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Hebrew College

School

Hebrew College

CAN519

Basic Cantillation

BTI Category

Semester

Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual

FA25

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). This course will meet for 9 sessions from September 2 until November 25 (with a break for holidays).

Professor

Class Day & Time

Cantor Louise Treitman

T

2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Grades

PF or Audit

Credits

2

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

NA

School

Hebrew College

INT533

Calling Out from the Depths: The Book of Psalms

BTI Category

Semester

Interreligious Learning

FA25

For centuries Jews and Christians have turned to the Book of Psalms (Sefer Tehillim) in times of joy and thanksgiving, and in times of sadness and lament. The Psalms have served as a core source for individual and group prayer in both traditions. Furthermore, Jewish and Christian scholars, musicians, poets, and visual artists have created countless interpretations of these ancient texts. However, there have been far fewer opportunities for members of these two communities (and others) to explore these ancient poetic texts_ _as fellow spiritual seekers. What do we share in common? Where do we differ? How might reading these sources with people with different religious or ideological commitments impact our relationship with these sacred sources? This interdisciplinary course will be team-taught by a Jewish and a Catholic instructor.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Rabbi Or Rose and Andrew Davis

W

See Notes

Grades

PF or Audit

Credits

1

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

Wednesdays 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm, Classes held for 6 sessions: October 29, November 5, 12 & 19 and December 3 & 10

School

Hebrew College

LGY591

Siddur

BTI Category

Semester

Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual

FA25

Transform words of liturgy into words of prayer. We will focus our attention on the weekday Shacharit service because it offers a foundation for understanding many other Jewish tefillah liturgies and because it is the primary tefillah experience we will engage in together at Hebrew College. We will spend some time on liturgical variations for Shabbat and holidays. We will use Nusah Ashkenaz as our base text because it is the most common liturgy used in North America, though we will note some moments of liturgical variation with Nusah Sefard.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer

M

2:30 - 4:00 pm

Grades

PF or Audit

Credits

2

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

Requires Hebrew 4 or above.

School

Hebrew College

HBW510

Foundations of Biblical Hebrew1

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

FA25

This course is an intensive introduction to Biblical Hebrew. A basic familiarity with Hebrew is presumed. Students will learn grammatical concepts to be applied to the decoding of Biblical texts.

Professor

Class Day & Time

TBD

TRF

See Notes

Grades

PF or Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

Tuesdays and Fridays 9:15 am - 10:45 am, and Thursdays 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm

School

Hebrew College

JTH918

Contemporary Thought in Historical Context

BTI Category

Semester

Judaic Studies

FA25

This course has two components. In the first half of the semester, we will explore American Jewish history focusing on themes of particular importance to rabbinical students like the emergence of denominations and the evolution of the American synagogue. The second half of the course is a survey of the seminal Jewish thinkers who wrote in an American context such as Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Joseph Soloveitchik, Judith Plaskow and others. We will ultimately be aiming to place our own historical moment and our own theologies within broader historical/theological frameworks.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Rabbi Dr. Dan Judson

W

10:00 am - 11:30 pm

Grades

PF or Audit

Credits

2

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

NA

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