Cosponsored by Hebrew Union College
8 sessions on Mondays, March 29–June 7, 2027
2:00–3:00 PM ET
Fee: $160
Minimum of 10 people required.
This course invites participants to explore Jewish and Israeli identity through the lens of Hebrew poetry across generations. Each session will focus on a different theme—Jerusalem, Shabbat, peoplehood, peace, prayer, the Hebrew language, God, the Holocaust, and more—bringing together poems from diverse voices and periods. With just a few short poems to read in advance, our time together will be devoted to close reading, thoughtful discussion, and shared reflection. Together, we will discover how Hebrew poetry gives enduring expression to the questions, hopes, and tensions at the heart of Jewish and Israeli life.
Rivki Rosner is a gifted teacher of Hebrew and literature and we are thrilled that she teaches courses for the CCAR! She is a faculty member at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and loves connecting with rabbis now working in North America. Rivki has a PhD in Hebrew Literature from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and wrote her dissertation on the topic of “Social and Moral Questions in Etgar Keret’s Literature,” a study of the combination of ethics and poetics in the Israeli author’s writing on a variety of topics such as army, gender, parenthood, and love. Rivki works at the Hartman Institute as co-editor of the Institute’s journal Ofakim, writes for the Ritual Center, and directs the alumni network of the Hazon program, which nurtures liberal, democratic Jewish leadership. Rivki is also an author: her debut book, At Once, was awarded the Ministry of Culture Prize for Emerging Writers, and her first children’s book is forthcoming in the coming year.
