Hebrew Seminary’s Spring Semester begins February 3 and continues through May 30, 2019.

Below is our schedule of class offerings. Call for more information regarding our Hebrew classes or if you would like to visit one of these classes. We welcome part-time and auditing students.
Contact Alison Brown at 847/679-4113

Mondays                   

10:00 - 11:30      
Practical Halachah: Shabbat
Rabbi Eisenbach

Tuesdays               

1:15 – 2:45
Weddings & Funerals
Rabbi Davis

For many Jews, the only time they will have a meaningful, personal interaction with a rabbi is at a funeral or wedding.

This course will have both textual and practical components. Students will study some halacha to understand the origin of liberal practice and to be aware of some common requests that come from the world of traditional Judaism. A strong focus will be placed on funerals and weddings. Students will study the interactions of rabbi and families step-by-step including examples from Rabbi Davis’ experience. Online resources and other tools will be studied.

Wednesdays                                                                                                                                   

10:30 -12:30
Modern Jewish History
Rabbi Edwards                        

This class will use the Mendes-Flohr & Reinharz, The Jew in the Modern World (Oxford), Second Edition text book. The class will meet for 13 two-hour sessions. From the Emancipation through today, this course will enable students to understand the broad social, political and religious forces which created contemporary Jewish identities. Particular focus on acculturation and modern religious movements; antisemitism and the Holocaust; Zionism and the birth of the State of Israel; the American Jewish experience.

1:00 - 3:00
Parashat Hashavuah, with Rashi Commentary 
Rabbi Rosenbaum 

Jump into this text-based course to enhance your ability to read and interpret biblical narrative. Students will also become comfortable reading Rashi in his biblical commentary to address problematic passages of the biblical text. Rabbi Rosenbaum will introduce other midrashic materials as time permits.

Thursdays   

12:00 – 1:30pm
ASL 
Deborah Fink                                   

2:00 – 4:00 
Talmud: Ben Sorer U’Moreh & Intro Gittin
Rabbi Vaisrub

This course begins with a focus on the 8th chapter of Sanhedrin, Ben Sorer U’Moreh which discusses the rabbinic treatment of the biblical “wayward and rebellious son” who is, according to Torah, to be put to death. We will look at the Rabbis’ reframing of this biblical concept as a core model of halachic change, and a way in to the Rabbis’ perspective on the Torah, in general, and problematic commandments, in particular.

Time permitting, Rabbi Vaisrub’s class will begin an introduction to the Laws of Divorce focusing on Gittin 90a/b. Discussion will begin with a history of divorce as it appears in the Hebrew Bible, and continue with the Rabbis’ development of the intricate laws of divorce, including the grounds for divorce as well as the procedures for divorce.

Sundays 

12 noon – 1:30pm                                          
Chassidic Teachings & Meditations
Rabbi Goldhamer

Rabbi Dr. Douglas Goldhamer will be teaching and sharing theory and meditations, some in Hebrew and others in English. Students will learn Kabbalah and the early Chasidic masters, their ideas and their meditative activities.

1:30 – 3:00pm 
Zohar – Petachat Eliyahu from the Tikkuney HaZohar (17b)
Rahmiel Hayyim Drizin