Printed fromJewishBrevard.com
Ask the Rabbi
Subscribe
Subscribe to Weekly Shabbat
View all subscriptions »
Contact
Home
About
Chabad of the Space & Treasure Coasts
About Us About Chabad Lubavitch Directions & Accommodations Membership Photos Social Media Contact Us Support Chabad Chai Club
Lag BaOmer at the Beach 2025 Matzah Campaign 2025 Passover Paint Night - Ladies Night Out Purim in Outer Space (2025) Cteen NYC Shabbaton 2025 JWC Floral Workshop - Tu B'Shvat JLI - Decoding The Talmud Chanukah 2024 JLI - Nurturing Relationships Sushi in the Sukkah 2024
Ckids Sukkah Space Station Oct. 7th Memorial & Challah Bake for Israel Read It in Hebrew Mikvah Pool Concrete Pouring Camp Gan Israel 2024 - Week #4 Camp Gan Israel 2024 - Week #3 Evening of Solidarity with Israel - Tribute to the Rebbe Camp Gan Israel 2024 - Week #2 Lag B'omer 2024 JLI - Decisions of Fate
Family Model Matzah Bakery Purim in Israel Family Hamandash Bake 2024 The Longest 12 Hours in My Life - Yadin Gellman JWC - Charcuterie & Champagne Israel Unity Parade & Chanukah Concert JWC - Resin Shabbos Candles JLI - The World of Kabbalah Sushi in the Sukkah 2023 Judaism: The Soundtrack
Facebook Instagram YouTube
Donate Online Donate a Car Land Donation Planned Giving Stocks & Securities
About
Synagogue Kiddush Adults Community Services & Lifecycle Events Kosher Food Mezuzah scrolls Yahrzeit Reminder Chabad Jewish Gift World
H20 to M&M
Kiddush sponsorship
Jewish Learning Institute Lunch and Learn Torah & Tequila Women Tanya
Chabad Cares Baby Naming / Brit Milah Circumcision Ceremony Bar & Bat Mitzvah Celebration Jewish Wedding Funeral
Community
Camp Gan Izzy Torah Academy Preschool Hebrew School Mommy & Me Bar & Bat Mitzvah Teen Club Kids Zone
About Preschool Elementary Mommy & Me Tot Shabbat Tour
About Us Dates & Rates FAQ Curriculum
Youth
Synagogue Services Cheesecake Bake Shavuot (June 1-3) Upcoming Classes
H20 to M&M
Women's Event
Schedule What Is Shavuot? Eruv Tavshilin Yizkor Memorial
Jewish Learning Institute Lunch and Learn Torah & Tequila Women Tanya
Upcoming
Mikvah Campaign
Mikvah
Donate
About Search Contact

Adult Education

To learn is to live!
  • Home |
  • About JLI
    • Decisions of Fate - Spring 2024
    • Advice for Life - Winter 2024
    • The World of Kabbalah - Fall 2023
    • Jewpernatural (Spring 2023)
    • Book Smart. (Winter 2023)
    • MY G-D. (Fall 2022)
    • Meditation from Sinai. (winter 2022)
    • Outsmarting Antisemitism. Fall 2021
    • Journey of the Soul. Winter 2021
    • FALL 2020: Secrets of the Bible
    • Winter 2020: Judaism's Gifts to the World
    |
  • Colorful Profiles - Spring 2025 |
  • Photos
    • JLI: How Success Thinks
    • JLI: The Jewish Course of Why
    • JLI: Journey of the Soul
    • JLI: Judaism Decoded
    • JLI: How Happiness Thinks
    • JLI Life in the Balance 2013
    • JLI Art of Marriage 2012
    • JLI Fascinating Facts 2011
    • JLI Medicine & Morals 2010
ב"ה

Book Smart. (Winter 2023)

WHEN

6 Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30 P.M.
Jan 24th - Feb 28th

Instructor: Rabbi Mendel Osdoba

 
JOIN NOW

LOCATION

1190 Hwy A1A, Satellite Beach, FL 32937

MORE INFO

[email protected]
321.777.2770
Fee: (textbook included)
Before Jan. 10 - $60/Person | $108/Couple
After Jan. 10 - $75/Person | $130/Couple

 

Course Overview

Book Smart:
Course through Judaism’s Most Important Titles, and the Authors Who Inscribed Them


A panoramic overview of 3000 years of Jewish learning, this course introduces you to the works that earned us the title “The People of The Book.” You will experience the different genres that shape Jewish life, including Tanach, Midrash, Talmud, Halachah, Philosophy, Kabbalah, Musar, Chasidism, and meet the influential personalities who drove thirty centuries of Jewish scholarship. Whether you’re meeting these texts for the first time or as a seasoned scholar, this course will inform and enrich all your Jewish learning.

