Amit Gvaryahu is an alumnus of Yeshivat Har Ezion and Yeshivat Hadar, and a member of the steering committee for Yeshivat Talpiot, an egalitarian yeshiva initiative in Jerusalem. A graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Talmud and Classics, he is currently persuing a Masters’ degree in Talmudic jurisprudence. He is married to Yedidah Koren and they are both scholars-in-residence at Paideia this year .
Sessions:
Step on it, we’re late for shul! – As American Jews became more affluent in the latter half of the 20th century, they followed other better-off Americans in leaving the city centers for the dream of suburbia. Shopping, culture, and synagogues became places that could only be reached by automobile. In this session we will discuss the historic response of the American Conservative movement to this change, and discuss lessons and implications from it, almost 60 years in retrospect.
The Rabbis’ Goy: lessons from a forgotten book – We all know who Jews are, but who are gentiles? How and in what way does their existence as non-Jews impact the Jewish faith and self-perception. In this class we will discuss these issues through the lens of a long-lost Rabbinic commentary on the book of Deuteronomy.