New Jewish Learning Institute Talmud course has Louisiana roots

While hundreds of Chabad Houses around the world will be teaching the newest Jewish Learning Institute class, “Decoding the Talmud,” it has extra significance around here.

Rabbi Yochanan Rivkin, of Tulane Chabad Grads and Anshe Sfard in New Orleans, was the lead writer for the new six-week course, which will be available in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Birmingham and Pensacola starting in late January or early February.

There are usually three JLI courses over each year. Rivkin said the JLI team consists of nearly 50 editors, graphic designers, video producers and copywriters. Each course has an associated textbook.

He spent nearly 500 hours working on the curriculum, which he said was a labor of love. “I have always had a passion for the Talmud — an amazing text that forms the backbone of Jewish intellectual and religious culture — and it was a great pleasure to research and write about this fascinating set of books.”

The course is a combination of Jewish history, theology, law and scholarship. “Everyone has heard of the Talmud, but, unless you have actually studied it, you don’t know what it is. And even if you have studied Talmud, this course will give you tremendous insight into its content, the way it was composed, and why we should study it,” he said.

There is an increased fascination with the Talmud, for better and worse — with the rise in antisemitism worldwide, there are people who go online claiming to have “read the Talmud” and listing quotes that are either wildly out of context or nonexistent to “prove” Jewish evil, demonstrating that they have no idea what the Talmud actually is.

The course starts with the question of what Jewish law is, with the written Torah and the oral law that was eventually codified in the Talmud, and how learning became central to Jewish practice.

The next class introduces the Mishnah, Judaism’s first legal code and the first attempt to write down oral law. It will introduce the Mishnah’s writing style and tolerance for debate. The third class is about how the sages debated and understood the Mishnah, with the fourth class moving to how those explanations became the Talmud, with the debates woven in with stories and ethical teachings.

The fifth class is about the Talmud’s mode of logic and legal reasoning, fueling deeper learning. The final class details how the Talmud became the center of Jewish law, and the impetus for a library of additional literature over the past 15 centuries.

Classes in the area

Chabad of Pensacola will offer the class on Tuesdays at 7 p.m., starting Jan. 28, or Wednesdays at 11 a.m., starting Jan. 29. Registration is $89, $139 for couples.

In Birmingham, the class is offered on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. starting Feb. 5, or Thursdays at 1 p.m. starting Feb. 6. Registration is $99, $149 for couples, and the class will also be available virtually.

In Baton Rouge, there will be two options: In person on Mondays at 11 a.m. starting Feb. 3, at the library at Goodwood, or on Zoom, Mondays at 7 p.m. Registration is $98, with a 10 percent discount for returning students and couples.

At the Uptown Chabad in New Orleans, the class will be taught by Rivkin’s brother, Rabbi Mendel Rivkin, on Wednesdays at 7 p.m., starting Jan. 29. Registration is $89, with a 10 percent discount for couples and returning students.

Rabbi Mendel Ceitlin will teach the course at the Metairie Chabad, Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. or 7:30 p.m., starting on Feb. 4, but skipping the week of Mardi Gras. An online option is available. A free standalone class will be offered on Feb. 4, with a brunch or dinner. Course registration is $89, with a 20 percent discount for couples or returning students.