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Courses
Discussion
Welcome
Welcome to Kolel's course: Zohar: Eating from the Tree of Life,
developed by Justin Lewis.
The course map below provides an outline for the course that you
can use to navigate through the course.
FOR EASY NAVIGATION, PLEASE BOOKMARK THIS PAGE.
Introduction
This course is an introduction to study of the Zohar from a liberal Jewish perspective. It includes a substantial introduction to Zohar study and seven translated texts with commentary, as well as recommendations for further reading. Students are invited to begin with either the introduction or the texts, and to move back and forth between them. To participate in the 'bulletin board' for comments and discussion you must register. Please feel free to ask questions and make comments at any time. There will be a sincere attempt to seriously answer all questions.
Please register if you would like to participate in the moderated forum.
Course Outline
- Introduction
- What the Zohar Is
- A Liberal Perspective
How to Study Zohar
Kabbalah and the Zohar
Crash Course in Kabbalah: Secrets; Sefirot
Images of God
Unity and Plurality
Reclaiming Christian Images
The Self and the Other
Feminine and Masculine
The Zohar as a Resource and Model
- Translated Texts
- Session One
- The Rose (opening passage of the Zohar: the Shekhinah as a rose receiving
divine light)- Session Two
- Trees of the Garden (mystical meaning of the sin of Adam and Eve)
- Session Three
- Jacob and Esau (connectedness of good and evil)
- Session Four
- Wisdom of Solomon (terrifying imagery of the Shekhinah)
- Hear O Israel (interpretation of the Shema as including plurality)
- Session Six
- "Making God" (how we "make God" through mitzvot)
- Session Seven
- Gazelle of the Dawn (the travails of the Shekhinah in caring for the world)
- Session Eight
- Resources & Reading list
Course Instructor
Justin Jaron Lewis is rabbi of Congregation Iyr Ha-Melech of Kingston, Ontario (Reform) and the on-line teacher of "Tastiest Torah Treats" at Kolel. He was ordained in May 2001 by the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York City, the only post-denominational rabbinical school, and writing a PhD thesis at the University of Toronto on Hasidic stories. Justin has published articles on topics in Judaism and storytelling, and has taught Torah and told Jewish stories across North America, from Cape Breton to Whitehorse. He has been studying and teaching Zohar for years, and identifies with the saying of the Hasidic Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz, "The Zohar has kept me Jewish." In addition to this online Zohar module, Justin is also the teacher of Kolel's Survey of Jewish Texts: Tastiest Torah Treats!