This course is for students in the Online Judaic Studies Consortium (OJSC). If you are not an OJSC student but are interested in taking this course, please contact Lisa Micley at
[email protected] to discuss your options.
How do legal authorities craft an ethical and functional justice system that addresses the needs of all members of society? What is the most just and ethical way to balance the rights of both the injurer and the injured? How is the authority to decide these questions portrayed and understood in Rabbinic literature? And, perhaps most importantly: How can learning Gemara impact our lives as Jews? These questions and more will be addressed in our study of the eighth chapter of Bava Kamma. This class will focus on cultivating the ability to analyze the text of the Gemara, while also incorporating excerpts from some of the classical commentaries.
This course was developed by Sara Wolkenfeld. Wolkenfeld is Director of Education at Sefaria, a digital library and new interface for Jewish texts, and also teaches Talmud at Ida Crown Jewish Academy. She has previously worked as Director of Education at the Center for Jewish Life - Hillel at Princeton University, where she and her husband David served as the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus Jewish educators. During the summers, Wolkenfeld teaches at the Drisha Institute in New York City and she lectures on various Jewish topics on campuses and in synagogues. She holds a BA in Judaica and Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, and has studied Talmud and Jewish Law at Midreshet Lindenbaum, Drisha, Pardes, Nishmat, Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel School, and Beit Morashah. Wolkenfeld lives in Chicago with her husband and their four children.
This advanced level Talmud course is for students in grades 11 or 12. If you are interested in enrolling a grade 10 student in this course, please contact Lisa Micley at
[email protected] for approval.