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Jewish Spirituality
- Journeys in Jewish Spirituality*
- Afterlife and Eschatology in Judaism and World Religions
- Chapters of the Heart: The Power and Perils of Spiritual Autobiography
- Contemporary Psychological Approaches to Bereavement
- Death, Burial and Mourning in the Hebrew Bible
- Eco-Judaism: The Theology & Practice of Jewish Responses to Ecological Crises, Past & Present
- End-of-Life Counseling and Hospice Care
- Feminist Transformations of Judaism: A Twenty-first Century Perspective
- Jewish Rituals of Death and Dying
- Jewish Views of the Afterlife I: Immortality and Eschatology in Biblical and Rabbinic Tradition
- Jewish Views of the Afterlife II: Mythic and Mystical Teachings on the Post-Mortem Journey of the Soul
- Prayer as if the Earth Really Matters
- The Psalms and Jewish Spirituality
- The Spirituality of the Twelve Steps
Journeys in Jewish Spirituality*
Faculty: Rabbi Howard Addison (Profile)
*This course is appropriate as a point of departure for students in the D.Min. in Jewish Spirituality program.
Description: Premise: … it is our duty to revitalize the spirit of God …and gain respect for Torah ... We must take whatever is good from any source where we find it... We shall infuse the living creative spirit that knows our generation and is capable of influencing it, toward the love of all things holy … -- (Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (d. 1935) Chief Rabbi of Pre-State Israel).
For those who would offer Jewish Leadership, in any of its Spiritual, Religious or Social forms, Rav Kook’s challenge remains as compelling today as when it was first sounded. Like those he was addressing in his time, ours is the task of influencing those whom we serve towards love of the Holy and the realization that all situations and encounters can reveal that which is “beloved of God.”
As the point of embarkation on the D.Min. Program in Jewish Spirituality, this course has three goals:
- To further acquaint you, the student, with past and current sources and themes in Jewish Spirituality
- To stimulate reflection upon the state of your own spiritual journey as well as the vistas and perspectives that the readings and exercises might open for you
- To help clarify, both cognitively and affectively, how your own spiritual leadership, including your doctoral project, should embody the knowledge, insight and experience gained along your continuing Jewish Spiritual Journey
Required Reading:
- Katz, Steven T. Jewish Ideas and Concepts. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1977. (Written from a masculine perspective more common to its time, this text does provide an informed, accessible overview of the classical sources on a variety of Jewish Spiritual themes (with citations). This more traditional, patriarchal orientation will be challenged and complemented by contemporary works on these same topics in the online selections, including essays, poems, videos and podcasts by members of the GTF Jewish Spirituality Faculty.)
- Required readings and exercises for the various weeks, as well as supplemental selections, will be available online.
Afterlife and Eschatology in Judaism and World Religions
Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)
Description: This course shall weave together an exploration of teachings on death and immortality in Judaism, and other great traditions of the world. As historians of religion we shall trace the evolution of Jewish ideas on dying and the deathbed, and the postmortem survival of the soul from earliest roots in Biblical tradition through to the contemporary era. Traversing continents and traveling through time we shall encounter an ever-changing panorama of Jewish texts – Torah, Apocryphal literature, Talmud, medieval Midrash, Kabbalah and Hasidism - documenting how scholars and sages of the past reflected upon their own encounters with human mortality. At the same time, within the varied cultural environments in which Jewish life evolved we also find teachings on death and immortality. We shall investigate these death traditions – of ancient Egypt; the ancient Near East; the Greco-Roman world; early and medieval Christianity; Islamic civilization; and medieval Tibet - exploring the inter-relationship between these traditions and Jewish belief and practice.
We shall endeavor to discover how these varied traditions illuminate our perspective on Jewish views of death, dying and the afterlife. Throughout the course, class presentations will be augmented with visual images of death practices from religious art or archaeological and anthropological evidence, to help students appreciate the diversity of death rituals and beliefs.
