Sign Up Here for Individual Series, or Become a Member and Save
Pre-register now for any individual series of online courses with Rabbi Fohrman (series prices are listed below). Or, save a bundle and become a member of our foundation (its $29.95 a quarter -- a savings of more than half-off). As a member, you'll be automatically registered for all Rabbi Fohrman's upcoming weekly classes. Plus, you'll get other goodies, like a 20% discount on tapes and CDs by Rabbi Fohrman from Jewish Explorations. And just for signing up, we'll send you a free electronic copy of the rabbi's new book on Cain and Abel.
To become a member, click on the "Paypal Subscribe" button below, and we'll get you started
Important: After signing up as a member through paypal, please click the "access your subscription" link at the bottom of the last signup page. This will allow you to give us your email address, so we can send you information about how to get into the classes, and get your other member benefits.]
We often don’t give that much thought to the Book of Esther. We pay attention to it for a week or two before Purim, mostly in connection with questions not much more profound than which one of its characters we’d like to dress up as this year. But just beneath the surface, lies a story within a story with profound implications for the way each of us lives our life and manages our relationships with those who count.
In this series, we will take a hard, pragmatic look at the tale that is told in the Book of Esther – asking ourselves how the story could have ended differently, and what it means to us that it in fact, does not end in these ways. Along the way, we will trace themes and threads that will take us back to the Books of Genesis, Numbers, Judges, and Samuel – and will find, quite astoundingly, that the Book of Esther represents a kind of culmination of all them. Join us for what promises to be a very exciting journey.
In a classic role reversal, the Book of Judges recounts a great battle in which two women led the military forces of Israel to victory. In this series, we'll take a closer look at this intriguing story. What is the significance of the special role that the female characters play in the story? Is the lone male military leader, Barak, a genuine hero -- or is he the subject of a Biblical parody? What, if any, is the enduring message of this epic battle between the Jews and Sisera's hordes? We will address these questions and others, as we read the story with fresh eyes, and seek to decrypt the culmination of the narrative -- the beautiful song that Deborah sings to commemorate this war that was won by women.
This three part series is taught by one of Rabbi Fohrman's star students, Rabbi Jonathan Grossman.
In this series, we continue our look at Abraham’s Journey. We’ll examine the stories of Abraham and the guests, the destruction of Sedom, the birth of Isaac, the deteriorating relationship with Hagar and Ishmael, and the climactic Akeidah – the Binding of Isaac. In previous series, we have explored a number of these stories in their own right; here, we seek the “ties that bind” – that is, what themes unify these apparently disparate stories, making them into a single, flowing narrative?
In our previous series, when we began our look at “Abraham’s Journey”, we noted a fascinating series of parallels, linking the life and times of Abraham and Sarai to the Creation narratives at the beginning of Genesis. One of the questions we will explore over the course of this new series: How far do these linkages go; what messages are they meant to convey; and how do they transform our view of Abraham’s quest and its meaning?
Abraham travels here, builds an altar, and then pitches his tent over there. He separates from his nephew over a fight between their respective herdsmen. He and his wife entertain guests. He pleads with God on behalf of Sedom. The question is: Do these events connect with one another, and if so, how? Are these disconnected short stories, or are they episodes in a developing saga?
In this series of classes, we'll try and show that the Abraham stories are, in fact, deeply connected to one another. Indeed, only by seeing these connections, will we be in a position to answer the questions: What was this man trying to accomplish? What did he stand for? And how should we, his children, try and live up to that legacy?
Children often begin their studies of the Bible with the famous story of God telling Abraham to leave behind his homeland, “for a land that I will show you”. But it seems so strange: Abraham seems to appear right out of the blue, unknown and entirely un-introduced. Is there a context to his story – and if so, what is it?
In our previous series of classes, “the Phantom Akeidah”, we began to look at the Binding of Isaac in the broader scope of Abraham’s life. But there is a more sweeping background to the Akeidah, Rabbi Fohrman argues, and it is to be found by looking at the stories that precede his appearance on the scene. In this series of discussions, we’ll take a far-reaching look at the first era of human history, as recorded by the Torah – the period that spans Adam to Abraham. Our goal will be to discover the context that lends the Abraham story -- and the rest of the Book of Genesis -- its vitality and more expansive meaning.
The Arab-Israeli conflict has been aptly described as a family feud – a contest over who counts as the legitimate heir of a common father, Abraham. As part of that feud, Arabs have long made the dubious claim that it was Ishmael, not Isaac, who was taken to the top of a mountain that fateful day when father was called upon to sacrifice a child. Clearly, the Bible says otherwise. But could there be more to this outrageous claim than meets the eye?
The possibility that a phantom “Akeidah” story lurks in the Book of Genesis is one of several “Biblical surprises” that we’ll explore in these classes...
Two main stories occupy the lion's share of the Book of Genesis: The Abraham saga, and the story of Joseph and his brothers. Strangely, though, each of these narratives finds itself rudely interrupted by a chapter or two that seems entirely out of place. The first of these side-trips details the story of Lot and his daughters, and the second tells us the tale of Judah and Tamar.
Why are these apparently scandalous narratives in the Bible at all? And why does each seem to fall out of the sky, landing in the middle of a saga that seems completely unrelated to them? In this series of lectures, Rabbi Fohrman explores these peculiar episodes, revealing a fascinating web of connections that link them deeply with the rest of the Book of Genesis - and, intriguingly, with one another as well. The series culminates with a discussion of the Book of Ruth, where each of these "digressions" merge to become one and the same story - the story of the birth of King David, and the genesis of the Jewish Messiah
When the Almighty revealed the Torah to hundreds of thousands of people at Mt.Sinai, it was the moment of greatest closeness between God and mankind. It was also, however, the moment of greatest betrayal. When Moses returned from his encounter with the Divine atop the mountain, he found a crowd below that was worshipping an image of their own making – a Golden Calf.
In response to this shocking development, God declares that He is ready, in one fell swoop, to wipe out the entire nation. At that one terrible moment, it seems the relationship between God and the Jewish People has come to a bitter end. In the end, though, things turn out differently. The people – and even more astoundingly, their relationship with the Almighty – somehow survive.
In these classes we will take a close look at the story of the Golden Calf and its aftermath. Along the way, we’ll be asking – what clues does our story hold for the searing, real-life question: When a cherished relationship is suddenly and severely damaged -- when and how might it still be saved?
Note: You can save nearly 50% by enrolling in the class by becoming a member of the foundation. To learn more, click here.
Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, taught them the Torah at Mt.Sinai, and saved them from destruction after the Golden Calf. He is perhaps God’s “favorite person” in the entire Bible. So why, when Moses hits a rock instead of speaking to it, did the Almighty deny him the only thing he really wanted from life – the chance to personally enter the Land of Israel along with the people he so faithfully led for forty years?
In these online classes, we will try to develop an approach to this excruciatingly difficult question. Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating journey.
To access classes from our archives, click on the link above. These archived classes are not "live" -- that is, the lectures were recorded previously, and the discussion groups are no longer active. But you can still view and listen to all the elements of the class, and can see what people have said on the discussion groups. Again, to access these classes, click on the link above.
