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BTI Consortium | Last Updated November 14 - 9:00AM
Hebrew College
School
Hebrew College
BIB500
Core Text - Torah 1: Bereshit 1
BTI Category
Semester
Scripture & Biblical Studies
FA24
In this course, we will engage in close readings of selected passages in Genesis (Bereshit). Focus will be on honing skills in reading the biblical text, _as well as delving into Rashi�s commentary and the midrashic anthology Bereshit Rabbah. We will address questions of _gender and family dynamics, character development and narrative arc, themes of covenant and chosenness, as well as rivalry and sacrifice._
Professor
Class Day & Time
Matthew Hass
TR
11:30AM-1:00PM & 2:30-4:00PM
Grades
Letter, PF
Credits
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Requires Hebrew 5 or above
School
Hebrew College
CAN518
Nusach Workshop
BTI Category
Semester
Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual
FA24
From 8am-9am on Friday mornings, we will daven shaharit in a traditional Ashkenazi nusah. From 9am � 10:30am, we will break down the musical modes we just prayed, in order to understand and internalize the sounds of weekday davening. We will focus on the relationship between text and music. There will be reading assignments, and weekly recording assignments.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Jessica Kate Meyer
F
9:15-10:15AM
Grades
Letter, PF
Credits
1
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
N
School
Hebrew College
HBW510
Foundations of Biblical Hebrew 1
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA24
This course is an intensive introduction to Biblical Hebrew. A basic familiarity with Hebrew is presumed. Working in close coordination with the Parashat HaShavua course, students will learn grammatical concepts to be applied to the decoding of Biblical texts.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Navah Levine
MRF
9:15-10:45AM
Grades
Letter or PF for 4-credit option
Credits
0 or 4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Requires permission from the Instructor
School
Hebrew College
INT515
Jewish Life and Practice
BTI Category
Semester
Interreligious Learning
FA24
This course will provide students an opportunity to weave together traditional texts with reflections on their own personal Jewish practice. In this course, students will explore mitzvot often practiced in their homes � the more intimate, inhabited spaces that define and inscribe our deepest social, cultural, and religious commitments. By putting real lived experiences into conversation with aggadah, rabbinic legends, and contemporary guides to Jewish practice, students will gain a deeper understanding of these mitzvot themselves and be able to articulate their current and evolving relationship to each of the mitzvot explored throughout the semester.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Gita Karasov
R
2:30-4:00PM
Grades
Letter, PF
Credits
2
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Requires Hebrew 7 or above
School
Hebrew College
JTH838
Modern Jewish Thought
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
FA24
This course will explore the writings of major Jewish thinkers living in the modern era and place them in the context of their historical setting. The class will focus on the various ways these thinkers �from Mendelssohn to Buber �understood the dynamic relationship between inherited tradition and modern conceptions of religious life.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dan Judson
R
11:30AM-1:00PM
Grades
Letter or PF for 2-credit option
Credits
0 or 2
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
N
School
Hebrew College
BIB600
Core Text - Torah 2: Shemot 1
BTI Category
Semester
Scripture & Biblical Studies
FA24
From a family of twelves sons to a great nation, Exodus (Shemot) recounts the foundational myth of _the Jewish People. This course entails a close study of the Hebrew text, through the lens of classical _Parshanut and Midrash as well as modern literary readers (Benjamin Sommer, Avivah Zornberg, _Umberto Cassuto), while attentive to major themes and motifs such as exile, the Egyptian oppression _and plagues, the role of Righteous Women in the Redemption, and miracles in the desert (as in the _Splitting of the Sea and the Manna)._
Professor
Class Day & Time
Rachel Adelman
RF
11:30AM-1:00PM
Grades
Letter, PF
Credits
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Requires Hebrew 7 or above
School
Hebrew College
CAN519
Introduction to Basic Cantillation
BTI Category
Semester
Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual
FA24
This class is an introduction to basic concepts of Torah cantillation. It is not just about learning the melodies. Students will acquire and/or improve skills to chant Torah on weekdays, Sabbaths and Festivals using a common Ashkenazi trope. Topics will also include the rituals surrounding the Torah service, the history of cantillation/trope, correct contemporary pronunciation of Biblical Hebrew, and the underlying syntactic structure of the whole system of cantillation. While this course is primarily for Rabbinical students, others are welcome (depending on size of the class), provided they have adequate sense of musical pitch and the ability to read and translate Biblical Hebrew (with the help of a dictionary).
Professor
Class Day & Time
Louise Treitman
T
2:30-4:30PM
Grades
Letter, PF
Credits
2
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Requires Hebrew 4 or permission from the instructor
School
Hebrew College
HBW605
Hebrew for Tanakh Study
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA24
Students will work on the language of the biblical text and of the related midrash and traditional rabbinic commentary assigned in the Shanah Aleph Bereshit course, with which this course will be closely coordinated. Grammatical topics will be presented in the context of the text study. Foundations of Biblical Hebrew is a prerequisite.
Professor
Class Day & Time
TBD
TR
2:30-4:00PM & 11:30AM-1:00PM
Grades
Letter, PF
Credits
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Requires permission from the Instructor
School
Hebrew College
JTH808
The Zohar
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
FA24
An introduction to the Jewish mystical tradition and the reading of its central text, the Zohar. Students will be taught the symbolic language of Kabbalah and will learn to read passages in the Aramaic original, but also using the new translation and commentary of the Pritzker edition.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Allen Lehmann
R
11:30AM-1:00PM
Grades
Letter, PF
Credits
2
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
A working knowledge of Talmudic Aramaic is required for this course.
School
Hebrew College
PRC620
Lifecycle Seminar for Clergy
BTI Category
Semester
Leadership Formation & Ministry Skills
FA24
The Lifecycle seminar is an opportunity to build professional development skills around ritual making and specifically lifecycle events that are transformational and meet a life moment need. We will focus on liturgy as the rabbinic/cantorial pastoral and spiritual toolkit reviewing the history of liturgical change as well as creating contemporary liturgies of our own. The focus in the seminar is on three focal questions:
1. How do we understand the nature and needs of the life moment the ritual is responding to?
2. Ritual response: What are some of the varied and creative ritual responses Jewish tradition and contemporary liturgical leaders have developed for this life moment? What are some of the key decision points for officiating this ritual?
3. Officiating: How do we prepare for these rituals? How do we guide people through these rituals?
There will be a session with current clergy who share their professional expertise and experience. The lifecycle seminar this semester parallels the halachaic courses that deal with kiddushin from halachaic and legal frameworks.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Michael Shire
R
2:30-4:00PM
Grades
Letter, PF
Credits
2
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
N
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