• Traditionally Radical

    SVARA is a traditionally radical yeshiva dedicated to the serious study of Talmud and committed to the Queer experience. Our mission is to provide serious Talmud study as a spiritual practice to all who want to learn, in an environment that recognizes as crucial the insights of transgender, intersex, queer, lesbian, bisexual and gay Jews […]

  • Serious Learning

    At SVARA, no matter what your Hebrew level, you will be learning Talmud in the original, from the Vilna Shas. At SVARA, you will gain the skills to look at a page of Talmud – any page – and enter into the millennia-old conversation for yourself.

  • Queer

    SVARA is where we realized how traditional our radical queer selves really were, and how queer the tradition has always been. It’s where we realized that how we each understand our tradition and live out our Jewishness have an enormous impact on how we walk through the world. And ultimately, that’s why learning Talmud with […]

  • Empowering

    SVARA is the place where so many of us realize that we are not just going to be allowed to sit at the table of Jewish learning and decision-making, but that it is essential that we be there. SVARA is the place where we who once felt like outsiders, become insiders for the first time. […]

  • Our Rosh Yeshiva

    Rabbi Benay Lappe provides her students and the entire Jewish community with the opportunity to see that Judaism is smarter, deeper, and more radical than we ever imagined. She models, teaches and demonstrates that — particularly to those of us who have not been the receivers of a Judaism that speaks to us or about […]

The CRASH Talk

“The CRASH Talk is the indispensable introduction to Talmud learning with SVARA. It is a lecture to end all lectures, a mind-blowing intellectual experience to end all…you get the point. Come hear how the Talmud—and all radical ideas—are born, crash, and are reborn anew. Discover your radical edge and how queer you really are (which, […]

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Learn with SVARA

There are many opportunities throughout the year to get some Talmud served up the old fashioned way—hardcore, queer, and radically inclusive—with SVARA! We offer daily and weekly drop-in learning spaces, multi-week classes, special one-off events, and resources for you and your chevruta to learn on your own.  All of our learning spaces—whether they’re drop-in classes […]

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Learn on Your Own

We’re cooking up resources that will help bring the bet midrash to you (and your chevruta!). INDEPENDENT LEARNING: FEATURED SUGYA This sugya is a deep-dive into “tochecha,” or compassionate critique. When we experience harm from others, how do we respond? In this text you’ll find two tales of rabbis who exemplify (or don’t!) what to […]

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