8 weeks)
Zoom only, $250
CLASS IS CLOSED
This 8-week seminar will look at the relationship between these two books, one a work of legal teaching and the other a work of literary prophecy. The connection between these books was recognized already in antiquity in the Talmud and can be traced back to a common community of Levite priests responsible for the ideas, values, and mythologies transmitted within and between them. The course will address why Deuteronomy is understood as torat moshe – the teaching of Moses – and who the scribes were who were responsible for transmitting these teachings in written form at a particular moment in history. It will also look at how Jeremiah the prophet understood his place within this scribal community and expanded the legacy of Moses well beyond Deuteronomy's literary boundaries as the kingdom of Judah came to an end and its population faced exile into Babylon.
Between the Lines: Reading Jewish Short Stories
Anndee Hochman
Mondays: 6 - 8pm ET
October 14 - November 18 (6 weeks)
Zoom only, $195
CLASS IS CLOSED
Usually, we read alone. But when we explore and discuss stories together, each person brings their whole life to the table: their regrets, ambitions, insights and questions. We learn from each other. We might even change our minds. In this six-session class, we will read and talk about short stories from a range of contemporary Jewish writers including Grace Paley, Bernard Malamud and Lynne Sharon Schwartz. Each session will include a short writing prompt in response to the story and a chance to share your work aloud.
Grandparenting in Jewish History
Dr. Reena Sigman Friedman
Tuesdays: 10am - 12pm ET
October 29 - December 17 (8 weeks)
Zoom only, $250
This course explores the unique role that grandparents have played throughout Jewish history, from Biblical times to the present. We will discuss the ways in which grandparents influenced their grandchildren, including some well-known Jewish historical figures. In telling this moving story, we'll talk about our personal connections to our grandparents, and (for those of us who are grandparents ourselves) our relationships with our grandchildren. How do grandparents connect us to our past and help to shape the Jewish future?
CANCELLED
L'Chaim: A History of Jews and their Drinks
Dr. Zev Eleff
Tuesdays: 3 - 5pm ET
October 29 - December 17 (8 weeks)
In-person only, $250
*Not recorded
There are many lenses through which we study Modern Jewish history. In this course, Dr. Zev Eleff will explore how drinks—coffee, wine, scotch, etc.—have played an outsized role in the social, economic, and culture history of Judaism in the past several hundred years. You're invited to study, sip, share as we take a unique dive into Jewish history.
CANCELLED
Reactions to Catastrophe
Alan Iser
Tuesdays: 7:30 - 9:30 pm ET
October 29 - December 17 (8 weeks)
Zoom only, $250
The Jewish people in its long history has much experience dealing with catastrophic events. We will explore Jewish reactions to communal catastrophes as expressed in the Bible, classical rabbinic literature, medieval chronicles and literature, and modern religious and secular texts, including poetry. Among the events we will cover are the destruction of the First and Second Temples, the Crusades, the expulsion from Spain, the pogroms in Eastern Europe from 1881-1921, the Holocaust and October 7.
CANCELLED
Maimonides: The Laws of Repentance
Rabbi Albert Gabbai
Wednesdays: 10am - 12pm ET (8 weeks)
October 9 - December 4 (No class November 27)
Zoom only, $250
Join us for an exciting and animated discussion on the laws of Teshuva (repentance) as described by Maimonides. We are told that guilt of the soul is equivalent to pain in the body. It needs a cure. We will study the text and elaborate on practical and contemporary situations. This will provide new and profound insight into this critical field for our outlook on this life and the "afterlife."
CANCELLED
How "True" is the Bible: An Archaeological Exploration
Dr. Ruth Sandberg
Thursdays: 10am - 12pm ET (8 weeks)
October 10 - December 19 (No class October 17, 24 and November 28)
In-person only, $250
*Not recorded
CLASS IS CLOSED
Did the Exodus really happen? Did King David really live? What evidence is there for Solomon’s Temple? How “true” is the Bible? This course will explore archaeological evidence to measure how “true” or historically accurate the Bible may be. Topics include evidence, or lack of it, for: the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Canaanite culture in Israel, the lives of David and Solomon, the Babylonian Exile, as well as glimpses into everyday life in ancient Israel. We will also discuss the issue of what truth the Bible still holds, even if archaeology cannot prove that it is “true.
For more information or to register for classes, please contact Hope Matles at 215-635-7300 x172 or at hmatles@gratz.edu.
Registration Notes
Minimum class size is required to run each course. For all Scholars Program courses, full tuition payment is due upon registration prior to the start of the first class. If a cancellation is received at least two days before the course begins, 100% of tuition will be refunded. If cancellation is received by the second session, a 50% refund will be issued. Tuition includes a non-refundable $25 registration fee. For all classes full payment is due upon registration. An internet connection is required for online classes. Gratz is not responsible to make up classes for a limited, local power outage or technical problem. If a technical issue affects more than half of the class, Gratz will make-up the class at a mutually agreed upon time -- much like any weather-related closing. All online classes are recorded. A link will be sent to view the class if you missed it live. The recording will be available for 3-4 weeks.
Calendar
"Many thanks again for the outstanding course and for the extra resources which I plan to use in delving deeper into my ancestral roots in Western Galicia."
— BRIAN BIMM, describing the course, "the Path To Modernity: The Jews of Galicia"