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What does svara mean?Svara is a 2,000-year-old Jewish concept invented by the Rabbis of the Talmud, to refer to one’s internal ethical impulse informed by Jewish learning. The Rabbis considered svara a legitimate means of figuring out how we should live our lives, in addition to the means they already had—the Torah. But they valued it as so reliable a source of truth that they considered any law that grew out of their svara to have the status of d’oraita (“straight from the Torah”). In fact, according to Jewish law, svara can even trump Torah when the two conflict. Svara has been central to the evolution of the Jewish tradition and underlies the unique nature of Jewish thinking itself, but has been, until now, a “secret” of talmudic scholars and rabbis. The crucial element in turning one’s internal ethical impulse, insight and life experience into svara is learning. And that’s where SVARA (the yeshiva) comes in! What is a yeshiva?A yeshiva is an academy of Jewish text study—primarily that of the Talmud. Learning in a yeshiva is done in the traditional manner, with students learning texts with a partner, called a chevruta, and then reconvening with other learners and the teacher in a discussion/text-unpacking session, called shiur. A yeshiva is both a school where the Jewish tradition is learned and passed on, as well as a think tank where learners gain the skills and the experience to reinterpret and upgrade the tradition, as necessary, in each generation. But it is also a kind of "zendo"—a place of communal spiritual practice. A contemplative approach to Talmud study and the transmission of the age-old understanding of Talmud study as a Jewish spiritual practice (called derech ha-shas) are SVARA's primary goals. I’ve never studied Talmud before…As long as you can "decode" (sound out) Hebrew characters (even without comprehension), SVARA is a great place to start your talmudic studies. The learning is rigorous, and you’ll be working hard, but Rabbi Lappe makes sure that all students, regardless of their Hebrew level, are able to keep up, and feel a sense of ownership of the texts. What is Talmud?Talmud is the enormous, nearly 2,000-year-old record of a small group of radical Jewish visionaries struggling to re-imagine how to live life after the assumptions of their world had crashed. This crash was the destruction of the Second Temple, the notion that God would always protect them, and certain ethical assumptions of their sacred text, the Bible. These radicals came to be known as “the Rabbis.” The Rabbis knew that crashes would continue to happen and laid out a uniquely Jewish methodology for upgrading the tradition when such future crashes challenged our survival or our ethical and moral assumptions. Study of the Talmud and the integration of its Jewish sensibility into one’s life is the Jewish tradition’s primary spiritual practice. What do you mean by queer?SVARA is committed to being a space where everyone can be active participants in learning the Jewish tradition and engaging in the constant process of evolving and upgrading its teachings and values. SVARA understands itself as queer in its effort to move towards a more just, inclusive and accessible world in which all people are able to live out their most fully human lives. Queer is about thinking, living, learning, and studying in radical ways—not only to challenge society’s norms related to gender and sexuality, but to speak the silences and render the invisible seen. Like Jewish insight, queer insight is drawn from the experience of being on the fringe. Not all gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people identify as queer. And lots of people who lead heterosexual lives bring radical ways of thinking and being to the table and do identify as queer. When all is said and done, it’s not about who you sleep with or what pronoun you use—it’s about how you think and how you live. Is SVARA a safe space?While we do not believe that any environment can claim to be a 100% “safe space,” we work very hard to create a fully inclusive and collaborative community in which the important and sometimes difficult issues we bring to the text from our queer life experience are not only welcomed, but seen as essential to the health of the Jewish tradition, the world and each other, and are dealt with openly, honestly, and compassionately. Our goal is to create a bet midrash (house of study) where queer folk are not only at the table, but fully in the room, present in all aspects of themselves and their life experience. We recognize that creating such a rare Jewish space will be an ongoing adventure, but we are committed to making it a reality. I do not identify as queer...That’s OK! SVARA is a queer space. The presence and perspective of those allies that may not identify as queer is important to community and the learning environment. Being an ally implies more than just being “tolerant,” though. It means being open to learning from the experience of queer people, and being willing to learn from your own experience of sometimes feeling “on the fringe.” Will I be the only person of color?Students come from a variety of backgrounds in terms of race and ethnicity. Though the majority of our current and past students identify as Caucasian, we are doing our best to create a diverse Jewish and allied community and are beginning more in-depth outreach to people of color within and outside the Jewish community. English is not my first language...Most of our students speak English as their first language, but approximately 10% do not. I identify as Reform, Reconstructionist, Renewal, Conservative, Egalitarian, Modern Orthodox, Hasidic, Sephardic, Just Jewish...SVARA is not affiliated with any denomination and strives to create a bet midrash (house of study) inclusive of and comfortable for students of all Jewish—as well as non-Jewish—backgrounds and beliefs. I am fluent in Hebrew/I can't utter a word of spoken Hebrew. Will I be the only one?We work to create a community of learners with a broad range of knowledge and experience. Some students will be fluent in spoken Hebrew, some will not speak at all, and most will fall somewhere in between. I'm not Jewish...SVARA welcomes learners of all faith traditions and SVARA’s classes typically include a significant minority of seminarians and laypeople of other-than-Jewish traditions, something which we feel enhances the learning environment enormously. I keep kosher... I am a vegetarian/vegan...Please let us know what your dietary needs are. We do our best to serve kosher vegetarian (with vegan options) food whenever possible. What about wheelchair accessibility?All course locations are fully accessible. I have a learning disabilty.SVARA has several long-time students with learning disabilities who have had positive and meaningful experiences in the past. We do our best to accommodate different learning styles and paces. Please let us know if you have a specific need. I am 18 years old... or I am 80 years old...Come! We value an intergenerational learning environment. Do you offer childcare?Unfortunately, at this time SVARA does not offer childcare for parents attending the courses. We are working hard to make this an option in the future. |
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