Enjoy Talmud study—for the novice and the seasoned—with the guidance of a teacher and in conversation with other students. Join one of our Talmud Circles in San Francisco, Palo Alto, or Marin-Berkeley, with teachers Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan, Prof. Deena Aranoff or Rabbi Dorothy Richman. Most circles meet once a month (although Lunchtime Talmud meets twice a month), either hybrid or on Zoom.

The Talmud Circles have been going for several years but NEW STUDENTS are warmly welcomed!

In the 2023-24 academic year (September–June) we’ll delve into new Talmud tractates.  We will use The Koren Talmud Bavli featuring the innovative design of Koren Publishers Jerusalem with the incomparable scholarship of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, and Hebrew with a side-by-side English translation.

Ready to jump in? Choose from the following Circles:

Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan: Lunchtime Community Talmud Circle (Zoom only)
Wednesdays: 10/4, 10/18, 11/1, 11/15, 11/29, 12/13, 12/27, 1/10, 1/24, 2/7, 2/21, 3/6, 3/20, 4/3, 4/17, 5/1, 5/15, 5/29 @ 12-1pm

Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan: San Francisco Community Talmud Circle (In Person or on Zoom)
Sunday mornings: 10/15, 11/19, 12/10, 1/21, 2/18, 3/17, 4/14, 5/19 and 6/9 @ 10am–12pm

Deena Aranoff & Rabbi Dorothy Richman: Berkeley/Marin Community Talmud Circle (In Person or on Zoom)
Sunday or Monday mornings: 10/16, 10/29, 11/13, 12/11, 1/7, 2/12, 3/11, 4/15, 5/20, 6/2 @ 10am–12pm

Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan: Palo Alto Community Talmud Circle (In Person or on Zoom)
Sunday mornings: 10/22, 11/12, 12/3, 1/28, 2/25, 3/10, 4/7, 5/5, 6/2 @ 10am–12pm

This year we begin a new tractate / masechet of the Talmud, Masechet Mo’ed Katan and Hagiga

Mo’ed means times (mo‘adim).  There is also an order/ seder of the Mishnah called Mo’ed, festival time, so the Talmudic tractate is called Mo’ed Katan.  It discusses holidays and days of mourning, which might seem strange, but Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz teaches that there are two clear connections.

Chol HaMoed, a Hebrew phrase meaning “regular days of the festival”, refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot.  Aveilut are the days set aside to remember and commemorate the life of the deceased and to console the bereaved.  Both are seven days and both mentioned briefly in the Torah without details explaining these days.  Rabbinic interpretation describes how the Jewish community conducts itself in these days, both the festive and the sad.  More on Hagiga later.

You can find the text and commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz in many ways: a PDF, a large version and a medium edition.

The PDF version
https://korenpub.com/products/vol-13-moed-katan-hagiga-pdf

The Large
https://korenpub.com/products/vol-13-moed-katan-hagiga

The Medium
https://korenpub.com/products/vol-13-moed-katan-hagiga-1

We hope you enjoy this year of learning.  If we do not see you in person before Sukkot, then, mo‘adim le-simchah “joyful holidays”; or in Yiddish a “guten móed.”

Questions about the Community Talmud Circles? Contact us at programs@newlehrhaus.org.

No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

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