History and Torah Class

The premise of Herb’s adult education classes at KH is that to understand what the Torah “meant” in its own time, one needs to understand it not as having been “given” at Sinai, but as having emerged from within the historical development of ancient Israel.

This 6-session class is the first of three offerings (if possible, continuing in 2024-25), looking at the three distinct law codes of the Torah. Each sequence of classes will present sections from the Book of Kings and passages from one of the law codes, so that we can understand a particular historical background as a possible/probable setting for those particular Torah laws.

The first sequence will focus on the prophetic careers of Elijah, Elisha, Amos and Hosea as the background for understanding The Covenant Code, which was eventually included in the Book of Exodus.

Class I: Exploring the Book of Kings as History and Ideology
Class 2: Prophet & King: Elijah & Ahab/Jezebel
Class 3: Prophet & King: Elisha & Jehu
Class 4: Prophets & Society: Amos & Hosea
Class 5: Law as Reorientation: What is the Covenant Code, Sefer ha-B’rit?
Class 6: Law in the Context of Covenant: What Makes the Covenant Code Uniquely Israelite?

Herb encourages students to buy The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford Univ. Press.), which uses the JPS translation of the Tanach and is annotated by leading Jewish biblical scholars with lots of useful historical information.

Herb has loved teaching his previous Torah classes at KH; this will be his third. His classes require advance preparation with a partner for about 1.5 hours per week, so please sign up only if you are willing to undertake that level of commitment for the duration of the class.