This offering is geared towards people with previous experience studying Talmud. Together we’ll ask big questions and co-create meaning, and students will attend a weekly shiur in addition to meeting in chevruta on their own time.
Instructors: Natalie Boskin
Schedule: Mondays, 8:00–9:30 pm ET, March 9–May 18 (skipping April 6 for Pesach)
Prerequisites: Applicants are expected to have a.) Hebrew language skills and b.) experience studying Talmud in the original language, either at SVARA or elsewhere.
In Chevruta + Shiur you’ll strengthen your chevruta skills by meeting regularly outside of our bet midrash to both prep the text of our sugya and return to it again in chazara in order to check your understanding, ask big questions, and internalize each and every word. We will explore a text from Masechet Berakhot that addresses the construction of prayer. In our weekly shiur, we’ll engage with recitation, translation, and meaning-making as a group. All of the time you spend with your chevruta during the week allows for closer reading and richer discussion in shiur.
Who is this learning space is for?
- returning SVARA-niks who have learned Talmud with us in the past (especially in Queer Talmud for Beginners Mind!);
- folks who have experience learning Talmud in the original elsewhere;
- or new SVARA-niks who have previously developed Hebrew language skills elsewhere
Structure:
- We’ll meet once a week on Mondays from 8–9:30 pm ET
- There are ten sessions and regular attendance is expected
- SVARA will match chevrutas (learning partners) based on your learning style and background (or you can sign up with someone you know you want to learn with).
- Learners are expected to meet in chevruta for 1.5–2 hours each week in addition to shiur
- Includes small-group breakout spaces
- All registered learners will receive a package from SVARA that includes the hard copies of our learning materials.
- Two dictionaries are required: Frank & Jastrow
- If you require captioning to access this learning, you can request it in our enrollment form!
More information
A timeline of what to expect once you apply.
Applications for Chevruta + Shiur will be accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed by our faculty admissions team regularly. You can expect to hear back from us within two weeks of your submission.
SVARA is committed to financial accessibility for our students.
Tuition at SVARA is always pay-what-you-can, and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. We firmly believe that our learning spaces are made better by having participants from wide and varying socioeconomic backgrounds, and we never want learners to undergo financial tension to access learning. When we say ‘no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds’, we mean it.
SVARA uses your tuition to defray the costs related to accessibility, program tech, teaching, and administrative support. The bottom of our scale reflects the “hard cost” of our program, which covers the costs of accessibility, program tech, and materials. The top of our sliding scale reflects the “true cost” of our programs, which includes accessibility, program tech, and materials, as well as teaching and administrative support. The sliding scale for Chevruta + Shiur is $275-$725.
We strive to make learning at SVARA empowering and comfortable for everyone. All of our learning spaces follow our accessibility protocols and aspire to our community norms.
We are committed to ensuring that learning at SVARA is broadly and specifically accessible for our students. The application forms we use include places to designate any access needs you may have, which are always held alongside the following accessibility norms:
Print and Digital Materials
We produce digital and print materials to support learning at SVARA, using a 13-point font size and 8.5 × 11” paper sizes. Enlarged SVARA materials use a 20-point font size. Materials that come from Hebrew texts or reference books are enlarged to 11 × 17. SVARA’s digital materials are designed to be accessible with screen readers.
Many of our learners and teachers use a Magnabrite magnifying glass to help increase the size and clarity of the printing. We also recommend this magnifier with two flat edges, which can fit in closer to the inner binding of a book.
Timing and Breaks
We learn for 1.5-2 hours at a time on Zoom. There is a break scheduled for all learners during 2-hour shiurim. At all times, you are welcome to sit, stand, lay down, stretch, get a snack, drink some water, and take breaks according to your own needs. Please do what you need to do to take care of your body and yourself.
Live Captions
All full-group learning will be live-captioned by our captioning team, and all Zoom rooms support automatic integrated live-captioning. At various moments throughout our sessions, we may make use of breakout groups for chevruta (one-on-one learning) and smaller group discussion spaces of 3-6 people. Upon registration, you will be asked if you would like your chevruta and breakout groups to be captioned by one of the members of our captioning team.
Video Settings
We ask that all students avoid using virtual backgrounds or blurred backgrounds, as these types of backgrounds can trigger migraines. If you need to make specific plans to be in a place where your background can be visible, please do so.