Shabbat Gathering: About The Torah Studio.
Dear Chevra, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:
Zoom
Meeting ID: 963 5113 1550
Password: 1989
Phone: +1 312 626 6799
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Here we go.
Last week, during our reflection at our Shabbat Gathering, we talked about gender and gender equality. I learned a lot from our conversation. Thanks to our group, I feel like I have a better view onto gender issues and how to be an ally. Besides listening to my friends, I try to keep current by reading The Torah Studio’s weekly email. I wouldn’t cubbyhole The Torah Studio as exclusively about gender issues, but it does sometimes focus on gender. So, what is The Torah Studio anyway?
The Torah Studio is…
This is largely taken from The Torah Studio’s “About” page.
In 2018, Liana Wertman was working as a Jewish Teen Educator trying to learn as much Torah as she could. She read books, went to group Torah studies at synagogues, she even found a weekly Talmud class in English. She couldn't get enough! But where could she go to get more?
Everyone told her she'd either have to go to move to a full time Yeshivah program or start Rabbinical school to get the learning she wanted. But she didn't want to be a Rabbi, and she liked living in Los Angeles. She dreamed of a Torah Study space that worked like a Yoga studio: drop in classes that were always happening, different levels, a variety of classes, a pick your own learning and skill building adventure.
So she decided to build it herself.
And…
The Torah Studio is an accessible and empowering online Jewish learning center made for people who want to learn by people who want to learn. Whether you come every week, once a month, or just once in a while, the Torah Studio will help you develop your relationship with Torah and Jewish texts, as well as build skill and confidence that will go far beyond our classroom Zoom boxes.
Here’s an example of one of the classes currently underway at The Torah Studio:
Avot for Goths & Eicha for Emos
Pirkei Avot and Eicha are very different texts, but they have two things in common: they are both read seasonally around this time and they are both great launching points for exploring one’s own emotions in as Goth a way as possible.
That class is taught by the Jewish Twitter celebrity and influencer “Maimonides Nutz.”
And for those who are so inclined, The Torah Studio has an open Discord server.
The Torah Studio is where I heard about the class I wrote to you about earlier in the week about Trans Halakha Project.
Anyway...
While the classes are, for me, a bit expensive, they are high quality with nationally known teachers. If nothing else, subscribe to its weekly email so you can read the weekly parsha summary by Liana Wertman. It's funny yet is a good summary of the weekly portion. Highly recommended.
And may it be for all of us a blessing.
See you tonight!
Gut Shabbes!
All my love,
brian.
PS
Having been "raised" in a VERY Ashkenazic family in NYC, I wasn't exposed to much Ladino culture. As one of my friends in Torah Study reminds me, there's much more to Jewish culture than the Ashkenaz. Ladino culture was born in Spain and Portugal and spread across the world into places like the Netherlands and Brazil. Here's an article that talks about Ladino folks.
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