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Jewish Studies Courses

The Daniel and Louise Cohen Adult Jewish Learning Program is for adults in the community who enjoy learning in an intellectual atmosphere with instructors who are highly regarded experts in their fields. Ongoing courses are offered each semester in a variety of subjects and topics as well as Hebrew and Yiddish language. In addition to courses, Gratz adult education offers Distinguished Lecture Series, Yiddish programs, Israeli films and other special events.

 

SPRING 2024

All classes are online using the Zoom platform.

The Dysfunctional Families of Bereshit: Are They Like Our Families or Not?  
Dr. Saundra Sterling Epstein  
Mondays, February 5 - March 25, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Zoom only, $250

One could wonder why our Avot v'Imahot (aka. The Mamas and Papas) are exposed with all of their faults and weaknesses, conflicts, poor communication patterns and so much else.  So..... it is precisely because of their human foibles that these stories are meaningful to us.  We will study text together, share our own family stories, consider how some conflicts are resolvable and others.... well, how we are all just living as best we can given the reality of our limitations and aspirations as human beings.
POSTPONED
 

The Greatest Jewish Historians
JJ Kimche  
Mondays, February 5 - March 25,  2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Zoom only, $250

Seven great Jewish historians. We will explore who they were, for whom they wrote, what kind of things they focused upon, and the manner in which they conceptualized the Jewish past.
POSTPONED
 

How College Campuses Should Teach Israeli and Palestinian Politics and Societies
Rabbi Ari Saks  
Mondays, February 26 - April 15,  7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Zoom only, $250

Much of the anti-Zionist and antisemitic activism we see on college campuses today is inspired by what is taught in college classrooms. How did we get to this point? And what should a proper class on Israel look like? You will walk away from this 8-session zoom course with a much deeper, nuanced, and rich understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that could be a model for how this important topic is taught on college campuses across America.

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The Path Toward Modernity: The Jews of Galicia
Dr. Andrew Zalewski 
Tuesdays, January 30 - March 5, 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Zoom only, $195

What drove Jews to have a participatory voice in the modern society? How did they respond to new ideas from within and without? Which laws misfired on their path to civil integration? We explore these questions with a focus on Galicia, home of the largest Jewish community within the Austrian Empire. Passing through European capitals, we witness the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), and the controversies it provoked. Back in Galicia, home-reared intellectuals challenged the traditional community, while increasingly diverse cultural identities were embraced by 19th-century Jews. As a part of the continuum, the next century brought pressure to emigrate, WWI and the collapse of the old order. The course is illustrated by unique records, maps, and documents.
COURSE IS FULL. 
 

Judaism in America, 1654-Present  
Rabbi Lance Sussman, PhD
Tuesdays, February 6 - March 26, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm  
Zoom only, $250

Now in its fourth century, the history of Judaism in America faces a unique combination of factors, including initial isolation, freedom of religion, and secularization, which have shaped its development from the Colonial Period to the present. In this class, we will discuss eight topics in chronological order: Colonial and Early National Judaism, the German Period (1815-1880), Reform Judaism to WWII, Conservative Judaism and Reconstructionism to WWII, Orthodoxy to WWII, Suburban Judaism, American Jewish Secularism, and 21st Century American Judaism.  Each session will include a presentation both of the relevant American religious context and how the American Jewish experience is related to international contemporaneous Jewish developments. Special attention will also be paid to the role of women in Judaism in America. Class will be taught in seminar style. No prerequisites. All welcome.

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A Mixed Multitude Went up with Them: An Interfaith Approach to Jewish Families
Rabbi Marley Weiner  
Tuesdays, February 6 - March 26, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Zoom only, $250

Starting in the 1990s, the rise in intermarriage in the American Jewish community has provoked a wide variety of responses, from questioning to outright fear. As the children of this demographic shift come of age, many are becoming Jewish leaders in their own right. This class will examine the ways in which intermarriage has forever altered the trajectory of American Judaism, and has the potential to serve as a source of innovation, reliance, and strength.

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How Jewish Law Works  
Dr. Ruth Sandberg   
Wednesdays, February 7 - March 27, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Zoom only, $250

There is a formal process by which Jewish law developed, and we will explore the nature of this process. We will focus on several Torah laws that continue to be pertinent today: capital punishment; cross-dressing and gender issues; prevention of cruelty against animals; military deferment; and ecology. By studying how these laws have been interpreted over the centuries, we will model the process of Jewish law followed by Rabbis for two thousand years.

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Songs of the Heart
Dr. Saul Wachs  
Wednesdays, February 7 - March 27,  2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Zoom only, $250

While much of the Hebrew Bible is about God's messages to us, the Psalms are largely about human beings reaching out to the Divine, in paise, or thanksgiving, confession, or lament.  We will examine the texts of several psalms using literary and rhetorical analysis and also making personal responses to the words.

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Inside Hamas      
Dr. Asaf Romirowsky
Thursdays, February 8 - March 28, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Zoom only, $250

There are no clear distinctions among social, military, and political activity of Hamas; ambiguities are deliberately created to blur those distinctions. For the last sixteen years Israelis came to describe an intense divide within Hamas, between the polarized aspects of “resistance” (muqawwamah) on one hand and governance on the other, along with the claim that the movement assigns growing priority to the demands of the latter due to its new duties as a sovereign, and particularly the need to take care of the heavily burdened and needy Gazan population. In fact, during this past decade and a half Hamas deliberately avoided any such choice, and handled both poles with equal attention: managing the sewage in Gaza while also investing in a military buildup and preparation for a doomsday war with Israel

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Altruism, Rescue and Extreme Empathy in Jewish Thought  
Elliot Ratzman
Thursdays, February 8 - March 28, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Zoom only, $250

What do we owe distant strangers? How effective should our altruism be? What responsibilities do we have to non-family members or those outside of our community? What Jewish practices are meant to develop empathy and right action? Are there limits to empathy? This course explores how modern Jewish thinkers addressed questions of charity and responsibility in an age of mass communication and global reach. Moderns turned to rabbinic sources, Maimonides, and others to think through problems of social need. Philosophers like Levinas articulated an ethic of radical altruism utilizing Jewish disciplines like mussar and halacha as tools for managing problems of scarcity. Case studies include: rescue during the Holocaust, transnational human rights movements, international aid relief, health care equity, the Effective Altruism movement.

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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 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.

 
Gratz College is committed to making its programs, events, and courses accessible.  Should you need an accommodation, please contact Naomi Housman, ADA Coordinator accessibility@gratz.edu. All accommodations must be requested by no later than ten (10) business days prior to the start of the course or day of the program.