Required Reading:
- Raphael, Simcha Paull. Jewish Views of the Afterlife. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004.
- Rinpoche, Sogyal. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1992.
- Segal, Alan F. Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion. New York: Doubleday, 2004.
Recommended Reading:
- Kraemer, David. The Meanings of Death in Rabbinic Judaism. New York: Routledge, 2000.
- Kung, Hans. Eternal Life? Life After Death as a Medical, Philosophical, and Theological Problem. Trans. Edward Quinn. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., 1984.
Chapters of the Heart: The Power and Perils of Spiritual Autobiography
Faculty: Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell (Profile)
Description: Autobiography and memoir can be rich resources for sharing one’s journey towards, through, or away from a faith tradition or community. These forms also can serve as a powerful prism through which to view classical Jewish texts. In this course, we will meet a range of Jewish writers and thinkers who have used their own life stories to illuminate Torah and construct a meaningful personal engagement with Jewish textual tradition, while creating an entry point for others’ spiritual exploration. We will explore how, as teachers and guides living in a memoir-obsessed culture, exploring our own stories can enhance our spiritual journeys and open spiritual paths for others.
Required Reading:
- Elwell, Sue Levi and Nancy Fuchs Kreimer (Eds.). Chapters of the Heart: Jewish Women Sharing the Torah of Our Lives. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2013.
Contemporary Psychological Approaches to Bereavement
Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)
Description: Death is an inevitable dimension of life, often laden with deep and confusing human emotions. Yet by encountering the reality of death with humility, honesty and integrity, it is possible to develop a much deeper appreciation of the meaning of life itself.
This course will explore contemporary psychological approaches to death, dying, and bereavement from a spiritual perspective. Through a variety of learning modalities including lecture, discussion, videos, journal writing, meditation and other self-awareness exercises, this course will focus on four inter-related areas:
1) Personal Grief Journey
2) The Psychology of Death and Bereavement
3) Specific Skills in Ministering to the Dying and Bereaved, and;
4) Human Mortality, Life After Death and Questions of "Ultimate Concern"
Through this course students will be given the opportunity to clarify their own psychological perspectives on dealing with dying, death and philosophical views of afterlife and immortality.
Required Reading:
- Alexander, Eben. Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey in the Afterlife. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012.
- Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth. The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying. New York: Scribner, 1997.
- Singh, Kathleen Dowling. The Grace in Dying. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1998.
- Worden, J. William. Grief Counseling & Grief Therapy. New York: Springer, 2009.
Recommended Reading:
- Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth and David Kessler. On Grief and Grieving. New York: Scribner, 2005.
- Kumar, Sameet. Grieving Mindfully: A Compassionate and Spiritual Guide to Coping with Loss. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2005.
- Levine, Stephen. Meetings at the Edge. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 1984.
- O'Hara, Kathleen. A Grief Like No Other: Surviving the Violent Death of Someone You Love. New York: Marlowe & Co., 2006.
Death, Burial and Mourning in the Hebrew Bible
Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)
Description: Within the Hebrew Bible are to be found a variety of teachings and perspectives on death and dying, burial and mourning, and views of afterlife and immortality. This course shall investigate a tapestry of Biblical texts on death and dying with a dual perspective -- looking historically at how death was understood in the Ancient Near East of the 1st and 2nd millennia BCE, and looking with a contemporary lens at what we can learn from ancient Hebrew and Israelite civilization for responding to the reality of death today. The intention of this course will be to help students harvest from Biblical tradition philosophical wisdom and practical guidelines for dealing with all facets of the human encounter with death in our times.
Required Reading:
- Hallote, Rachel S. Death, Burial and Mourning in the Biblical World. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2001.
- Bar, Shaul. I Deal Death and Give Life: Biblical Perspectives on Death. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2010.
- Raphael, Simcha Paull. Living and Dying in Ancient Times: Death, Burial and Mourning in Biblical Tradition. Boulder, CO: Albion-Andalus, 2015.
- Selected readings from the Bible, Talmud, and Jewish literature.
