Midrasha Courses
2023-2024 Available Courses
**Days and times are dependent on enrolled students’ availability.
Mini-Courses
INSTRUCTORS: EARL SCHWARTZ & NINA SAMUELS
Family, Money, and Loose Talk
Tuition: $250
Day: Thursdays, November 2-30
Time: 4:30-5:30 pm
Let’s reflect together on moral conflict in three areas of everyday life: What do family members owe one another? Do financial interests ever come before other moral values? Is one ever obligated to speak out, and when must speech be contained? We’ll wrestle with some thorny issues, starting with true stories, and then turn to pertinent Jewish sources to stimulate and guide our thinking.
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INSTRUCTORS: EARL SCHWARTZ & NINA SAMUELS
Turning Points: Three Contentious Episodes in Twin Cities Jewish History
Tuition: $250
Day: Thursdays, December 7-14
Time: 4:30-5:30 pm
Come explore three contentious episodes from the past 100 years of Twin Cities Jewish history. Among the topics we explore are how some Jewish neighborhoods grew and then disappeared, the development of communal educational institutions, and how membership in the community has been both defined and challenged. These are all stories of conflict, determination, and passion. Our goal is to better understand what local Jewish history teaches us about sustaining Jewish life, in community, in a time of profound change.
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The Letters Project: Conversing Across Narratives 2023
Partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council and Talmud Torah of Minneapolis
A course for the whole community—teens on up—based on Yossi Klein Halevi’s book Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor: with an Extensive Epilogue of Palestinian Responses. Each week, class will be taught by a different Rabbi or Community Leader from across the Twin Cities. This course will culminate in each student writing a letter of their own, which they will have the opportunity to enter into a national contest.
A $180 stipend is available to all students upon successful completion of the course and all course requirements. Stipends will only be offered to students. This class and student stipends are made available by the Louis Herman Memorial Fund of the Minnesota Jewish Community Foundation.
This project is sponsored by JCRC and supported by a grant from an Anonymous Fund of The Minneapolis Federation.
For more information and registration click here.
Semester Courses
INSTRUCTOR: RABBI YOSI GORDON
God 101 (8-10 GR)
Tuition: First Semester: $200, Second Semester: $360
Day: Thursday
Time: 6:20-7:10 pm
The core of our services is Sh’ma Yisrael, but we never really talk about God. This is an open-minded, thinking course for those who believe, those who don’t believe, those who sometimes believe and sometime don’t, and those who sort of believe and sort of don’t. It will not try to persuade you to think or believe in any particular way. We will use The God Book and all wrestle with its challenging ideas.
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INSTRUCTOR: RABBI YOSI GORDON
Great Modern Jewish Thinkers (10-12 GR)
Tuition: First Semester: $200, Second Semester: $360
Day: Sunday
Time: 11 am-12 pm
The 20th and 21st centuries have produced some amazing Jewish thinkers. We will sample some of their writings and accept/challenge/question anything and everything. This is an intro to serious Jewish theology and philosophy.
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INSTRUCTOR: RABBI YOSI GORDON
The Book of Ruth
Tuition: First Semester: $200, Second Semester: $360
Day: Tuesday
Time: 6:30-7:30 pm
This has been called the most perfect short story ever written. It’s a story of two amazing women, in a world of men, who deal with personal loss, exclusion, alienation, and poverty, and find a way to flourish and overcome impossible odds. We will read the Hebrew text and look deeply into its characters and values.
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College-level Hebrew
Year-long courses
**Days and times are subject to change based on enrolled students’ availability.
College-level Beginning Hebrew 1
Day: Tuesdays / Thursdays
Time: 6:30-8 PM
Tuition: $1400
For beginners whose goal is proficiency in modern Israeli Hebrew. Leads to speaking, listening comprehension, and reading/writing Hebrew. Emphasizes communication proficiency. Cultural materials are incorporated. No prior Hebrew experience is required.
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College-level Advanced Beginning Hebrew 2
Day: Mondays / Wednesdays
Time: 6:30-8 PM
Tuition: $1400
For students whose goal is proficiency in modern Israeli Hebrew. Leads to speaking, listening comprehension, reading, and writing Hebrew with emphasis on communication proficiency. Cultural materials incorporated. Continuation of Beginning Hebrew 1. Students enrolling in Advanced Beginning Hebrew 2 must have completed Beginning Hebrew I and received a passing grade, or have instructor approval.
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College-level Intermediate Hebrew 3
Day: Tuesdays / Thursdays
Time: 6:30-8 PM
Tuition: $1400
Strengthens and extends proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension of modern Hebrew. Read and discuss prose, poetry, news, and film. Taught primarily in Hebrew. Students enrolling in Intermediate Hebrew 3 must have completed Advanced Beginning Hebrew 2 and received a passing grade, or have instructor approval.
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College-level Advanced Intermediate Hebrew 4
Day: Mondays/Wednesdays
Time: 6:30-8 PM
Tuition: $1400
Extensive reading of simplified modern Hebrew prose selections. Discuss poetry, newspaper, film, and TV in Hebrew. Israeli cultural experiences. Hone composition, listening comprehension, and speaking skills to prepare for proficiency exams. Taught in Hebrew. Continuation of Intermediate Hebrew 3. Students enrolling in Advanced Intermediate Hebrew 4 must have completed Intermediate Hebrew 3 and received a passing grade, or have instructor approval.
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College-level Advanced Hebrew 5
Day: Tuesdays/Thursdays
Time: 6:30-8 PM
Tuition: $1400
Advanced studies in a variety of genres/media, including fiction, poetry, drama, film, and journal. Emphasizes expanded oral/written self-expression. Materials from several periods are used to prepare for future specialized studies. Taught in Hebrew. Has a prerequisite of Advanced Intermediate Hebrew 4. This course may be taken multiple times. Students enrolling in Advanced Hebrew 5 must have completed Advanced Intermediate Hebrew 4 and received a passing grade, or have instructor approval.
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