Seder Nashim beit midrash opens with studies in childbirth and delivery
Participants explored, as they will all year, the topics of childbirth and delivery from various perspectives, examining childbirth as experience and metaphor in the Jewish tradition
The two-year Seder Nashim Beit Midrash program for Jewish, Gender and Feminist Studies opened this month with its first study day.
The participants explored, as they will all year, the topic "childbirth and delivery" from various perspectives, examining childbirth as experience and metaphor in the Jewish tradition. Sub-topics to be discussed include: descriptions of birth and their gender and status impact; politics of birth, the laws of impurity as they pertain to the birthing mother, law and birth, birth as a metaphor for creation, and the birth of the nation.
The structure of the program includes two days of study. On Sundays the group meets for several hours of havruta-based learning, with a lecture on feminist thought concluding the day.
On Wednesdays, another four hours of havruta learning is held, with a concluding session summarizing the days’ study. Students will be expected to lead some of these concluding sessions.
You care about Israel, peoplehood, and vibrant, ethical Jewish communities. We do too.
