Category Archives: Classes_taught

SHANAH V’SHANAH: THE HANNAH NARRATIVE (1 SAM 1-2) AND THE CYCLE OF TIME

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Nehirim Women’s Retreat – Workshop

Shanah v’shanah means year after year. The Hannah Narrative (1 Samuel chapters 1-2), is the haftarah for Rosh Hashanah and is thus read in the synagogue shanah v’shanah. The text tells us that Hannah goes shanah v’shanah to the temple in Shiloh, grieving for her empty life. One year she rises up from her grief; in the next years she goes annually to Shiloh to celebrate her little son, Samuel. We read closely what the text says about Hannah’s transformation (internal longing, deep desire, thunder from outside). We study Rabbi Nahman of Breslev regarding the roots of change, and how Rosh Hashanah (the New Year – coming soon!) is the season for revitalization. We apply his teaching to the Hannah Narrative with the goal of learning to uncover and act upon our longings for transformation.

RUACH HAYAM – THE SPIRIT OF THE SEA. EXPLORING THE QUEER IN BETWEEN SPACES (January 2014)

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Nehirim Winter Gathering Retreat – Workshop

What happens when the fleshpots of Egypt (the past which never was) pull you back, and the milk and honey of the future (the future which will never quite be) seems far away? How do we navigate the queer space of the in-between? When the walls of the sea tower over the narrow passageway of our present, how do we walk forward? What is the spirit of the sea, the Ruach HaYam?   Reading texts from Exodus, and exploring the texts of our lives.

MOTHERHOOD, MANHOOD AND WAR: READING THE SONG OF DEBORAH (June 2013)

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Nehirim East National Retreat – Workshop
One of the most poignant stories in the Hebrew Bible is the little known saga of Sisera’s mother in the Song of Deborah (Judges 4-5).  Along with Deborah herself, and Jael, the text presents an extraordinary trio of women who run the gamut from magnificent to tragic to disturbing, set against the backdrop of war.  The Song of Deborah is as old as the very ancient Song of the Sea (Ex 15:1-19) and Song of Miriam (Ex. 15:20-21), with which it is paired as haftarah.  Penina Weinberg, Master of Jewish Studies and teacher of Hebrew Bible, will lead a lively study and discussion of the Song of Deborah.  Be prepared for a provocative (and queer) look at motherhood, manhood, and war.

READING RUTH AS TAPESTRY (Pesach to Shavuot 2013)

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Brookline Community Beit Midrash  4 week series.
Close reading of the Book of Ruth, making meaning as though weaving a tapestry.  Warp consists of the major themes: Ruth and Shavuot; David’s ancestors; individuals in relationship to community and the divine.  Woof contains the modes of interpretation: our own reading; the Sages; modern –  including feminist, queer and traditional; woodcut art.

THE FIVE REMARKABLE WOMEN WHO GAVE MOSES HIS START IN LIFE (Jan, Apr and June 2013)

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Nehirim Gathering and National Retreat East – Workshops
Keshet  – Beit Midrash
A Queer Look at Issues of Female/Feminine Identity in Exodus 1-2 and in Ourselves
Despite contrary decrees by the powerful Pharaoh of Egypt, five women midwifed, mothered, and sistered Moses. A study of the first two chapters in Exodus in order to learn what what the text says about female/feminine identity, strength, and power. Wrestling with what identity definitions may mean to us personally.

LIVING BY THEIR WITS 2012/2013

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Living by Their Wits – How our Ancestors Parleyed Their Way into Power

I led a pair of Sunday morning sessions at Congregation Eitz Chayim, 10/28/12 and 1/6/13, on the topic of Living by Their Wits.  We looked at a few of our biblical ancestors who lived by their wits and gained power when they lacked authority.  Many people think that the only tricksters in the Bible are women, and dismiss living by wits as a feminine wile, unworthy of respect.  In fact, men as well as women live by their wits.  We read selected biblical texts and entered into a lively discussion relating our texts to current politics, philosophy and challenges of life.

These types of classes are participatory and accessible to people with no experience studying biblical texts, while providing an intellectual challenge to those with a broad background.  Everyone is an expert at something; we combine our insights and knowledge to unpack the biblical texts and to wrestle with questions such as: what is authority vs power?  Is living by our wits relevant today?  If so, how does it help us to meet modern challenges (or not)?

BOUNDARY CROSSING: THE STORY OF RUTH (March and July 2012)

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Nehirim Woman’s Retreat-  Workshop
Keshet – Beit Midrash
As queer Jews, our identity is rich and complex. What does it mean to alter our identity? Or come into our identity? How do we learn to read other boundary crossers? A journey through the Book of Ruth reveals how the best known and most beloved pair of biblical women cross identity boundaries and struggle to be recognized.

FULL SPECTRUM GENDER IN THE BIBLE (June 2012)

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Nehirim East Retreat – Workshop.
We may understand Rebecca as a biblical person whose gender manifests as a continuum; who is textually the successor to Sarah and Abraham; and who is therefore in a sense both mother and father of Israel.  A close reading of a few key texts in Genesis yields the (surprising?) conclusion that gender identifications in the Hebrew Bible are less rigid than we may believe.

THE CREATION OF HU(WO)MANITY (August 2011)

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Classes at Congregation Eitz Chayim
Two part series covering the creation texts in Genesis 1, 2, and 5:1-2.  If humanity is made in the image of God, what can we learn from the story of Creation about the gender of God and the gender of the first human?   Is God a He, a She, an androgyne?  Is the question relevant?  The concept of a gendered God is integral to many interpretations, and the concept of God as a He has troubled many modern religious people, but what does the text actually say?