Oraita

Courses and Retreats:

• Spring 2010: Oraita-in-Boston (Feb 3, 17 and Mar 3, 17, 2010)

• Summer 2010: The Midrashic Mind: From Akiva to Amichai (June 13−17, 2010)
  

Oraita Video

Oraita, an exciting Hebrew College continuing education program for rabbis, invites you to delve into classic Jewish texts with 25 to 30 rabbinic colleagues from all denominations, guided by world renowned teachers. The program opens with a four-day retreat and continues via user-friendly online faculty lectures, havruta study and group discussions.

Retreat: Letting go of a rabbi’s daily worries, you’ll delve deeply into Torah learning. Emphasizing bet midrash–style havruta learning combined with presentations by our faculty, this retreat will be an intensive text study experience in a nurturing setting, as well as an opportunity to deepen connections with colleagues. Evenings will include programs on the arts and other areas of life.

Online Program: You will continue the learning and fellowship when you return to your home communities. The semester of study will feature online video lectures, conference call discussions with faculty and participants, and regular havruta study, either long distance or, if there is another Oraita participant in the vicinity, in person. We encourage students to invite other rabbis from their area or friends from rabbinical school to form an Oraita study group.

Day Long Workshops: Extra workshops with Oraita faculty can be made available for any group of six or more rabbis in a vicinity. Please contact us if you would like help in bringing together a group in your area. 

Tuition: Please refer to the specific retreat information below. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from the retreat. Some scholarships are available in cases of financial need.

Support for Oraita has been made possible by the Lasko Foundations and other generous sponsors.

Contact Us

Rabbi Natan Margalit
Director of Oraita
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
617-559-8617

Oraita Courses

SPRING 2010 Oraita-in-Boston
Classes with Dr. Judith Kates
“Doing Better the Second Time: Explorations in the Book of Esther”

Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
February 3, 17; March 3, 17
Hebrew College

Click here for Spring 2010 Oraita Registration Form.

Our celebration of Purim, the holiday of masks, disguises, and reversals, often conceals within our boisterous celebration of boundary crossings the text that claims to generate the holiday, megillat Esther. But this book richly repays serious attention. This class will offer an opportunity to explore and reflect on its literary and spiritual complexities and challenges, both as an artful masterpiece in itself and as one of the latest books to be included in the canon of the Tanakh. The book has in fact been taken especially seriously in our tradition. We will also delve into its continuing interpretive life, from the (Jewish) Greek additions and Josephus to Rabbinic imaginative responses in Talmud and midrash to medieval and modern commentary, including Hasidic masters and contemporary feminist scholars. 

Oraita Retreats

SUMMER 2010
The Midrashic Mind: From Akiva to Amichai

Oraita Video
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Rabbi Nehemia Polen, PhD
Oraita-in-Boston Fall 2009
Shabbat Dance

For more information about Oraita programs, click here.