Last year, we began an exploration of Jewish life and Jewish practice. This exploration was guided by the concept of Mitzvah in all its multiple meanings.

In the second year of this curriculum, we will consolidate and build on that work. The guiding questions of this course have to do with the relationship between study and practice.  Rabbi Akiba and his peers at Lod debated: “What takes precedence, study or practice?” We will ask, what is necessary to make the leap from abstract to concrete, from theology to action?  What is the connection between belief and how we live our lives?

Under what conditions does study leads to practice? What is needed to get started? What makes individual transformation happen? How can a community support a process of transformation?