Make Torah learning part of your busy schedule.
Join Nishmat’s online learning community
from anywhere in the world.
Join women of all ages for inspiring and meaningful Torah-study and an opportunity to hone your text skills.
Nishmat offers weekly classes, holiday Yemei Iyun, a Winter Seminar and a Summer Program for English-speakers.
SUNDAY
9:00-11:00 ET/
16:00-18:00 Israel Time
Introduction to Talmud
Rachel Seidenberg
Aug. 29, 2021-Jan 30, 2022
This class will serve as an introduction to the world of Talmud. We will explore concepts of the Oral Law throughout the class, including development and relevancy of the Oral Law, relationship to the written Law and fundamental principles of the Oral Law. We will be studying topics in prayer from the tractate Brachot, with both guided Chavruta time as well as lecture time for understanding and analysis of the text. There will be an emphasis on tools for understanding of the text, terminology and structure of both the Mishna and the Gemara.
Fee: NIS 1440/$415
9:00-11:00 ET/
16:00-18:00 Israel Time
Intermediate Talmud
Rav Hanan Schlesinger
Aug. 29, 2021-Jan 30, 2022
Murder, Manslaughter and Everything In-between
This class will study the ninth chapter of Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin beginning from the second Mishnah on page 76b. The fascinating and illuminating material found there deals primarily with various gradations of indirect homicide, establishing the connection between a violent act and the death of the victim, intentionality, and the options available to the courts for the punishment of homicide.
The two-hour Zoom sessions will be divided between hevruta study of the texts on the one hand, and on the other hand, frontal presentation and class discussion. The frontal presentations will deal both with the skills of critical textual analysis and with the philosophical and theological issues suggested by the texts.
Fee: NIS 1440/$415
18:45-20:45 Israel Time
Rav Chaim Tabasky
Aug 29, 2021-Jan 30, 2022
Masechet Bava Metzia – Third Perek
Masechet Bava Metzia – Third Perek
Focusing on the laws of shomrim – trustees of property.
This perek contains many sugyot that are basic to understanding the halachot of ownership, contracts and jurisprudence
This course is constantly concerned with the development and understanding of the Talmudic sugya, with an emphasis on increasing capacity for independent study. We also access a number of commentaries from the rishonim and poskim to gain a better picture of the complexity of the Talmudic approach and the possibilities of interpretation.
Some background in Talmud study is important, as well as “street knowledge” about halachic topics, and ability to read Hebrew texts (Tanach, Rambam) independently. However, every sugya in gemara is a new world, and no knowledge of the particular subject we are studying will be assumed.
Fee: NIS 1440/$415
MONDAY
20:15-21:15 Israel Time
Halacha
Rav Da’vid Sperling
Halachot of Shmitah
(Elul Zman)
Hilchot Shabbat
Fall Session:
Aug 30-Dec 27, 2021
Winter Session:
Jan 3-Apr 4, 2022
Spring Session:
May 2-June 20, 2022
Rav Sperling will be teaching Hilchot Shabbat from the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brurah, with an emphasis on acquiring both textual and halachic process skills. Students will learn practical Hilchot Shabbat through the “halachic language” and concepts in the text, which will help deepen their understanding and appreciation for halacha. The class is designed for both those students who have opened the Mishna Brurah in the past, as well as those who want to “learn how to learn”. (Special attention will be given to help every student acquire the ability to read and translate the source texts).
Students are asked to have a Mishna Brurah on Hilchot Shabbat (volume three) at hand during class.
Before the chagim, Rav Sperling will be teaching halachot pertaining to Shmitah.
| Fee: | ||
| Fall Session | NIS 390/$115 | |
| Winter Session | NIS 420/$120 | |
| Spring Session | NIS 210/$60 |
TUESDAY
9:00-11:30 Israel Time
Parshanut Hamikra: * Understanding how Bible Commentary Works
Simi Peters
Parshanut Hamikra
Fall Session:
Aug 24-Dec 28, 2021
Winter Session:
Jan 4-Apr 5, 2022
Spring Session:
Apr 26-June 4, 2022
In this course, we will explore the minds of the great Bible commentators, starting with Rashi, to understand not only what they say, but why. The goal of the course is to make ourselves better readers of Tanakh, with a heightened appreciation for the methodology of the parshanim.