Course Trailer

 

Lesson Outline

 

— 01
The Torah

We begin by addressing the question, “What is the Torah?” We discover how the whole of Jewish teaching (“the Torah” in its broader meaning) derives from the Chumash (“the Torah” in its narrower meaning). We also discuss the relationship between the “Written Torah” and the “Oral Torah,” and how these two components of Torah constitute a “partnership” of Divine revelation and the human toil of the mind.

We then introduce the twenty-four books of the Tanach. We explain the differences between Torah, Neviim, and Ketuvim, and review the contents of each. We also see how the roots of the different “genres” of Torah—Midrash, Halachah, Kabbalah, Musar, etc.—are all in the “Written Torah,” as will be further demonstrated in each of the next five lessons.

 

— 02
The Midrash

“Midrash” is both a methodology and a body of literature. In this lesson, we explore both aspects of Midrash. We study the various methods by which additional layers of meaning contained within the words—or between the lines—of the Torah are expounded. We also acquaint ourselves with some of the major Midrashic works that record the expositional teachings by the sages of the Talmudic era (approximately 100 BCE to 500 CE).

Midrash includes Halachic (legal) expositions, which extrapolate the details of the Torah’s laws from the text, as well as Agadic Midrashim—moral, philosophical, and mystical teachings, as well as historical narratives and parables. We study examples from both of these varieties of Midrash, including a number of intricate legal expositions, and an esoteric parable relating to a celestial battle over the creation of the human being and the paradox of goodness and truth.

 

— 03
The Talmud

More than any other work, the Talmud defines “Jewish learning.” In this lesson, we review the history of the Talmud, explore the structure of this intricate and fascinating work, with its 63 volumes of teachings and deliberations by hundreds of sages over a period of six centuries on virtually every subject under the sun. We also engage in the in-depth study of a Talmudic sugya (“subject discussion”) and experience the unique twists and turns of the Talmudic dialectic.

In the process, we discover how Talmudic learning leverages the “flaws” of the human mind—its circuitous reasoning, its contentiousness, and its inconsistencies—to reveal the multifaceted nature of the Divine wisdom and apply it to the complexities of human life.

 

— 04
Halachah

Halachah is the “bottom line” of Torah, where the biblical commandments, rabbinical ordinances, and Talmudic deliberations translate into the dos and don’ts of daily life. Halachah addresses every part of a Jew’s life, from waking to bedtime, from birth to burial, from everyday activities to the most extraordinary situations.

In this lesson, we explore the history of Halachah, from its sources in the Written Torah, through the Halachic Midrashim, the Talmud and its commentaries, the various “codes” compiled through the centuries, and the many thousands of Halachic responsa authored through the centuries. We survey the great variety of issues and dilemmas that Halachah addresses. We then bring it all to life via a case study that traces a Halachic issue from its biblical origins through more than a dozen citations across the entire spectrum of Halachic literature.

 

— 05
Musar and Jewish Philosophy

Musar is the body of Torah teachings that deals with ethics, character development, and spiritual self-improvement. The field of Jewish philosophy, also known as “Chakirah,” includes works devoted to discussing the philosophy and ideology of Judaism. While these constitute two distinct areas of Torah literature, there is also a certain degree of overlap between them; indeed, some of the fundamental works of Jewish philosophy are also works of Musar, and vice versa.

In this lesson, we review the history and the primary authors and works in these two fields. We then study a number of texts covering three related topics in both these fields: the doctrine of creation ex nihilo (“something from nothing”), bitachon (trust in G‑d), and the emotion of anger.

 

— 06
Kabbalah and Chasidism

Kabbalah is the Torah’s mystical dimension, containing its most powerful and empowering ideas. But for many centuries, the teachings of Kabbalah were carefully guarded secrets, transcribed only in the guise of esoteric terminology and metaphors, and taught only to a small, exclusive circle of mystics in each generation. Chasidism is both an extension of Kabbalah as well as a field of Torah in its own right, revealing the inner “soul” that unites the Torah’s various components and applying its most abstract spiritual teachings in personally meaningful ways.

In this lesson, we survey the history of Kabbalah and Chasidism. We address the question of why these teachings were kept secret, and why and how they were eventually revealed. We then explore one of the core subjects of Kabbalah—the doctrine of the “Ten Sefirot”—beginning with a mysterious passage in the Zohar, followed by a series of Kabbalistic and Chasidic texts that examine the great paradox of G‑d’s relationship with us, and the body-soul dichotomy that defines our own lives.

 

More in this section

  • MY G-D. (Fall 2022)
  • Meditation from Sinai. (winter 2022)
  • Outsmarting Antisemitism. Fall 2021
  • Journey of the Soul. Winter 2021
  • FALL 2020: Secrets of the Bible
  • View All »


Chabad of the Space & Treasure Coasts
1190 Highway A1A Satellite Beach, FL 32937
321-777-2770

Powered by Chabad.org © 1993-2025 Privacy Policy