• 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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, […]

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. […]

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Upcoming Programs

There are many opportunities throughout the year to get some Talmud served up the old fashioned way—hardcore, queer, and radically inclusive—with SVARA! SVARA hosts pop-up bet midrash learning and immersive […]

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Resources

We’re cooking up resources that will help bring the bet midrash to you (and your chevruta!). Over the next weeks we’ll be populating this page with resources to help support […]

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