| Fee: | ||
| Fall Session | NIS 825 | |
| Winter Session | NIS 777 | |
| Spring Session | NIS 440 |
11:45-12:45 Israel Time
Halacha*
Rav Da’vid Sperling
Halachot of Shmitah
(Elul Zman)
Hilchot Shabbat
Fall Session:
Aug 24-Dec 28, 2021 Tanach
Winter Session:
Jan 4-Apr 5, 2022
Spring Session:
Apr 26-June 4, 2022
Rav Sperling will be teaching Hilchot Shabbat from the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brurah, with an emphasis on acquiring both textual and halachic process skills. Students will learn practical Hilchot Shabbat through the “halachic language” and concepts in the text, which will help deepen their understanding and appreciation for halacha. The class is designed for both those students who have opened the Mishna Brurah in the past, as well as those who want to “learn how to learn”. (Special attention will be given to help every student acquire the ability to read and translate the source texts).
Students are asked to have a Mishna Brurah on Hilchot Shabbat (volume three) at hand during class.
Before the chagim, Rav Sperling will be teaching halachot pertaining to Shmitah.
| Fee: | ||
| Fall Session | NIS 450 | |
| Winter Session | NIS 420 | |
| Spring Session | NIS 240 |
20:00-21:00 Israel Time
13:00-14:00 ET
Simi Peters
Fall Session:
Aug 24-Dec 28, 2021
Winter Session:
Jan 4-Apr 5, 2022
Spring Session:
Apr 26-June 4, 2022
In this course, we will analyze a range of midrashic sources with the goal of :giving participants practical skills for independent midrash study. We will also address questions such as: What is Midrash? What does it tell us about the way Jews think? Does it subvert or support the biblical text?
| Fee: | ||
| Fall Session | NIS 450/$130 | |
| Winter Session | NIS 420/ $120 | |
| Spring Session | NIS 240/$70 |
WEDNESDAY
14:00-16:00 Israel Time
בין שופטים למלכים:
עיונים בספר שמואל
(in Hebrew)
Rav David Sabato
Aug 25, 2021-Jan 26, 2022
ספר שמואל מוקדש לאחת מהתקופות הסוערות בתולדות ישראל – ייסודה של המלוכה. בשיעור נלמד את חלקו הראשון המתאר את המעבר בין תקופת השופטים לתקופת המלוכה. במהלך הלימוד נכיר את הדמויות המורכבות של המנהיגים ואת המתחים בין עולמם האישי, הדתי והפוליטי. נעמיק ברעיונות הדתיים והמוסריים העל זמניים המסתתרים בסיפוריו המופלאים
Fee: NIS 1080/$310
13:00-15:00 ET/
20:00-22:00 Israel Time
Rabbanit Neima Novetsky
Aug 25, 2021-Jan 26, 2022
The course will look at a selection of stories and mitzvot in Tanach which raise deep physiological and theological questions. “Hashem hardened Paroh’s heart” Do we always have free will or does Hashem sometimes push us in a certain direction, as He seems to have done with Paroh? What does the story suggest about the opportunities for teshuva; are the gates of teshuva always open, or sometimes, can Hashem lock them? What was Hashem’s original plan for mankind? What might the story of the sin in Gan Eden suggest? Tanach is filled with cases of collective punishment and Hashem himself says that he “visits the sins of the parent on the children”. Why, though, is that just? Did Hashem mean for the Torah to present an ideal, or do its laws sometimes make concessions to human foibles? Why, for example, is slavery not banned? We will tackle these topics and more, exploring how biblical commentators and Jewish thinkers throughout the ages have struggled with and attempted to answer these questions
Fee: NIS 1080/$310
Teachers will be teaching new material at the start of each session/semester.
*This class will take place simultaneously at Nishmat and over Zoom.
SUNDAY
9:00-11:00 ET/
16:00-18:00 Israel Time
Intermediate Talmud
Rav Hanan Schlesinger
February 6-June 19, 2022
Murder, Manslaughter and Everything In-between
This class will study the ninth chapter of Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin beginning from the second Mishnah on page 76b. The fascinating and illuminating material found there deals primarily with various gradations of indirect homicide, establishing the connection between a violent act and the death of the victim, intentionality, and the options available to the courts for the punishment of homicide.
The two-hour Zoom sessions will be divided between hevruta study of the texts on the one hand, and on the other hand, frontal presentation and class discussion. The frontal presentations will deal both with the skills of critical textual analysis and with the philosophical and theological issues suggested by the texts.
