Text-based study enhances Torah study skills
Developed specifically for online, in-depth learning
Taught by scholars with a personal interest in the subject
Engaging topics made relevant to real life issues
About the Course
Let’s talk about the Torahs. You read that right; we received two Torahs from G-d at Sinai, the written law and the oral law. They were given together because one can not be understood or interpreted without the other. In this course, we will breakdown the origins and meaning of both the oral and written traditions of Torah, how they’ve been passed down for centuries, and how our rabbis and sages have passed rulings based on these G-d given laws for over 3,000 years.
Course syllabus
Two Torahs? Who knew. Well, now you do. That’s right; the five books of Moses came complete with a second oral Torah that’s been passed down from generation to generation. These unwritten laws were not human-made. Rather, they came directly from G-d himself, and they dictate how the written Torah should be interpreted. In this class, we’ll learn how they were given to us, why we need them, what they include, and why they’re so vital to everyday Jewish life.
Ready? Let’s learn.
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Lab-grown meat? Designer babies? Fully autonomous vehicles? Our world today certainly is different than the world our forefathers inhabited when they received the Torah in the desert so many years ago. So, how do we keep Torah relevant in an ever-changing world? In this class, we’ll discuss Torahs elasticity, the 13 principles of derivation that guide us, and how we have the power to combine heaven and earth.
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Did you know that lighting candles on Friday night, setting the seder plate on Pesach, reading the megillah on Purim, and lighting the menorah on Hanukkah are all rabbinic enactments? That may seem surprising, but think about it, can you remember learning about any of those
practices in the five books of Moses? Of course not, because it’s not there. In this class, we’ll discuss who gave our sages and Rabbis the power and authority to legislate and enact laws, and under what circumstances. Buckle up, because we’ve got the whats, whens, and whys of rabbinic legislation coming right up!
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In our fourth and final class, we’ll shed light on the importance of Jewish customs and practices. We’ll travel through the ages and see for ourselves just how much weight they carry compared to actual Halacha (Jewish law), and the three criteria that a custom needs to meet to be accepted and adopted by Jewry as a whole. Let’s dive in.
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Level: Intermediate -
Length/Effort:4 weeks / 45 min. per week
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Category: Philosophy
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Institution: Chabad.org/Chabad of Long Island
Meet the Instructor
Rabbi Ari Sollish, a noted author and lecturer, is the founder and director of The Torah Center of Atlanta.