Eco-Judaism: The Theology & Practice of Jewish Responses to Ecological Crises, Past & Present
Faculty: Rabbi Arthur Waskow (Profile)
Description: This course will cover three areas of focus with a practicum included. Part 1: "The dance of control and community" will cover the present ecological crisis and analogous crises in Jewish history; socio-ecological analysis; Eisenberg's Ecology of Eden; the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism; Zalman S-S theory of new paradigms; the relationship of human history to evolutionary history through which eco-systems emerge; Martin Buber, I and Thou; Teilhard de Chardin (The Phenomenon of Man); Evan Eisenberg (The Ecology of Eden); and evolution as "Divine unfolding," among other related topics. Part 2: "Responding to the crisis will cover new forms of community" will cover topics such as cultural ecology and Adam/adamah inerwovenness; new paradigms of Judaism? (Schachter-Shalomi, Waskow); sexual ethics, work ethics, the nature of Shabbat; Earth-oriented strands of Jewish teaching, and related topics. Part 3: "Life-practice in an eco-Jewish life-path for our day" will cover eco-Kashrut; re-energizing earth and intergenerational aspects of life-cycle markers; renewing Shabbat and other prayer-liturgy and "Prayer as if the Earth really mattered"; re-weaving Torah as intellect with earth-experience; eco-Zionism; advocacy for policy change and forms of Jewish organizing for eco-Judaism, among other related topics. Part 4: Practicum. Each student is required not only to read, etc., but also to prepare a hands-on project in creating actual events for congregations, etc. (e. g. eco-centered celebration of festivals, Shabbat Noach, Shabbat B'Har, Brit Milah, B'nei Mitzvah, etc.).
Required Reading:
Part 2: (A complete list of required readings is available in the course syllabus.)
- Passages and essays of Tanakh, Talmud, Kabbalah, Zionism, Jewish-renewal / Eco-Judaism, as contained in Waskow, ed., Torah of the Earth (2 vols, Jewish Lights) and Elon, Hyman, & Waskow, eds., Trees Earth & Torah: Tu B'Shvat Anthology (JPS)
- Benstein, Jeremy. The Way into Judaism and the Environment. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2008.
- Bernstein, Ellen. The Splendor of Creation: A Biblical Ecology. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2005.
- Eisenberg, Evan. 1998. The Ecology of Eden. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.
- Schwartz. Richard H. Judaism and Global Survival. New York: Atara Publishing, 1987.
- Waskow, Arthur. Seasons of Our Joy. New York: Bantam, 1982. (2nd ed., 1990. Boston: Beacon Press; 3rd ed., 2012. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society).
- Waskow, Arthur. Down-to-Earth Judaism: Food, Money, Sex, and the Rest of Life. New York: William Morrow, 1995.
End-of-Life Counseling and Hospice Care
Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)
Description: An in-depth exploration of Jewish perspectives on dying and the deathbed, and issues related to end-of-life and hospice care. Among the issues to be explored in this course included a pastoral psychology of dying; Jewish approaches to hospice; biomedical and traditional halachic perspectives around physician assisted death; ethical wills; living wills, etc. Students will be encouraged to integrate pastoral case studies with their learning process.
Required Reading:
- Brenner, Daniel, et al. Embracing Life and Facing Death: A Jewish Guide to Palliative Care. New York: National Center for Jewish Learning and Leadership, 2002.
- Jacob, Walter and Moshe Zemer (eds.). Death and Euthanasia in Jewish Law. Pittsburgh, PA: Rodeph Shalom Press, 1995.
- Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Center for Jewish Ethics. Behoref Hayamim: In the Winter of Life: A Values-Based Jewish Guide for Decision Making at the End of Life. Wyncote: PA: Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, 2002.
Recommended Reading:
- Levine, Stephen. Who Dies? Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 1984.
- Lobb, Shafir. To Life! Bedside Prayers. Seattle, WA/Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2011.
