November 4, 2005

Dear chevra,

Opening the vast treasure of Jewish spiritual riches takes time, attention and care. It comes with learning from our tradition’s many sources. This kind of learning requires effort and devotion. So often, we only scratch the surface. When we go deeper, the reward is abundant.

Ahavat Olam’s learning community will begin a new class this coming Monday evening, be-ezrat ha-Shem.* Throughout the entire past year, a lovely group of us met nearly every week and learned highlights of the weekly parshah** along with foundational knowledge of Hebrew, Jewish religious practices and concepts and much more. In the course of a year, we merited the privilege of going through the entire Torah. Now, in the next seven weeks, we plan to explore highlights of the two books of the Bible which follow the Torah – Joshua and Judges. We’ll also delve into highlights of the prayerbook and insights offered through kabbalah from various sources.

My goals are

● to open the riches of our tradition to everyone who is interested,
● to help everyone acquire the tools of knowledge for their own further exploration and growth, ● to share our own ideas, inspirations, questions and directions for growth,
● to build community among us who aspire to learn, pray and act together and, ultimately,
● to contribute to tikkun olam, the mending of this world.

The class is planned for seven Monday evenings, 7:30 –9:00, at my home at 2644 Manitoba Street, beginning November 7. No prior knowledge is needed; everyone is welcomed to join. There is no charge for the class, but I would appreciate a voluntary donation of either time or money to Ahavat Olam from non-members.

Each class will begin with some learning from the siddur*** to build everyone’s familiarity and fluency with the forms of davvening**** that we share on Shabbat mornings. The rest of each class will explore several passages from the books of Joshua and Judges. To get the most out of the experience, it will really help to read the passages in advance and think about what in them attracts you to explore and learn more. See below for the plan for each session.  

Joshua is considered to be a prophet. He was the devoted protégé of Moshe and led the people for a generation after Moshe’s death, taking them across the Jordan with miraculous manifestations just as Moshe led the people across the Reed Sea forty years before. In my opinion, very briefly, Sefer Yehoshu’a — the Book of Joshua — is a highly idealized account of the conquest and settlement of the Land of Canaan by the twelve tribes of Israel .

Sefer Shoftim — the Book of Judges — stands in great contrast to Sefer Yehoshu’a and seems to me to be more historically realistic. The shoftim (judges) were individual charismatic leaders who arose at times of great stress and conflict to accomplish specific needs, usually military defense of the tribes of Israel against invasions of neighbouring peoples. Most of the individual shoftim were themselves quite limited and incomplete human beings, such as Samson. Very few, such as Deborah, are presented in the Bible as true models of righteousness and wisdom. Learning these two books sets the stage for the Book of Samuel, a great narrative which tells of an entire paradigm shift in the life and culture of the People of Israel and lays the foundation for all our subsequent history.

If you’d like to join the class, please come on Monday night. I’d love to know in advance if you plan to come just so I can plan realistically for who and how many will be with us. Please forward this to anyone you think would be interested. I’m really excited about this next stage of our learning together.

B’Shalom,
David

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