Taste of Chavruta
Introduction
Chavruta learning (learning in pairs) is one of the oldest and most powerful Jewish learning techniques. It is a wonderful, formative experience, opening people's eyes to new concepts and ideas, and helping people to forge life-long friendships.
Taste of Chavruta was a one-off project in 5772 (2011-12) which sought to make Chavruta learning even more accessible outside of Limmud events. With this in mind, the entire series is available below in pdf form.
Try learning them with your family at home, with colleagues at work (during a break!), with friends at the Café or over the internet, or even by yourself on your commute!
Authority
Taste of Chavruta investigates the theme of Authority through ten bite-sized instalments, produced over ten months by Jeremy Tabick. The instalments include traditional texts (in Hebrew and English), plus relevant modern sources and some suggested points to consider.
In addition, Taste of Chavruta hopes to explore the following key questions:
- What sorts of authority are there in ancient and modern Judaism? What about in modern society?
- What is the source of these authorities?
- How do we deal with conflicts between Jewish and secular authorities?
- How do we reconcile subservience to earthly authorities with acknowledging that God's authority is ultimate?
Authority #1: Divine authority
Authority #2: Who rules over Me?
Authority #3: Levitical authority
Authority #4: Rabbinic authority
Authority #5: Physical authority
Authority #6: Kingly authority
Authority #7: Sages and kings
Authority #8: Secular authority
Authority #9: Law of the land
Authority #10: It is not in heaven!
