New Halacha

R. Avi Scharf

The cutting edge of Jewish law can be find in ‘shutim’ – traditional Jewish responsa. Each week of this course you will study a far-reaching new development in an important field of Halacha.

Issues addressed include: introduction of the Bat Mitzvah; Yom Ha’atzmaut; kosher gelatin, defiling God’s electronic Name, wearing a kippah, using electricity on Shabbat, and defining death. All texts will be translated and contextualised.

Rabbi Avi Scharf is the Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at LSJS, rabbi of the Alei Tzion community at LSJS and Rosh Kollel of the Torah MiTzion Kollel in Immanuel College. He has semichahs from R. Shlomo Riskin, R. Zalman Nechemia Goldberg and Yeshivat Hamivtar in Efrat where he studied and later taught. He was the Rabbi of Young Israel-OU Synagogue and Rosh Kollel Torah MiTzion at the Center for Jewish Living at Cornell University.

10:00am to 11:30am

Seven Sunday mornings

17 May to 12 July 2009

(no classes on 31 May and 28 June)

Course fee: £40

www.lsjs.ac.uk 

The Book of Tehillim

A seven-week course presenting multiple approaches to the Book of Psalms

Darwin and the Tree of Life

A seven-week course on evolution and its complex relationship with traditional Judaism

Dr Charles Landau

The course will focus on the German Jewish community, both those who identified as Jews and those who did not, and examine the extraordinary role that Jews played in German life and culture. Was it always “a one-way love affair” when Jews became “more German than the Germans”? Would German Jewry have disappeared through assimilation and intermarriage without the rise of National Socialism? We will employ a wide selection of materials in order to understand a remarkable millennium.

Dr Charles Landau has an MA from Jews’ College in Jewish history and comparative religion and is head of the Jewish Lecture Centre. As well as being a dentist, he is a passionate teacher and has advised in the West End production of the Golem and aided Jewish trips aboard.

8:00pm to 10:00pm

Seven Monday evenings

11 May to 29 June 2009

(no classes 25 May)

Course fee: £75

www.lsjs.ac.uk

Lindsey

Taylor-Guthartz

The discovery of antiquities in Egypt and Mesopotamia - the world of the Bible - fired the Victorian imagination and led to the development of Near Eastern archaeology. The earliest British archaeologists were overwhelmed by discoveries that paralleled Biblical accounts. But has that early romance turned sour? Many archaeologists today question the veracity of many Biblical stories. We will explore the history and current state of biblical archaeology, from the Exodus to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The course will incude special visits to the British Museum and the Palestine Exploration Fund.

Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz studied archaeology at Cambridge and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and lived in Israel for seventeen years. She lives in Hendon, editing and translating books on Jewish subjects. Lindsey is a graduate of the LSJS Susi Bradfield Women Educators’ Programme.

Morning and evening study options:

10:00am to 12:00pm and 8:00pm to 10:00pm

Seven Tuesdays

19 May to 7 July 2009

(no classes 26 May)

Course fee: £75

www.lsjs.ac.uk

Torah for Everyone

The internationally acclaimed six week Torah crash course

          Maureen Kendler

“Finally a toolkit with which to unpack Torah!”

“I couldn’t believe that we would study the whole Torah eight times in only six weeks – but we did!”

“The tables are brilliant... thank you very very much.”

(comments from previous students)

Discover the fascinating structure of the entire Torah with its multiple layers, levels and themes. You will also learn a step-by-step method for giving a Torah talk. Hundreds of people have enjoyed this course in Israel, America and the UK. ‘The crown of Torah is for every Jew,’ said Maimonides. Let it be yours...

Maureen Kendler is the Head of Educational Programming at LSJS and helped to create the Torah for Everyone  course.

She taught English and Religious Studies at North London Collegiate School and was Head of Jewish Literacy at  UJIA Makor. Maureen is a much sought-after teacher and regularly broadcasts for BBC Radio and writes for the Jewish Chronicle.

Afternoon and evening study options:

1:00pm to 3:00pm and 8:00pm to 10:00pm

Six Tuesdays

2 June to 7 July 2009

Course fee: £60

R. Avi Scharf

The Kuzari, by the great Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Yehuda Halevi (1075-1141), is considered one of the finest works in Jewish Literature. It is a passionate defence of Judaism against the attacks of non-Jewish philosophers and others.

In this course you will study central themes of the Kuzari including: the nature of prophecy, idolatry and chosenness, and dichotomies such as: rationality vs. experience and Abraham’s God vs. Aristotle’s God.

Rabbi Avi Scharf is the Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at LSJS, rabbi of the Alei Tzion community at LSJS and Rosh Kollel of the Torah MiTzion Kollel in Immanuel College. He has semichahs from R. Shlomo Riskin, R. Zalman Nechemia Goldberg and Yeshivat Hamivtar in Efrat where he studied and later taught. He was the Rabbi of Young Israel-OU Synagogue and Rosh Kollel Torah MiTzion at the Center for Jewish Living at Cornell University.

8:00pm to 10:00pm

Seven Tuesday evenings

12 May to 7 July 2009

(no classes on 9 and 16 June)

Course fee: £75

www.lsjs.ac.uk 

The Book of Barmidbar

Study the weekly sedra with great rabbis, scholars and educators

The Book of Bamidbar tells the story of the eventful journey from Mt. Sinai to the Land of Israel. The course includes the last two sidrot from the previous book of Vayikra which set the scene for Bamidbar. You will study a diverse range of approaches with some of the best teachers in our community. Guaranteed to prepare you for the coming Shabbat portion every week.

This course begins with one of two highlight lectures by Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, President of LSJS. He will show that a close reading of the text reveals the unique philosophy of the Bible. Only if we listen carefully to Torah will its secrets be revealed.

8:00pm to 10:00pm

Ten Wednesday evenings

Course fee:

Option 1: £75 for the series (special reduced price)

Option 2: Pay-as-you-learn: £8 (*£10)

21st Century Chesed Course

A six-week course in which deep Jewish wisdom is applied to real social action

The modern world bombards us with complex global ethical questions never imagined by previous generations. How can our ancient Jewish sources guide us in acting good before the meta issues of third world poverty, climate change, and trade injustice?

Can we discern a unique Jewish voice that speaks to the ethics of modernity?

Our sages tell us that the world stands on three things: Study (Torah), Prayer (Avodah) and Acts of Kindness (G’milut chasadim).  Led by R. Natan Levy, this course will examine this pivotal third pillar of Judaism, and ask if is still strong enough to hold up an increasing fragile world.

In this course you will study Jewish Responsibility with key rabbis and educators including Dr Raphael Zarum, and learn from Jewish and non-Jewish activists who are making a difference on the front lines of social action. Their stories will serve as the crucible for building a more nuanced perspective on the difficult challenges of tikkun olam.

This course is supported by Project Chesed, an LSJS-United Synagogue partnership initiative to learn about and encourage more acts of kindness to our community and beyond.

8:00pm to 10:00pm

Six Tuesday evenings

2 June to 7 July 2009

Course fee: £60

www.lsjs.ac.uk 

LSJS Jewish Responsibility Unit

The new LSJS Jewish Responsibility Unit bridges the gap between Jewish wisdom and Jewish action by inspiring those in the field with a deeper Jewish understanding of their work, teaching our community the Jewish ethics of responsibility, and enabling them to get more involved in social change.

The Unit has Leonie Lewis as its Director and Rabbi Natan Levy as its Rabbinic Expert. See the LSJS website for more details: www. lsjs.ac.uk. Thanks to The Pears Foundation and The Schimmel Family Foundation for their support.