Conservative
Yeshiva
Online Learning
|
Fall
2008
Register
now for Conservative Yeshiva Online Learning beginning the
week of October 26, 2008.
Students
of all Hebrew levels and Jewish learning backgrounds
are welcome. Students should be self-motivated and willing
to devote 1-2 hours per week to study. Hevruta - study
with a partner – is strongly encouraged for all
students including those with no prior experience in
hevruta study! Conservative Yeshiva Online students have
set up hevruta study in person, by phone, and even via
Skype!
Two
ten-week courses will be offered, Contemporary Issues
in Halakha (Jewish Law) and Recipe for an Empire: From
David's Jerusalem to Ahab's Samaria. Complete course
descriptions are found here.
Registration:
To register for the classes, please click on the link
to the Conservative Yeshiva on-line registration system, https://uscjisrael.researchsuccess.com/programs/survey.asp?nsurvey=55 and
choose "online learning fall 2008" for your
choice of program. Follow the instructions for completing
the application.
(Alumni
of the Conservative Yeshiva: email yeshiva@uscj.org to
receive an application.)
Tuition:
$250 for each 10 week course. A 10% discount will be
given to Hevruta partners who sign up together for the
class. Alumni of the Conservative Yeshiva receive an
additional 10% tuition discount. Students from Asia,
South Africa, Eastern Europe and other developing nations
will receive a 50% tuition discount. (The course is open
to a limited number of USCJ employees for a registration
fee of $50.)
For
more information about the course or about on-line learning
with the Conservative
Yeshiva, please contact Rabbi Gail Diamond at yeshiva@uscj.org.
COURSES
Contemporary
Issues in Halakha:
In
this course, we will examine how halakha - Jewish law – confronts
modernity (and vice-versa) on a number of issues which
have riveted the Jewish world over the past year:
Pidyon Shevuyim - The Redemption of Captives: While we
know that it is highly worthy in Judaism to save lives
and provide the dead with a proper burial, are there
no limits? If paying too high a "price" for captives
will only spur the captors to step up their activities
in the future, what has been gained? To what extent does
halakha take into consideration the needs of individuals
as opposed to the needs of the community as a whole?
Giyyur - Conversion: Once a Jew always a Jew? Is conversion
final in Judaism or can a Bet Din - a Jewish Court
- revoke the conversion at a later date? Must the convert
accept
the yoke of all of the mitzvot at the time of conversion?
What happens if it is later discovered that the convert
is not leading an observant lifestyle or even deceived
the judges at the time of conversion?
Hekhsher Tzedek: Should a kashrut certificate attest
only to the technical aspects of how an animal was
slaughtered? To what extent are business practices
a religious issue?
Before issuing the seal of approval, should Kashrut
agencies also investigate the corporate integrity,
working conditions,
product development and environmental impact of the
business at hand?
Musical Instruments in the Synagogue: In the last
couple decades we have seen significant growth
in musical
accompaniment to services on Shabbat and Holidays
in a number of synagogues
that consider themselves to be bound by halakha.
Often there are a wide array of instruments and
sometimes even "rock
bands" performing. Can these developments be justified
by Jewish law?
Instructor: Rabbi Shlomo Zacharow received his
MA and Rabbinic ordination from the Schechter
Institute of
Jewish Studies
in Jerusalem. Before joining the Conservative
Yeshiva, he served as the Rabbi of Congregation Shevet
Achim
in Gilo. He now teaches Biblical Hebrew and Halakha
and
learns in the yeshiva's kollel. Rabbi Zacharow
is
certified as
a mesadder gittin (specialist in Jewish Family
Law).
Recipe for an Empire:
From David's Jerusalem to Ahab's Samaria
The recipe for success of a great king: A capital
devoid of the tribal affiliations, and a religious
center
loyal to the royal family. Season with ambitions,
emotions, and intrigues. The course will study
the creation of
Jerusalem
by David: The establishment of a religious
center, the
organization of a state, and some of the intrigues
of the palace. Then we will watch the missteps
of David's heirs,
the splitting of the empire and the rise of
a new kingdom just north of Jerusalem. The fledging
new
kingdom will
establish itself as a great power under Omri
and Ahab (and Jezebel!), who created the independent
capital
city
of
Samaria. (Did they learn something from David?)
The
course will focus on the relevant biblical texts
from the books
of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. Whenever
appropriate, we will discuss relevant Midrashim and archeological
information. A Hebrew or a Hebrew-English
Tanakh
is needed.
Instructor: Vered Hollander-Goldfarb received
her M.A. in Judaic Studies and Tanach from
the Bernard
Revel
Graduate School of Yeshiva University and
studied at Bar-Ilan
University and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Before making aliyah,
she taught at Ramaz School and Stern College
in New York. She teaches Tanach at the
Conservative Yeshiva.
For more information, contact:
Rabbi Gail Diamond, Assistant Director
Conservative Yeshiva
8 Agron Street, PO Box 7456
Jerusalem, 94265, Israel
yeshiva@uscj.org
www.conservativeyeshiva.org
