Ever wondered why crinolines ballooned so wide? Why did Romans drape togas, courtiers powdered wigs, or Victorians cinched corsets so tight? What did Jewish people use to wear in different times? This course is a fast-paced journey from classical antiquity to the late 19th century, exploring how fashion, art, and society continually shaped one another. We’ll decode silhouettes and textiles through paintings, prints, and surviving garments—from tunics and togas to ruffs, panniers, tailcoats, and bustles—asking what they reveal about identity, technology, trade, politics, and power.

Through lively discussion and close looking, you’ll learn to “read” dress as historical evidence and see how past trends still echo in today’s culture and wardrobes. Along the way, we’ll trace a distinct Jewish thread—examining dress, law, and custom from antiquity to Victorian Europe—to see how diaspora, faith, and migration shaped what Jews wore and how they were portrayed.

The course is given in collaboration with Paideia – the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden.

Course structure

The course will be taught through visual lectures, group discussions, and guided analysis of artworks, historical portraits, and fashion imagery. We’ll explore silhouettes, fabric representation, and stylistic codes in visual culture from Antiquity to the 19th century.

Each session encourages participants to observe, decode, and discuss how clothing reflects status, gender, identity, and politics throughout history.

As part of the course participants are given the assignment to create a 5-minute presentation.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject is needed. This course is open to anyone interested in fashion, art, or cultural history. 

To apply, you need basic computer skills and knowledge of how to use the digital platform Zoom. The school offers Zoom manuals and a training opportunity before the start of the course.

Course material

Course material is included in the cost for this course.

About the teacher

Roei Derhi is a designer and lecturer specializing in the intersection of fashion, art, and cultural history. He has worked with institutions across Europe and the Middle East, and his teaching focuses on how visual culture creates meaning, identity, and power structures. His recent research focuses on antisemitism and the politics of representation in visual media.

Photo: Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, Jean-Baptiste Gautier Dagoty, 1775.

​​In this six-part course, we explore movement as a space for curiosity, awareness, and ease. Starting with gentle internal listening and embodied exploration based on the Ilan Lev Method and Feldenkrais, we attune to the body’s intelligence through play, imagination, and attention.

From this somatic foundation, we move into dynamic guided dance improvisation, exploring textures, emotions, and the unknown. Drawing inspiration from Gaga and Viewpoints, the practice awakens spatial and communicative expression, inviting participants to connect inner experience with creative movement.

The teaching is grounded in inquiry — learning through questions rather than answers — fostering curiosity, play, and embodied imagination, where movement becomes both a personal and shared discovery.

Feldenkrais and Ilan Lev are somatic methods from Israel, each with a Jewish philosophical approach to learning, awareness, and transformation. In this class, we explore these ideas through movement, sensation, and embodied discovery.

The course is given in central Stockholm, not at Paideia’s premises. The address will be announced in the admission letter, if you’re admitted to the course.

Course structure 

“Embodied imagination” is a Dance course where we move through exercises and guided improvisation and investigate the intersections between Feldenkrais technique, Ilan Lev method and Dance. 

The dance practice is drawn from the teachers professional experiences as dancers and techniques like Gaga, View points among others. With principles from Feldenkrais and Ilan Lev method they have developed their own dance and choreographic language that they will share with you during this course.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject is needed. Application is open to all interested in dance, movement research, and to spark their imagination and creativity. 

About the teachers 

Julia Kraus is a choreographer, dance artist and Feldenkrais practitioner currently based in Sweden. With one foot in Israel and one in Sweden she’s been working with choreographers such as Roy Assaf, Mari Carrasco, Rotem Tashach, Maya Brinner, project with Batsheva ensemble, among others. As a choreographer she’s been creating both her own- and commissioned work for stages like Dramaten, Riksteatern, Scenkonst Sörmland, Zebra Dans, Orionteatern among other. She´s at the moment developing a dancework where she explores her jewish roots and identity.

