In the Image of God: Embodiment in — and of — the Rabbinic Texts

The Talmud is heady, cerebral stuff; It seems we Jews have been “living in our heads” for millennia. Can we read the rabbinic texts as an invitation to enter into spiritual life through the physical experience of our bodies? The Talmud and classical midrash are ambivalent about the physical body: on the one hand, the body is full of dirty things and unholy urges, but on the other, are we not created in the image of God?

Alternating between text study and Awareness Through Movement®, this course will explore whether it is possible to physically embody these Rabbinic concepts. Texts are drawn from the Talmud and classic midrash (provided in both original and translation) and movement explorations are drawn from the Feldenkrais Method® of Somatic Education.