A class for those that enjoy the challenges of ancient Jewish history and literature

A special class... with a special goal: to study the biblical text and understand this literature from the perspective of its authors.

Judaism has evolved through the centuries, as far as understanding the Hebrew Bible is
concerned, by the layering of interpretations imposed by the many generations of rabbis over
the past 2,000 years. This process has been understandably blind to the history of the ancient
Israelite and Judean cultures, which preceded the Rabbis by at least 1,000 years.

As a result, there exists a certain “Rabbinic censorship” overlaying the ancient/original stories,
laws, philosophies, theologies within the Hebrew Bible. After all, the only entry into the context
of the biblical material was guided by their lack of truly understanding that very context. It is
this censorship that the course has striven to reveal…perhaps even to set aside.

Anyone interested in studying and grappling with Judaism’s ancient texts and stories,
teenagers included with adults, is welcome to attend. Just bring your curiosity and desire to
learn.

The overall theme of this year’s course is: Stories That Make No Sense