Sarah Stanley is an Ilan Lev Method practitioner, yoga teacher, and dance artist with over fifteen years of international performance experience in the US, Europe, and Asia, including work with Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, Gallim Dance, Örjan Andersson, Jefta van Dinther, Kat Válastur and John Heginbotham among others.  Sarah is a co-founder of FRAME, an association exploring the intersection between dance and well-being through workshops and artistic productions.

Photo: Thomas Zamolo 

MODERN HEBREW: HEADLINES AND BEYOND – EXPLORING THE NEWS (ONLINE)

This course is designed for those who are already fluent in spoken and written Hebrew, and who wish to maintain and deepen their knowledge of the language by reading and discussing news articles and current events. During the course, we use material from various Hebrew-language newspapers, as well as TV reports and news programs.

We read texts on topics such as politics, society, culture and global events, and discuss the content together in the group. Active participation is important, as is the willingness and ability to engage in conversations in Hebrew about what we read. The classes are taught in Hebrew and welcome participants who speak both English and Swedish in addition to Hebrew.

The course is given in collaboration with Paideia – the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden.

Bruchim habaim, welcome!

Click here to see a compilation of all courses in Hebrew that the school offers for the spring semester of 2026.

Course structure

Participants are expected to have regular attendance at the course sessions and participate in discussions and exercises with other participants. Your active presence is important, as well as the willingness and ability to participate in conversations in Hebrew about what we read. Homework between sessions is part of the course structure.

Prior knowledge

The course is taught in Hebrew and welcomes participants who speak both English and Swedish in addition to Hebrew.

The course is aimed at those who are already fluent in spoken and written Hebrew, and who want to maintain and deepen their knowledge of the language. You need to be able to read a newspaper article in Hebrew (for sample please see below), understand the content you read and be able to discuss the article in the group.

Please indicate prior knowledge in your application. You can test your level by reading a sample article in Simanim magazine.

To apply for this course, you need basic computer skills and knowledge of how to use the digital platform Zoom. The school offers Zoom manuals and a training opportunity before the start of the course.

Course material

Course material in the form of digital material is included in the cost. The teacher will provide digital copies of articles. You can choose to take out your own subscription (not included in the course cost) to the digital magazine Simanim, which you will then purchase yourself. You will receive more information if you are accepted to the course.

About the teacher

Anat Samuelson was born and raised in Jerusalem, where she studied vocal studies at the Academy of Music and pedagogy at David Yelin College. She has been teaching Hebrew to adults, youth and children for over 10 years. Anat has a passion for the Hebrew language and a special interest in the origins and roots of Hebrew. Anat sings and performs in various ensembles and studies Kabbalah at Mishkan Hakavana in Israel.

Photo: Pixabay.

HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE JEWISH ENLIGHTENMENT (HASKALAH) IN CENTRAL EUROPE (ONLINE)

After an introductory discussion of the question “What is Enlightenment?”, the course will explore the boundaries between Haskalah (the Jewish Enlightenment) and the broader Enlightenment. We will also examine how the Christian discourse on Jews contrasted with new Jewish self-definitions during the eighteenth century.

Focusing on topics such as language, social discipline, education, the press, and gender, the course will analyze how cultural ideas and practices were transferred between Jewish and non-Jewish societies, offering insight into the complex interactions and exchanges of this fascinating period.

The course is given in collaboration with the Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg and Paideia – The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden.

Course structure

Close reading and discussion of source texts (in English translation).
Participants need to calculate for approximately one hour of preparation work at home before each class. 

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject is needed. A readiness to engage with texts is desirable. 

To apply for this course, you need basic computer skills and knowledge of how to use the digital platform Zoom. The school offers Zoom manuals and a training opportunity before the start of the course.

Course material

Course material is included. Additional reading may be recommended by the teacher and is if so to be acquired by the participants. The teacher will inform you of this, if you get accepted to the course.

About the teacher

Louise Hecht is a Jewish historian, trained at the University of Vienna and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her teaching and research focuses on the cultural and legal history of Jews in central Europe since the seventeenth century.

Photo: Lessing and Lavater as guests in the home of Moses Mendelssohn. Painting by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, 1856.

During this course, you will learn to play and sing Jewish songs from different traditions: Israeli folk songs, Ashkenazi music (from Eastern Europe) and Sephardi music (from Spain and North Africa).