NIS 1280/$365
18:45-20:45 Israel Time
Rav Chaim Tabasky
February 6-June 19, 2022 Masechet Bava Metzia – Third Perek
Bava Matzia – Sixth perek – laws of contracted workers (craftsmen) – disputes in the workplace.
This course is constantly concerned with the development and understanding of the Talmudic sugya, with an emphasis on increasing capacity for independent study. We also access a number of commentaries from the rishonim and poskim to gain a better picture of the complexity of the Talmudic approach and the possibilities of interpretation.
Some background in Talmud study is important, as well as “street knowledge” about halachic topics, and ability to read Hebrew texts (Tanach, Rambam) independently. However, every sugya in gemara is a new world, and no knowledge of the particular subject we are studying will be assumed.
MONDAY
20:15-21:15 Israel Time
Halacha
Rav Da’vid Sperling
Hilchot Shabbat
Winter Session:
Jan 3-Apr 4, 2022
Spring Session:
May 2-June 20, 2022
Rav Sperling will be teaching Hilchot Shabbat from the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brurah, with an emphasis on acquiring both textual and halachic process skills. Students will learn practical Hilchot Shabbat through the “halachic language” and concepts in the text, which will help deepen their understanding and appreciation for halacha. The class is designed for both those students who have opened the Mishna Brurah in the past, as well as those who want to “learn how to learn”. (Special attention will be given to help every student acquire the ability to read and translate the source texts).
Students are asked to have a Mishna Brurah on Hilchot Shabbat (volume three) at hand during class.
Winter Session NIS 420/$120
Spring Session NIS 210/$60
TUESDAY
9:00-11:30 Israel Time
Parshanut Hamikra: * Understanding how Bible Commentary Works
Simi Peters
Parshanut Hamikra
Winter Session:
Jan 4-Apr 5, 2022
Spring Session:
Apr 26-June 4, 2022
In this course, we will explore the minds of the great Bible commentators, starting with Rashi, to understand not only what they say, but why. The goal of the course is to make ourselves better readers of Tanakh, with a heightened appreciation for the methodology of the parshanim.
Fee:
Winter Session NIS 770
Spring Session NIS 440
11:45-12:45 Israel Time
Halacha*
Rav Da’vid Sperling
Hilchot Shabbat
Winter Session:
Jan 4-Apr 5, 2022
Spring Session:
Apr 26-June 4, 2022
Rav Sperling will be teaching Hilchot Shabbat from the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brurah, with an emphasis on acquiring both textual and halachic process skills. Students will learn practical Hilchot Shabbat through the “halachic language” and concepts in the text, which will help deepen their understanding and appreciation for halacha. The class is designed for both those students who have opened the Mishna Brurah in the past, as well as those who want to “learn how to learn”. (Special attention will be given to help every student acquire the ability to read and translate the source texts).
Students are asked to have a Mishna Brurah on Hilchot Shabbat (volume three) at hand during class.
Before the chagim, Rav Sperling will be teaching halachot pertaining to Shmitah.
Fee:
Winter Session NIS 420
Spring Session NIS 240
20:00-21:00 Israel Time
13:00-14:00 ET
Simi Peters
Winter Session:
Jan 4-Apr 5, 2022
Spring Session:
Apr 26-June 4, 2022
In this course, we will analyze a range of midrashic sources with the goal of :giving participants practical skills for independent midrash study. We will also address questions such as: What is Midrash? What does it tell us about the way Jews think? Does it subvert or support the biblical text?
Winter Session NIS 420/ $120
Spring Session NIS 240/$70
WEDNESDAY
14:00-16:00 Israel Time
בין שופטים למלכים:
עיונים בספר שמואל
(in Hebrew)
Rav David Sabato
February 2-June 22, 2022
ספר שמואל מוקדש לאחת מהתקופות הסוערות בתולדות ישראל – ייסודה של המלוכה. בשיעור נלמד את חלקו הראשון המתאר את המעבר בין תקופת השופטים לתקופת המלוכה. במהלך הלימוד נכיר את הדמויות המורכבות של המנהיגים ואת המתחים בין עולמם האישי, הדתי והפוליטי. נעמיק ברעיונות הדתיים והמוסריים העל זמניים המסתתרים בסיפוריו המופלאים
Fee: 960/$275
Teachers will be teaching new material at the start of each session/semester.
*This class will take place simultaneously at Nishmat and over Zoom.
