![[Achvat Amim.png]] # Achvat Amim Jewish Studies Spring 2026: # An Exploration of what "Judaism" Might Mean for Activism and Identity. - [[#Meeting 1: Isaiah - The Prophet of Silwan|Meeting 1: Isaiah - The Prophet of Silwan]] - [[#Meetings 2-3: Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch Meets Prof. Nandita Sharma|Meetings 2-3: Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch Meets Prof. Nandita Sharma]] - [[#Meeting 4: Avraham Abulafia and Prophetic Kabbalah|Meeting 4: Avraham Abulafia and Prophetic Kabbalah]] - [[#Meeting 5: The Mount of Zion - In Kabbalah and in Material Reality|Meeting 5: The Mount of Zion - In Kabbalah and in Material Reality]] - [[#Meeting 6: Breshit (Genesis) as Origin|Meeting 6: Breshit (Genesis) as Origin]] Feel free to contact me :) [email protected] ## Meeting 1: Isaiah - The Prophet of Silwan In our first meeting, we explored the City of David through the eyes of the 8th century BCE prophet Isaiah, and through the prism of the struggle against the destruction and Judaization of Silwan. We focused on Batan Al-Hawa Course materials: [[Isaiah - The Prophet of Silwan]] ## Meetings 2-3: Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch Meets Prof. Nandita Sharma In our exploration of Isaiah, we come up against some of the big questions: Why do we humans continuously dehumanize, victimize and destroy ourselves? What is the way forward? In these two sessions, we explored and mined various materials, seeking insights into the answers to these questions: 1) The Exodus story in the Bible. 2) Rabbi Shimshon Rafael's interpretation of that story as part of his struggle for human rights and his identifying the root of all evil with the the migrant/native distinction. 3) Nandita Sharma on nationalism. 4) Various alternative critical paradigms Course Materials: - [The Exodus story:](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hUolhh1FQNrpVHDQGpJ8UacTjbQH4LoL/view?usp=sharing) - [Selections from Hirsch](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pu9jauuzwxDktoywZS4oQMjcQ3BXTlwE/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109442640088116248966&rtpof=true&sd=true): - [Selections from Home Rule by Nandita Sharma](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lhE8BaLvckdKCdvfOfcKcpQchS2cJDzB/view?usp=sharing) - [Transcript of discussion with Sharma](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1weadb28uZDewselSRz_XSK4ygvzVjZlv/view?usp=sharing) - [[Critical Paradigms - Preface]] ## Meeting 4: Avraham Abulafia and Prophetic Kabbalah In this session, we explored the worldview and meditative practice of Rabbi Avraham Abulafia. His meditations were also a part of each of our sessions. Course Materials: [[Entering the Divine Name]] ## Meeting 5: The Mount of Zion - In Kabbalah and in Material Reality In this session, we explored the Kabbalistic symbolism associated with Mount Zion in the Kabbalistic work Shaarei Orah - The Gates of Light. We considered how the concept of flow - and its blockage - might illuminate the reality in Jerusalem Al-Quds today, and also how it might apply to our individual lives. Course materials: [[The Gates of Light on Zion Achvat Amim]] ## Meeting 6: Breshit (Genesis) as Origin First, we'll review these course materials. Then, we'll explore a reading of the opening of the Tanakh - creation - as a kind of potential anchor for our identity and values. We'll read the opening creation story ([Genesis Chapter 1 through 2:3](https://www.sefaria.org.il/Genesis.1.1?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en)). We'll visualize it. [[Visualizing Creation]] Can this story provide a kind of compass for the kind of life and being that we are looking for? Can it provide a kind of origin - or anchor - for our ideal of human flourishing?