Our starting point is based on the talents you already have: maybe you play an instrument and want to learn even more, or you like to sing. Any level of instrumentalist and singer is welcome!

Course structure

We will work with music sheets and recordings. Sheet music and/or recordings will be sent to the participants ahead of time. Participants are expected to learn them and come prepared to play them together in class.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject is needed. The course welcomes both former and new participants.

Course material

Course material is included in the cost for this course.

Participants bring their own instruments.

Photo: Canva/AI.

ART THERAPY INSPIRED BY JEWISH ARTISTS: CONNECT THROUGH YOUR HEART

This course offers a 6-sessions workshop series. We will be exploring the intersection of art therapy and Jewish artists or Jewish themes.

Participants will engage with the works and techniques of influential Jewish artists while embarking on a personal therapeutic journey through creative expression.

Course structure 

The course consists of joint observation and examination of the different artists’ paintings, creative work and painting, and sharing circle.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject is needed.

Course material

Course material is included in the cost for this course.

About the teacher 

Einat Daskal is originally from Israel, and has been living in Sweden for the past 10 years. As an art and CBT therapist, she has worked with different populations.

Einat loves to connect and support people through color and creative expression and help people find different ways to connect with their inner self and learn and explore their emotional world.

Photo: Marc Chagall: Over the City.

Jews throughout the centuries have expressed their faith through prayer possibly more than any other medium. This course will analyze how the Siddur – the Jewish prayer book, was compiled, and how it changed organically over two millennia, going back to Tannaic and Talmudic sources.

This course is not a prayer tutorial, but rather an in-depth analysis of the prayer texts and their relation to the laws of prayer found in the Mishna and the Talmud.

The course is given in collaboration with Paideia – the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

Hebrew knowledge is helpful but no prior knowledge or Hebrew language skills are required. The texts are read in English, if they are available in translation.

To apply for this course, you need basic computer skills and knowledge of how to use the digital platform Zoom. The school offers Zoom manuals and a training opportunity before the start of the course.

Course material

Course material is included in the cost for this course.

About the teacher

Joseph Shain studied at a yeshiva in Jerusalem and at Bar Ilan University. His interests revolve around oral tradition in early rabbinical Judaism and how it transformed into written form. Joseph drafts and prosecutes patent applications at Grand Patentbyrå AB, a Swedish intellectual property firm that he founded himself.

Photo: Canva.

What exactly is the Feldenkrais Method? Is it perhaps Jewish Yoga, or 20th-century Yiddish Judo?

Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984), hailing from East European Jewry, was not only a physicist, but also a Judo master. Struggling with a debilitating knee injury, he embarked on a remarkable journey of self-rehabilitation, teaching himself how to walk again. Later on, by drawing from his experience in Judo, observing infant motor and sensory development, and studying several disciplines, he went on to develop a method aimed at improving functions (such as standing, walking, breathing, and perceiving) by enhancing self-awareness.

In our sessions, you will delve into 11 Awareness Through Movement lessons crafted by Dr. Feldenkrais himself. Through these sessions, you’ll unravel unconscious holding patterns that impede your vitality, discovering newfound, natural modes of movement. This journey isn’t just about physicality; it’s about forging a deeper connection with your body and, in turn, with your entire being. 

While the experiential aspect forms the cornerstone of our course, we’ll also explore insights from written and recorded sources about the Feldenkrais Method. 

Come and learn by way of sensing, noticing, and studying – the Feldenkrais way!

The course is given in collaboration with Paideia – The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden. 

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

Both new and previous participants are welcome to apply. 

To apply for this course, you need basic computer skills and knowledge of how to use the digital platform Zoom. The school offers Zoom manuals and a training opportunity before the start of the course.

Course material

Course material is included in the cost for this course.

