Start Learning
– Julie Batz and Noah Westreich, SVARA Teaching Fellows
For two decades SVARA has offered immersive, joyful, and radical learning that centers queer and trans folks.
No matter who you are or how you identify, we invite you to dive into our offerings.
Explore what we learn and how we learn it
Our calendar of virtual gatherings
Get ready for the high holidays by choosing your own adventure!
SVARA 101
No matter where you are in your learning journey, we want you to feel at home at SVARA.
Scroll through the sidebar to identify the starting point that most resonates with you. We’ll help you find a good place to dive in.
UPCOMING EVENTS
TRANSLATING TESHUVA: COMMUNITY SIYUM
September 12th, 2023
During this month of Elul, SVARA-niks of all backgrounds have been journeying through two dazzlingly distinct learning spaces focused on Rambam’s Hilkhot Teshuva—Laws of Repentance and Repair. On September 12th, we’re bringing together our entire community to share in each others’ wisdom and unpack what we gleaned from the text, our chevrutas, and from deep within. Special guests Rabbi Ari Lev and SVARA Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Benay Lappe will join us to drop some rad insights from their years-long chevruta on Hilkhot Teshuva. This is sure to be a memorable evening that will inspire us all into personal and communal transformation. Everyone is welcome – register here!
COMMUNITY-LED LEARNING
Check out these offerings led by folks who have found a home in the SVARA bet midrash.
Revolutionary Reading Group | Every other Wednesday
Offered collaboratively by The New Synagogue Project, Shel Maala, the Torah Studio, and Synagogues Rising
This year, the Trans Halakha Project released eleven glittering gems of brand-new knowledge into the world: ten teshuvot, practical papers on applying Jewish law to our lives, each written on a different facet of the trans experience, and Tefillat Trans, a pocket-sized prayerbook of Jewish blessings and rituals for moments of trans experience. Their authors create “euphoric halakha”—not dysphoric halakha—by bringing their own experiences of transness to questions of transness as has never been done before in Jewish history. Join the Revolutionary Reading Group as they hold one another accountable in learning from and bearing witness to these euphoric halakha resources.
ELUL 5783
Two distinct offerings, one dazzling goal: Translating Teshuva.
This Elul, we’re taking a quick break from Talmud to explore the teachings of a queer rabbinic ancestor like no other: Rabbi Moses ben Maimon a.k.a the Rambam! Together we’ll explore the concept of teshuva by diving into centuries-old ideas about repair and personal transformation. We invite y’all to choose your own adventure through Hilkhot Teshuva, a book from the Rambam’s legendary work called Mishneh Torah!
A weekly offering for folks who have learned with us before!
Tuesdays, August 15 – September 5
8-9:30pm ET | 7-8:30pm CT | 5-6:30pm PT
Join SVARA Faculty Laynie Soloman and Rabbi Bronwen Mullin for a weekly shiur exploring a halakha (a codified practical teaching) by the Rambam that addresses how to do teshuva bein adam le’chaveiro, interpersonal repair. This text invites us to consider how to get in right relationship when interpersonal harm has happened. Each week, we will do a close inside/outside reading, and reveal how the Rambam turns Talmud into practical instructions. Come once, come every week, or something in between!
This offering is designed for folks who have learned with SVARA before. This time around, learning in chevruta and prepping before shiur are both optional!
Tuition for Rambam’s Repair Manual is offered on a sliding scale, and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds.
A daily offering for everyone –
no prior learning is required!
Monday through Friday, August 14 – September 12
1:30pm-2pm ET | 12:30pm-1pm CT | 10:30am – 11am PT
During the month of Elul, The Mishnah Collective will be transforming into The Mishneh Collective, as we take a detour into Hilkhot Teshuva (a book from Rambam’s Mishneh Torah)! We’ll be diving into how Rambam defines teshuva, and the paths one can take to reach it. Each session we’ll do a close inside/outside of small portions of this incredible guide on how to create repair and restoration.
This offering is designed for anyone who wants a juicy learning experience in thirty minutes or less. Come once, everyday, or something in between! No prep needed, and no previous experience with Hebrew is required.
Mishneh Collective is free and open to all.
After our journey comes to a close, we’ll be hosting a community-wide siyum on September 12th from 8-9:30PM ET to reflect on everything we’ve learned together.
TRANSLATING TESHUVA: COMMUNITY SIYUM
September 12th, 2023
During this month of Elul, SVARA-niks of all backgrounds have been journeying through two dazzlingly distinct learning spaces focused on Rambam’s Hilkhot Teshuva—Laws of Repentance and Repair. On September 12th, we’re bringing together our entire community to share in each others’ wisdom and unpack what we gleaned from the text, our chevrutas, and from deep within. Special guests Rabbi Ari Lev and SVARA Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Benay Lappe will join us to drop some rad insights from their years-long chevruta on Hilkhot Teshuva. This is sure to be a memorable evening that will inspire us all into personal and communal transformation. Everyone is welcome!