Rabbinic Literature
Love, Sex, and Relationships in Jewish Tradition
What the rabbis can teach us about intimacy
Educator: Rabbi Avi Strausberg
Course Details
Sessions
10
Recommended for
Everyone
Description
We turn to our tradition for answers to the greatest questions of our times: how to handle the messy business of love, sex, and relationships.
In this course, we’ll dive into texts across the Jewish canon, from Torah to Mishnah, Talmud to the Legal Codes, exploring questions of “What does it mean to love someone,” “What does a holy, healthy sex life look like,” and “Is there such thing as permitted, sacred sex outside of marriage?”
No topics are off limits for the rabbis! We turn to our Jewish texts as a jumping off point for our own exploration of what it means to be in a relationship.
Sample Materials
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sheet.
Educator
Rabbi Avi Strausberg is the Director of National Learning Initiatives at Hadar, and is based in Washington, DC. Previously, she served as the Director of Congregational Learning of Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, Minnesota. Avi studied at Hadar as a year fellow, and served on our summer faculty in 2014. She received her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College in Boston and is a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She also holds a Masters in Jewish Education. While pursuing her studies, Avi was honored to serve as a rabbinic intern at Kehillath Israel and Temple Sinai. She has taught students of different ages and backgrounds at Kehillath Israel, Temple Sinai, Makor, and Hadar. Additionally, Avi has worked as a chaplain intern at Hebrew Senior Life and organized an anti-trafficking campaign as a rabbinic fellow at T’ruah. Energized by engaging creatively with Jewish text, she has written several theatre pieces inspired by the Torah and maintains a Daf Yomi haiku blog in which she writes daily Talmudic haikus. Avi is most grateful for her wife, Chana, and two children, Ori and Niv.