About the teacher

Elisabetta Abate is a Feldenkrais® practitioner. As a young woman, she explored uncountable paths towards a better body-mind integration, until she found out that the Feldenkrais Method enables her to feel at home in herself and the situations she’s in. Thus, she joined the III Amsterdam International Feldenkrais Teachers Training (2008-2012), led by Lawrence W. Goldfarb, Ph.D., a direct pupil of Dr. Feldenkrais. Since 2009 she has been teaching the Method to groups and individuals and is currently volunteering in the working group “Feldenkrais and Scientific Research” of the International Feldenkrais Federation. After earning a Ph.D. in Oriental Studies with a specialization in Hebrew and Jewish Studies (Venice 2009), she most happily attended the Paideia One-Year Program in Jewish studies 2009-2010.

Photo: International Feldenkrais Federation.

Most of us find reading the Torah, the five books of Moses, an exceptionally challenging task. We are most often reading a translation, large portions of it seem to deal with topics that are of little relevance to a modern reader, and perhaps most challenging of all, we come to it with so many preconceptions that we cannot even begin to really listen to it.

In this course, we will systematically un-learn the ways in which we habitually read text, allowing us to encounter the Torah on its own terms. We will learn specific tools for reading and unpacking the multilayered text of the Torah with a view to discovering our own insights into it.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject is needed.

Course material

Course material is included in the cost for this course.

About the teacher

Eiran Davies is a rabbi with roots in London, England. He has studied at Montefiori endowment in London, Midrash sepharadi in Jerusalem and Yeshivat hamivtar in Efrat. He is also an artist, beekeeper and trained goldsmith.

Photo: Paideia folkhögskola.

This course continues the study of Modern Arabic for participants who already have completed a beginners’ level or have equivalent knowledge of the Arabic alphabet, pronunciation, and simple sentence structures. Using “Al-Kitaab Part One” textbook, participants will develop their skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking while expanding their understanding of Arabic language and culture through authentic texts, dialogues, and multimedia resources.

Al-Kitaab Part One offers an integrated approach to language learning that combines formal and colloquial Arabic (Egyptian and Levantine) using color-coded vocabulary and dialogues. Through authentic texts, video stories, and cultural contexts, participants develop comprehension and communication skills in real-life situations.

The course will cover key grammatical structures, verb forms, and sentence patterns, while introducing more advanced vocabulary related to everyday life, education, media, and work. Participants will read and discuss short authentic texts, watch dialogues, and complete online interactive exercises through the companion website that accompanies the textbook.

The aim of the course is to help participants move from beginner to intermediate proficiency, enabling them to:

• Understand and use more complex grammatical and lexical structures.
• Communicate in spoken and written Arabic with growing fluency and confidence.
• Recognize and appreciate variation between formal and colloquial Arabic.
• Read simple authentic texts and express opinions about familiar topics.

The course is given in collaboration with Paideia – the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden.

Course structure

The course consists of interactive lessons combining explanation, pair and group work, conversation practice, listening comprehension, and reading of texts from the course book. Each session focuses on practical communication and reinforcement of grammar and vocabulary through active use.

Participants need to allocate approximately 2–3 hours per week for home studies to prepare for the next class, including reading, writing, and listening assignments.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

Participants who have completed a beginners’ Arabic course at Paideia folkhögskola or have equivalent knowledge of basic grammar, vocabulary, and reading skills. Previous participants may join if they wish to continue their progression.

To apply, you need basic computer skills and knowledge of how to use the digital platform Zoom. The school offers Zoom manuals and a training opportunity before the start of the course.

Course material

All course material is not included in the cost for this course. Participants need to purchase the course book on their own. Participants need to have access to the book for the first class.

Course book:

• “Al-Kitaab Part One”, Third Edition with Website (Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal, Abbas Al-Tonsi). 

About the teacher

Michael has been studying and researching Arabic for over 20 years, with a particular interest in the similarities and differences between Hebrew and Arabic. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and a master’s degree in Hebrew Language from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, giving him a strong foundation in Semitic languages. In Israel, Michael taught Hebrew as a second language at leading academic institutions. He relocated to Sweden with his family two years ago, where he now teaches Hebrew and Arabic, both online and on-site. He also delivers lectures on the history, culture, and evolution of the Arabic language, and the religion of Islam.

Photo: Canva.