Elul offers us a moment to reflect on where we are in our relationships and to try to make amends in the relationships in which we are feeling stuck. In this session, we'll begin by studying several key verses from the book of Job, using Job and God’s relationship as a window into our own. Then we’ll turn to a modern feminist midrash—an interpretation of those verses—that explores the ways in which we find ourselves stuck in particular relationships or in our lives in general, caught up listening to a certain harmful voice that holds us back. With God as our model, we’ll use these texts as an opportunity to reflect on our own relationships.

As the High Holidays draw near, we return to the image of the Book of Life—our names inscribed, our destinies recorded. But what does this “book” actually look like? From sapphire tablets to parchment scrolls, we’ll explore how Jewish book arts across the ages have shaped (and reshaped) this powerful symbol.

Candlesticks, kiddush cups, and challah covers are the familiar stars of the Shabbat table—but their forms, materials, and meanings have shifted across centuries and continents. In this class, we’ll trace their evolution from ancient traditions to modern designs, exploring how they reflect the values, aesthetics, and spiritual life of each era. Together, we’ll consider the stories our own ritual objects tell and how they shape our Shabbat practice today. 

In the wake of the 1492 expulsion, Sephardic Jews carried their sacred texts into exile—along with the language of their former home. This class explores the Ferrara Bible, a landmark translation from Hebrew into Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) that transformed the Bible from a courtly Spanish text into one for a dispersed, Ladino-speaking Jewish world. Together, we’ll consider how translation bridged loss and continuity, exile and tradition.

We start the Jewish year with honey cake and family dinners. But what about the very last meal - the one that's served at the End of Days? From the Talmud to modern speculative fiction, Jewish sources imagine the world's end as a dinner party, with wondrous beasts as the main course. What might we learn from a vision of eternity that begins with sharing a meal? Come explore Jewish visions of the ultimate feast as our year begins to conclude!

Did you know the Talmud calls dreams 1/60 of prophecy? In Torah, we meet dreamers who receive blessing and prophetic insight through dreams. In Kabbalah, dreams are considered to be journeys of the soul. We'll explore these texts together, as well as how we might connect more with our dreams in an intentional way. This class will be a mix of practice & study and is open to all.

Abraham Rathom and M. Mani were two Jewish composers working in Amsterdam in the 18th century. Although their music has been preserved in manuscripts, we know next to nothing about their lives. Come to experience this music, some of which probably has not been performed in over a century, with a historically informed ensemble of local singers and instrumentalists.

What happens when desire, power, and vulnerability collide in a rabbinic story? In this class, we’ll dive into the provocative tale of “Libertina” (Heruta) and Rabbi Hiyya from the Babylonian Talmud (Kiddushin 81b) with the help of Ruth Calderon's interpretation in A Bride for One Night, and draw on the insights of modern sex and couples therapist Esther Perel to explore questions of intimacy, control, and moral self-image.

What would a truly just and livable Jewish city look like? In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore that question by engaging with traditional Jewish texts—from discussions of city planning to halachic principles about fairness, access, and communal responsibility—and applying them to the urgent challenges facing our communities today.

As the summer winds down and we prepare literal or proverbial backpacks, what does Jewish tradition offer us at this threshold of new beginnings? Whether or not you or someone you love is going back to school, this interactive, text-based session, is for you to explore how Jewish wisdom—from ancient to modern voices—can help anyone approach the year with intention, meaning, and heart.

What is a "queer reading" of a text, anyway? Can you do a queer reading of Jewish texts, like...the Torah? (Spoiler alert: yes-- and there are many reasons you might!) In this interactive workshop, we will explore the whys and hows of different strategies for learning Torah through an LGBTQ+ lens.

In 701 BCE, A massive Assyrian army, led by King Sennacherib, faced off against the city of Jerusalem, ruled by King Hezekiah. This pivotal moment, described in Isaiah 36 and 2Kings 18, led to a lot of changes in Jewish culture. An important one of these changes was in the role of prophet, and who prophets talked to. Prophets began as royal advisors, but now they began to address the common people. How did this happen? What’s the connection? Who won the battle, anyway? We’ll look at these questions and more. All texts will be provided in English.

Join us for a heartfelt musical journey through the timeless songs of Arik Einstein, one of Israel’s most beloved and iconic artists. Known as “the voice of Israel”, Arik’s music shaped the cultural landscape of a nation—capturing joy, nostalgia, love, and the quiet beauty of everyday life. Whether you grew up on his gentle melodies or are discovering them for the first time, this evening is a chance to experience the soul of Israeli music through classic hits, personal stories, and lyrical moments that transcend language.

Since October 7, tensions on college campuses have raised urgent questions about the rights of Jews, Israelis, and Zionists in academic spaces. This class explores how U.S. law addresses these complex issues—and invites participants to “think like a lawyer” to better understand the legal landscape.

Most people know Martin Buber as a philosopher, theologian, or folklorist—but fewer know he also wrote a play. In Elijah: A Mystery Play (1956), Buber offers a dramatic retelling of the prophet Elijah’s story—one that’s often dismissed as an oddity from his later years. But Buber’s lifelong fascination with both Elijah and the theater suggests there’s more here than meets the eye. In this class, we’ll explore why Buber turned to drama, why Elijah so captivated him, and what new insights emerge when we read parts of the play together.

Since its thunderous arrival on Broadway in 1993, Tony Kushner’s seven-hour epic Angels in America has received worldwide acclaim for its progressive political vision and loving-but-conflicted portrait of Jewish-American ethnic identity. This three-part class will focus on a less-discussed but equally central element of the play: Kushner’s persistent usage of Jewish religious imagery to structure its action and meaning. As we delve together into scenes (and watch famous clips of them in performance) where such concepts are on display, students will be invited to see Angels as a work of surprising theological heft and Kushner himself as a formidable spiritual thinker.

