There’s no need to choose between serious text study in the beit midrash and the the lived experience of Torah when you can have both. At Amudim, the analyses and theories of the beit midrash are complemented by hands-on experiences that deepen our understanding of halakhah, Jewish History, sociology and Israeli culture.
Our Shabbaton known as “Shabbat Ba-Teva” is applied halakhah at its best! As we build and cook on a mishnaic oven and prepare for Shabbat in nature under the stars, we apply all that we learned in the beit midrash about shehiya, hatmana, grufa, ketuma, tohen, hazarah, eruvin, hafrashat hallah, and tons of hilkhot kashrut.
In what is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, our students study the halakhot, art, and midrashim associated with safrut (scribal arts) on a weekly basis with a professional sofer stam.
Museum Tanakh class is held once a week, off-campus, at the Bible Lands Museum, where the latest archaeological discoveries bring Tanakh to life as we stand in front of the actual objects described in the text, giving us new perspective and fodder for analyzing it.
One of the highlights of the year at Amudim is the time we spend preparing for and leining Megillat Esther.
After learning about about the historical, scientific, and halakhic challenges of identifying the dye known in Tanakh and Hazal as tekhelet, we take part in the chemical process of producing the dye from the Murex Trunculus snail.
Where else but at Amudim is fruit-picking a halakhic, spiritual and intellectual experience? After learning the halakhot associated with the arba minim and crash course in choosing an etrog, we head out to an etrog orchard and pick our own etrogim for Sukkot.
Bringing the values of the beit midrash into the real world, students take up once-a-week internships in fields such as medicine, STEM, academia, archaeology, the arts, animal care and more.
Classes regularly take place at the National Library of Israel where we have the opportunity to examine kitvei yad (original manuscripts) and compare different versions of texts we study in class.
From celebrating the Ethiopian Sigd holiday and talking through controversial topics with Haredim in Bnei Brak to debating Karaites in Be’er Sheva and engaging Israelis and Palestinians in discussions about some of the most pressing issues that would ostensibly divide them, we meet and discuss ideology, politics, history and philosophy with people from all walks of life.
Coming together at Amudim are the seemingly disparate topics of mesorah and dentition, and their roles in recent kashrut controversies, such as the ones surrounding bison in the States, and the zebu, red deer, and the water buffalo in Israel.
AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON………
