When we say “the rabbis” who are we talking about? Rabbinic tradition is a large canon, and the Mishnah is the first work in this mass of literature. “The Rabbis” are often spoken about as an amorphous group of teachers throughout all of history, but they were real people with real lives, living through deeply challenging times. Through this series we will attempt to piece together stories, laws, and ethical positions of just a select few rabbis of the Mishnah in order to better understand our ancestors, our history, and how our leaders dealt with a moment of deep change for the Jewish people. No prior knowledge necessary! There will be an introduction to the Jewish textual canon and a historical context at the beginning of each class. This will be primarily a text study/discussion based class for adults.

This class is a hybrid series. Please try to attend as many as possible.