Around the Calendar with Drisha

The holiday of Shavuot features many unique prayers, the majority of which touch upon themes relating to the giving of the Torah. In this class, we will take a close look at the history and development of the Azharot, a specific form of Piyyut (Hebrew Liturgical poetry) recited on the festival that enumerates the 613 commandments. We will begin with a brief historical introduction to Piyyut and it...

n this session, we will examine the liturgical poem “Akdamut Millin” (“The Introduction of Words”), written by Rabbi Meir b. Isaac of Worms (died ca. 1095), with an eye toward understanding its origins and its enduring appeal. Why would Rabbi Meir compose such a lengthy (ninety line) poem in Aramaic, long after Aramaic ceased to be the vernacular of the Jewish community? And what meaning can such...

The poem Yatziv Pitgam, recited on the second day of Shavuot in connection with the haftarah, is an obscure but beautiful window into the religious world of medieval Ashkenaz, written by the great Tosafist, Rabbenu Tam. In this class we will read and unpack the poem in order to reflect on what it teaches about Shavuot, and on the intellectually rich but also tragic period in which it was written.

Today our seder nights are guided by the liturgical prompts of the Haggadah, but it wasn’t always this way. Our tradition records that in the times of the Mishnah, Rabbis gathered in Lod and Bnai Brak on the Seder night to tell the story of the Exodus. Unscripted, in their own words. Join us and listen in as a gathering of scholars and rabbis re-enact this seder, at our event: Seder Telling. Prese...

While both Jewish and Christian authors in Antiquity openly confronted Greek and Roman practices of dining and celebration, the rabbis shaped the most important meal of the year in disturbing similarity to the Greco-Roman symposium. What is the cultural significance of this choice? While scholars hotly debated this question, I suggest a new perspective to this issue through a close analysis of the...

Pesach is a holiday of remembrance. In this class we will think about the ways in which the Seder night is intended at remembering - and reenacting - the Korban Pesach, and the ways in which the Korban Pesach itself was intended to reenact the first Pesach offering that was celebrated in Egypt. Alongside sources from Masechet Pesachim, we will study additional ancient Jewish sources that reminisce...

Megillat Esther, more than any book of the Bible, lends itself to multiple readings. The session will suggest two readings of the Megilla, in contrast to the reading of the “hidden God.” In one reading God is wholly absent, in the other fully present. We will reflect upon the ethical and theological implications of each.

The Talmud finds Esther in the Torah through a play on words in the curses of Sefer Devarim, “and I will hide, haster astir My countenance on that day.” Elsewhere the Talmud teaches in the name of Rav that to be a Jew one must experience God's hiddenness. Why is that, and what does it mean to experience God's hiddenness? And once we experience it, what are we to do? Join us in an exploration of th...

Adina Polen and Ariel Mayse of Atiq: Jewish Maker Institute ran this interactive Jewish learning and arts workshop. We used simple materials to help locate ourselves within our own lives and reflect back to us all that we have to be grateful for! This workshop was designed to be fun and accessible for all ages. Learn more about Atiq at www.atiqmakers.org!

Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah is the conclusion of a series of Festivals and observances. It is the time that we complete a cycle of Torah reading and start anew. An analysis of the Torah readings will afford us a glimpse as to the place of this holiday within the cycle of holidays and its import for our daily living.

In the third class, we will probe different aspects of intentionality: whether sinful thoughts are treated with the same weight as sinful deeds, and what defines a sin as intentional or unintentional. We will see marked differences in how various sages approached these questions.

This final shiur in the series will draw together the material we have studied throughout this series and draw some conclusions about the source of atonement on Yom Kippur. Does it stem primarily from people or from God? And does the answer to that question change over history?

This series will focus on core pieces of the Selichot, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur liturgies. Specifically, we will explore the roles that our liturgy asks us to step into on these days and at these key moments. This class aims to enrich participants' experiences of these special tefillot, particularly in a year where many will be praying at home or in truncated synagogue services. In this final s...

If, after a long day in shul on Rosh Hashana, my mind is wandering during shofar blowing, do I have to hear it again? Can the pergola in my backyard be my sukkah? In this three part lecture series, we will explore how intenton factors into the mitzvot central to Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.  In this class we turn to Sukkot and the debate regarding whether the construction of the sukkah it...

Session 2 we will turn to Talmudic and liturgical texts about the Shofar's cries. As both the criers and the ones who knows cries the best, mothers will be the focus of this session, as we contemplate how Rosh Hashana liturgy asks us to enact motherhood.

This series delves into the core motifs and themes in the liturgy of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Two sessions are devoted to the core texts of Rosh Hashana - Malchiyot, Zichronot and Shofarot - and two sessions will focus on the Kol Nidre service and the confessions of Yom Kippur.

Shiur 3 will address the teaching, found at Yoma 86a, of the “four categories of atonement” – one of which is Yom Kippur – and consider how it impacts these discussions. It will also consider cases of those who reject Yom Kippur in various ways and whether that affects one’s capacity to achieve atonement on the day.

Blowing the Shofar is simple – but not easy. Rabbi Silver will go over the basic concepts of proper lip position, posture, and breath control. Unless you are a trumpet player, the technique may seem unnatural at first. The real secret to mastering the Shofar is – that there’s no secret. It takes hours of dedicated practice. Rabbi Silver shares his own story of his road from utter failure to relati...

Handout: https://drisha.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Handout_Intention-in-the-Performance-of-Mizvot_Part1.pdf If, after a long day in shul on Rosh Hashana, my mind is wandering during shofar blowing, do I have to hear it again? Can the pergola in my backyard be my sukkah? In this three part lecture series, we will explore how intention factors into the mitzvot central to Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur...

Handout: https://drisha.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Handout_Sarna_RitualReenactment1_Selichot_-Becoming-Moshe.pdf This series will focus on core pieces of the Selichot, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur liturgies. Specifically, we will explore the roles that our liturgy asks us to step into on these days and at these key moments. This class aims to enrich participants' experiences of these special te...

In this 4 part series, this session and next will focus on the Kol Nidre service and the confessions of Yom Kippur.

Handout: https://drisha.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Handout_Bronstein_Emotions-of-teshuva_Part3-RavKook.pdf In addition to delineating the technical process of repentance, Jewish literature has also explored the emotions that are supposed to accompany this process. In this class we will trace The Emotions of Repentance from the medieval authorities (Rambam and Rabbeinu Yonah) through the great...

Handout: https://drisha.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Handout_AtonementYK_Zuckier_Part2.pdf Yom Kippur is literally "the Day of Atonement." But how does that atonement come about: Is it dependent on the bringing of Korbanot? Does Yom Kippur still atone today? Need one observe the day of Yom Kippur in order to achieve atonement? What does this process of atonement tell us about the holiest day of...

Blowing the Shofar is simple – but not easy. Rabbi Silver will go over the basic concepts of proper lip position, posture, and breath control. Unless you are a trumpet player, the technique may seem unnatural at first. The real secret to mastering the Shofar is – that there’s no secret. It takes hours of dedicated practice. Rabbi Silver shares his own story of his road from utter failure to relati...