- Hurwitz, Peter Joel, Jacques Picard and Avraham Steinberg. Jewish Ethics and the Care of End-of-Life Patients. Jersey City, NJ: Ktav Publishing, 2006.
- Singh, Kathleen Dowling. The Grace in Dying: How We are Transformed Spiritually as we Die. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1998.
- Zohar, Noam. "Death: Natural Process and Human Intervention" in Alternatives in Jewish Bioethics. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1997, pp. 37-68.
Feminist Transformations of Judaism: A Twenty-first Century Perspective
Faculty: Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell (Profile)
Description: In this course, students will read primary works of contemporary Jewish feminist theology and explore how these theories and philosophies have challenged and influenced contemporary Jewish practice, liturgy, and ritual. We will also pay attention to the role of feminists and LGBT individuals and culture in the transformation of Judaism and Jewish practice.
Required Reading:
- Adler, Rachel. Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999.
- Hartman, Tova. Feminism Encounters Traditional Judaism: Resistance and Accommodation. Lebanon, NH: Brandeis University Press, 2007.
- Plaskow, Judith. Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective. San Francisco: HarperOne, 1991.
Jewish Rituals of Death and Dying
Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)
Description: Judaism has an extensive set of rituals and practices to guide people through the vast array of experiences which emerge in dealing with dying and death, funeral and burial and mourning and memorialization. This course shall provide an in-depth exploration of Judaism's rituals of death and dying. The course will combine the study of traditional halachic views on death and burial and mourning, with modern psychological perspectives on the human encounter with death and loss. Through textual study, lecture, journal exercises, and personal exploration, this course will assist students in forming their own understanding of Judaism's system for dealing with all facets of the encounter with death.
Required Reading:
- Diamant, Anita. Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying, Bury the Dead, and Mourn as a Jew. New York: Schocken, 1999.
- Heilman, Samuel C. When a Jew Dies. Berkeley: UCLA Press, 2001.
- Rabinowicz, Tzvi. A Guide to Life: Jewish Laws and Customs of Mourning. New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1967; Jason Aronson, 1989.
Recommended Reading:
- Brener, Anne. Mourning and Mitzvah. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 1993.
- Charney, Leon H. and Saul Mayzlish. The Mystery of the Kaddish. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 2006.
- Goodman, Arnold M. A Plain Pine Box: A Return to Simple Jewish Funerals and Eternal Traditions. New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1981.
- Levine, Aaron. The Complete Yizkor Handbook. Toronto: Zichron Meir Publications, 1987.
- Raphael, Simcha Paull. The Grief Journey and the Afterlife: Jewish Pastoral Care for Grief and Bereavement. Boulder, CO: Albion-Andalus, 2015.
- Wieseltier, Leon. Kaddish. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.
Jewish Views of the Afterlife I: Immortality and Eschatology in Biblical and Rabbinic Tradition
Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)
Description: Teachings on life after death are found in religious traditions throughout the world. Yet often, many are unaware of the vast legacy of Judaism's teachings on the afterlife journey of the soul. This course shall investigate teachings on life after death and post-mortem as found in the earliest layers of Jewish texts. We shall examine the development of a notion of individual immortality as found int he Hebrew Bible, texts of the Apocrypha and in Rabbinic literature. In particular, we shall look at the tension between the notion of individual survival as opposed to collective eschatology -- the end-of-time destiny in the collective of the Israelite people. Students are encouraged to use the texts explored in this course to help develop their own contemporary philosophy of death and the afterlife.
Required Reading:
- Gillman, Neil. The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1997.
- Herschel, Matt. "An Outline of Jewish Eschatology." Judaism 17, 2 (1968), 186-196.
- Johnston, Philip S. Shades of Sheol: Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2002.
- Raphael, Simcha Paull. Jewish Views of the Afterlife (2nd Ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.
- Raphael, Simcha Paull. Living and Dying in Ancient Times: Death, Burial and Mourning in Biblical Tradition. Boulder, CO: Albion-Andalus, 2015.
- Selected readings from the Bible, Talmud, and Jewish literature.