In the third session, we’ll look closely at Prior’s hallucination in the nurse’s office (Act III, Scene 2), Harper’s Antarctic escape (Act III, Scene 3), and the Angel’s final words, all of which Kushner inflects with inventive Jewish mystical imagery.

Opening the day with mindfulness can change everything, helping us live our lives with more clarity, kindness, and ease. Join us Friday mornings as we open our doors early and practice together.

The title of the parasha “eikev” (“consequence” or “reward”) has multiple definitions and somewhat ambiguous meaning. It also bears striking resemblance to the name of our ancestor, Yaakov/Jacob. In this class, we will explore the first verse of this week’s parasha in relation to the story of Yaakov’s name change. In our exploration, we will develop a deeper understanding of the theme of actions and their consequences and what is being asked of us when the Torah instructs us to “follow G-d’s laws.” No prior experience needed!

Advancements in reproductive medicine—like egg donation, sperm donation, and gestational surrogacy—have made it possible to build families in once-unimaginable ways. But these technologies raise complex halachic questions, especially around the Jewish status of children born through third-party reproduction. This class explores how rabbinic authorities navigate these challenges using key Talmudic texts and halachic principles.

What if the most powerful legacy isn’t what we own, but what we write down? In this class, we’ll dive into the extraordinary memoirs of Glikl bas Leib—a 17th-century Jewish woman, mother, and business leader—who poured her life, losses, and hopes into seven “little books” meant for her children. While we live In an age where so much data and information is preserved for posterity, Glikl’s memoirs prompt us all to consider which stories and ideas and values we want to transmit intentionally to future generations.

How might your Jewish ancestry be shaping the way you’re reacting to this moment? In this supportive workshop, we’ll explore the impact of October 7th, rising antisemitism, and inherited trauma—and begin to reconnect with our bodies as a source of grounding, clarity, and resilience.

Since its thunderous arrival on Broadway in 1993, Tony Kushner’s seven-hour epic Angels in America has received worldwide acclaim for its progressive political vision and loving-but-conflicted portrait of Jewish-American ethnic identity. This three-part class will focus on a less-discussed but equally central element of the play: Kushner’s persistent usage of Jewish religious imagery to structure its action and meaning.

In the second session, we’ll examine Louis and Prior’s complex bedroom discussion of justice, God, and the Afterlife in Act I, Scene 8. How is Kushner both celebrating Talmudic modes of study here and showing their limits? Is Louis’s contention that “Justice is God” Jewishly-informed and theologically profound, or just a way, as Prior says, to “get off scot-free?”

Opening the day with mindfulness can change everything, helping us live our lives with more clarity, kindness, and ease. Join us Friday mornings as we open our doors early and practice together.

Parshat Ve’etchanan contains some of the most iconic passages in the Torah—including Moses’ retelling of the Ten Commandments and the Shema. As Moses continues his final address to the Israelites, he revisits earlier moments with new urgency and emotion, inviting us to hear the familiar in a different key. And yet, for all its poetry, the parsha delivers precious little new information. What do we do with passages of Torah that loop back in on themselves? What can we glean when we feel we already know what is going on? How can the familiar surprise us? We will discuss these questions while looking in depth at the first few aliyot of the parsha. No prior experience needed!

The Sefat Emet—Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, a 19th-century Hasidic master—often wove together mystical and midrashic (interpretive) traditions to uncover the sensory, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of Torah. In this class, we’ll explore the Sefat Emet’s evocative claim that “every creature can sense the fragrance of Torah.” Feel free to bring a favorite fragrant spice, flower, or perfume. This class aims to be accessible to all learners, regardless of background or prior knowledge!

Join two local Jewish farmers, Anna and Noah, as they share their journey cultivating the ancient Quishuim (cucumber melon), a fruit once grown by Mizrahi Jewish communities and now revived through the Jewish Seed Project. Through text study, reflection, and hands-on interaction with plants and fruits, they will facilitate an open space for exploring this question. Come ready to taste new fruits, new ideas and new connections.

How do Jewish women respond to and shape their traditions through text? Drawing from a variety of poems composed by Jewish women in the 20th and 21st centuries, we will explore the Torah of Jewish women's lived experiences in their own words. This event is supported by the Jewish Women's Archive.

Herbal tea has long been a beloved source of nourishment, healing, and spiritual grounding in Jewish communities around the world. In this class, we’ll explore traditional Jewish teas and the rituals, remedies, and Psalms that have accompanied them—from digestion aids to protective brews. Come steep yourself in the wisdom of Jewish herbal practice.

Join the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center (JHC) at Lehrhaus to celebrate Tu B’Av, the ancient Jewish holiday of love, connection, and new beginnings. Join us any time between 7 and 9 p.m. for crafting, but come by 7 p.m. to learn more about Tu B’Av and the role of archives in recording and celebrating special moments in the Jewish calendar.

Join Abby Schiff for a discussion of the Jewish influences on Cambridge's own famed songwriter and social satirist Tom Lehrer, who sadly passed away at age 97 in July 2025. The dry, biting humor found in his wickedly clever songs from the 1950s and 1960s has both been influenced by and has influenced musicians and comedians alike. While he has said that his Jewish upbringing has "more to do with the delicatessen than the synagogue", Jewish culture infuses his work. No knowledge of Judaism or Tom Lehrer is necessary for this class!