Topics

• What are the "Midrash" and the "Talmud"?
• How has the Oral Law been passed down through the
  millennia, until today?
• What role have rabbinic sages played in transmitting and
  developing of the Oral Law, and what powers do they exercise in determining its application to their times?

Course Objectives

• To familiarize the student with the classical foundations of Jewish belief.
• To clarify the nature of the Oral Law and Midrash, their origins, development and historical transmission to today

Course Schedule

• Schedule to be announced
  This course is available for immediate download for a nominal fee. For further information, or to purchase this course now, click here
• Self-Paced Study: Students can read the material and correspond at their own pace.

Interactive Feature

• Question & Comments: Students are invited to respond to questions and/or raise questions of their own, 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 posted on-line for viewing and comments by the entire class.

Confidentiality of student correspondence will be respected  

Classical Sources

• Midrashic Literature (1st - 6th centuries Israel & Babylon) - The repository of the Oral Law
• "The Kuzari" (Rabbi Yehudah Ha'levy, 1080-1145, Spain) - Examines the fundamentals of Judaism based on the philosophical dialogue between the Khazar king and a Jewish scholar.
• The Writings of Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe, son of Maimon, 1135-1204, Egypt) - From the comprehensive works of one of the great codifiers of Jewish knowledge. 
• "The Book of Fundamentals" (Rabbi Yosef Albo, 1380-1444, Spain) - A systematic presentation of Jewish belief, from general principles to precise details.