This past Wednesday evening, Jan 11, we had our first class meeting for “Torah, Memory & History” in Oakland. There were familiar faces, and new faces, and I’m looking forward to exploring Torah and history with you! Class members should have received by now a copy of the class syllabus and other “welcome” materials by [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Introduction to Judaism, Judaism, Religion and Spirituality, Torah, Tanakh, Talmud, Mishnah, Midrash | Leave a Comment »
Food is an important part of Jewish life and culture, and our class period allowed us only to scratch the surface. “Jewish Food” is a huge category: it’s what Jews eat, be it kosher or un-kosher, holiday brisket or the lowly bagel.
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Where did all the rules come from? If we look only at the written Torah, the 5 Books of Moses, it isn’t at all clear where “Jewish Law” came from. This week we walked through the ongoing process of Torah using a single question: What does a good Jew do with a lost object?
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Tonight we talked about Torah, which can be translated as “teaching” and denotes (1) the first five books of the Bible or (2) the broader scope of Jewish learning. We also looked at the Tanakh, or Jewish Bible, which includes Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy), Nevi’im [Prophets] (Joshua through Micah), and Ketuvim [Writings] (Psalms through Chronicles).
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We talked about Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Judaism, Religion and Spirituality, Shabbat, Torah, Tu Bishvat | Leave a Comment »
