Course Objectives

• General:
  • To illustrate the relevance of Torah to contemporary society
  • To familiarize the student with classical Torah commentaries
• Specific:
  • To enhance the student's awareness and appreciation of the life of Abraham
  • To clarify the role of Abraham as the father of the Jewish People

Course Schedule

• 9 week duration. Monday, October 4, 2010 - Monday, December 6, 2010. Each Monday, new course material will be posted on-line and remain available for the duration of the course.

Interactive Feature

• Optional Question & Comments: Students may submit questions and comments on the current week's lesson  or on previous weeks' lessons, via E-mail.
• Personal Responses: Students will receive personal responses to their letters via E-mail.
• On Line Posting: Select teacher-student correspondences will be available on-line for viewing and comments by the entire class.

Confidentiality of student correspondence will be respected  

Texts

• Torah: Chapters 11 to 22 of the Book of Genesis, which narrate the life of Abraham.
• Torah Commentaries:
• Midrashic literature (1st - 6th centuries Israel and Babylon)
• Classical commentaries of Rabbi Moshe, son of Nachman (1195-1270 Spain) and Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (1470-1550 Italy)
• Biographies of Torah commentators