The Jewish Learning Fellowship (JLF) is a 10-week experiential, conversational seminar for students looking to deepen their understanding of Judaism on their own terms. We’re interested in asking big questions. You know, the big stuff — like Who am I? What communities am I a part of? What is worth committing myself to, and why? And we don’t purport to have any of the big answers...certainly not for anyone else.
We make no claims about the “right” way to practice or not to practice Judaism. Our job is to help you explore the tradition in a safe space and find your own place, on your terms, in Judaism’s Great Conversation.
Our Vision
By the end of 10 weeks, we want fellows to feel like they have:
1. Jewish friends. Let’s be real: Jewish life doesn’t happen by yourself in your dorm room or apartment. It happens with other people. We want you to feel like you have a bigger Jewish social network at the end of JLF.
2. a Jewish community. We want you to feel a part of something bigger than yourself, and we want you to feel like you have a community after JLF, if you want one. What we’re saying is, we’re going to invite you to get coffee.
3. ...learned something interesting. The wisdom found in Jewish texts, both ancient and contemporary, can be surprising, complicated, delightful, weird, mysterious, perplexing, and FUN. We’ll read these texts broadly and generously in JLF, and we'll count on fellows adding their unique voices and perspectives into our conversations.
Sign up for Spring 2021 here:
Our classes include:
Life's Big Questions
You're in college. So, you're an adult now, right? Feel like you should have all the answers? This 10-week conversational fellowship brings together a group of students trying to figure out how to be adults, and what place Jewishness has in all this. We'll ask and answer questions like, How do I make friends? What can I expect in a sexual relationship? How can I cope with conflict? What do I actually believe in? As in, Who do I want to become?
Sex Love and Romance: Towards a Post-modern Jewish Sexual Ethic
For many of us, sexuality and intimacy are some of the issues that matter most, but around which we receive the least guidance. This seminar will explore the ethics of gender, sexuality and intimacy in the Jewish tradition. The richness of this conversation has analogues in countless other topics and themes of human experience. We hope to explore the ideas of gender, sexuality, intimacy and sexual ethics in a broad range of sources in Jewish thought. This semester, we will aim to explore sexual ethics and the ever-elusive notion of intimacy in a way that honors our minds and bodies and respects our position as modern, thoughtful adults. Our approach is open-minded and non-judgmental.
Pursuing Justice in the Jewish Tradition
How might Jewish tradition refract an ethos for the kind of commitments we want to make and the actions we want to take to improve our shared society? For whom are we responsible? What do we need to know about ethics, power, and action before we make those decisions? To address these enduring questions, we will look to classical and contemporary Jewish wisdom, to see what it might offer us as we work toward creating a more just world.
Judaism as Art a Search for Congruity
Can Jewish spiritual practice be understood as a kind of art? How can the artistic process illuminate Jewish living? To address these questions, we will look at some of the themes that have occupied modern art production and consumption, in particular — the presence or absence of the author; the possibility of creations going out of control; the tension between discipline and creative spontaneity in art production, and the poetics of darkness and light. It is our hope by showcasing some of the common themes between classical Jewish texts and modern art that we might begin to imagine a new intersection between Judaism and art. No prior experience in art production necessary, though personal experience is welcome. Open to undergraduates who have not previously participated in JLF.
Apply Here
Questions? Email Rav Jonah
We make no claims about the “right” way to practice or not to practice Judaism. Our job is to help you explore the tradition in a safe space and find your own place, on your terms, in Judaism’s Great Conversation.
Our Vision
By the end of 10 weeks, we want fellows to feel like they have:
1. Jewish friends. Let’s be real: Jewish life doesn’t happen by yourself in your dorm room or apartment. It happens with other people. We want you to feel like you have a bigger Jewish social network at the end of JLF.
2. a Jewish community. We want you to feel a part of something bigger than yourself, and we want you to feel like you have a community after JLF, if you want one. What we’re saying is, we’re going to invite you to get coffee.
3. ...learned something interesting. The wisdom found in Jewish texts, both ancient and contemporary, can be surprising, complicated, delightful, weird, mysterious, perplexing, and FUN. We’ll read these texts broadly and generously in JLF, and we'll count on fellows adding their unique voices and perspectives into our conversations.
Sign up for Spring 2021 here:
Our classes include:
Life's Big Questions
You're in college. So, you're an adult now, right? Feel like you should have all the answers? This 10-week conversational fellowship brings together a group of students trying to figure out how to be adults, and what place Jewishness has in all this. We'll ask and answer questions like, How do I make friends? What can I expect in a sexual relationship? How can I cope with conflict? What do I actually believe in? As in, Who do I want to become?
Sex Love and Romance: Towards a Post-modern Jewish Sexual Ethic
For many of us, sexuality and intimacy are some of the issues that matter most, but around which we receive the least guidance. This seminar will explore the ethics of gender, sexuality and intimacy in the Jewish tradition. The richness of this conversation has analogues in countless other topics and themes of human experience. We hope to explore the ideas of gender, sexuality, intimacy and sexual ethics in a broad range of sources in Jewish thought. This semester, we will aim to explore sexual ethics and the ever-elusive notion of intimacy in a way that honors our minds and bodies and respects our position as modern, thoughtful adults. Our approach is open-minded and non-judgmental.
Pursuing Justice in the Jewish Tradition
How might Jewish tradition refract an ethos for the kind of commitments we want to make and the actions we want to take to improve our shared society? For whom are we responsible? What do we need to know about ethics, power, and action before we make those decisions? To address these enduring questions, we will look to classical and contemporary Jewish wisdom, to see what it might offer us as we work toward creating a more just world.
Judaism as Art a Search for Congruity
Can Jewish spiritual practice be understood as a kind of art? How can the artistic process illuminate Jewish living? To address these questions, we will look at some of the themes that have occupied modern art production and consumption, in particular — the presence or absence of the author; the possibility of creations going out of control; the tension between discipline and creative spontaneity in art production, and the poetics of darkness and light. It is our hope by showcasing some of the common themes between classical Jewish texts and modern art that we might begin to imagine a new intersection between Judaism and art. No prior experience in art production necessary, though personal experience is welcome. Open to undergraduates who have not previously participated in JLF.
Apply Here
Questions? Email Rav Jonah
