The Center for Jewish Learning will offer a new Melton School Scholars Courses on “Shiv’im Panim:  70 Faces of Wisdom,” starting Thursday, Jan. 19.

The Melton course is designed to engage students through the study of 70 different Torah passages, throughout the five books of the Torah. In each course, 10 passages are selected from one book of the Torah; participants encounter the development of varying interpretations of each passage, the influences of existing historical realities at the time of their composition, and the contemporary implications of these perspective on their own lives.  

The first course in the series is “Bereshit: From Adam to Abraham, the First 20 Generations,” examining topics such as the Creation of Women, the First Murder and the Tower of Babel. Students are asked to seek multiple ways of understanding a selection of Biblical texts, consider the real-life implications of these various orientations, and to reflect on the different ways that these perspectives might challenge our understanding of the work.

This course will be taught by Melton faculty member Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh.  The course begins from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19 and will be hosted by Temple Emanuel, 12166 Conway Road.  Tuition is $250, plus a book fee. Registration and payment is made directly through the Melton School at Events.org/MeltonStLouis.  A minimum of 15 participants are required to hold this course.  

For additional information contact Cyndee Levy, Director of the Center for Jewish Learning at the Jewish Federation, at 314-442-3754 or [email protected].