Jewish Views of the Afterlife II: Mythic and Mystical Teachings on the Post-Mortem Journey of the Soul
Faculty: Reb Simcha Raphael (Profile)
Description: This course is a continuation of Jewish Views of the Afterlife I and investigates diverse textual traditions of Judaism's teachings on the afterlife journey of the soul. We explore the various stages and phases of the post-mortem journey of the soul, in particular the medieval Midrash, Kabbalah and Hasidism. We also begin to explore the practical applications of teachings on the afterlife journey of the soul in pastoral work with the dying and bereaved. Students are encouraged to use the texts explored in this course to help develop their own contemporary philosophy of death and the afterlife.
Required Reading:
- Pinson, DovBer. Reincarnation and Judaism: The Journey of the Soul. Livingston, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1999, pp. 25-123.
- Gillman, Neil. The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1997.
- Raphael, Simcha Paull. Jewish Views of the Afterlife (2nd Ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.
- Raphael, Simcha Paull. The Grief Journey and the Afterlife: Jewish Pastoral Care for Grief and Bereavement. Boulder, CO: Albion-Andalus, 2015.
Prayer as if the Earth Really Matters
Faculty: Rabbi Arthur Waskow (Profile)
Description: More and more often, religious communities are bringing their prayer and practice to bear on a profound religious and spiritual question: radical dangers posed by the climate crisis to the web of human of more-than-human life forms of Planet Earth. There are two aspects of what is beginning to happen in relating prayer to the present crisis of our planet. One is exploring how Earth-awareness can enter more deeply into our formal prayer services. The other is exploring how public action intended to affect public and corporate policy toward the Earth can become prayerful. This course will deal with two main themes of "Earth-awareness in formal prayer" and "Making public advocacy actions prayerful.".
Required Reading:
- Waskow, Arthur. "Jewish Environmental Ethics: Adam and Adamah," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality (Elliott N. Dorff and Jonathan K. Crane, eds.). Oxford: OUP, 2013.
- Waskow, Arthur. Seasons of Our Joy (Revised Ed.). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2012.
- Waskow, Arthur and Phyllis Berman. Freedom Journeys: The Tale of Exodus & Wilderness Across Millennia. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2011.
- Waskow, Arthur. Godwrestling -- Round 2. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 1998.
- Waskow, Arthur and Phyllis Berman. A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003.
The Psalms and Jewish Spirituality
Faculty: Dr. Herbert Levine (Profile)
The Book of Psalms, the prayer book of ancient Israel, continues to be foundational to Jewish spirituality. This e-tutorial will focus on how the Psalms can work for individuals in the context of spiritual counseling and daily spiritual practice.
Required Texts
- Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary
- Edward Feld, Joy, Despair and Hope: Reading Psalms
- Miriyam Glazer, The Psalms of the Jewish Liturgy
- Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Psalms in a Translation for Praying
The Spirituality of the Twelve Steps
Faculty: Dr. Herbert Levine (Profile)
Description: This course is designed to prepare clergy and spiritual directors to grow in their understanding of the spiritual concepts underlying 12-Step recovery programs, which have been a major force for spiritual renewal around the world. The readings will be drawn from a variety of faith and philosophical traditions, but each student may choose to examine one in more detail.
Required Reading:
- Alcoholics Anonymous. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. (Also available on the AA website as an e-book or free of charge as a PDF)
- Katz, Ernest and Katherine Ketcham. The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning. New York: Bantam, 1993.
- May, Gerald G. Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2007.
Recommended Reading:
- Griffin, Kevin. A Burning Desire: Dharma God and the Path of Recovery. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2010.
- Nouwen, Henri. The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1992.
- Shapiro, Rami and Joan Borysenko. Recovery, the Sacred Art: The Twelve Steps as Spiritual Practice. Woodstock, VT:SkyLight Paths, 2009.
- Taub, Shais. God of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery. Jersey City: NJ: Ktav Publishing, 2010.
