MITZVOT  – THE COMMANDMENTS: WHAT AND WHY? (ONLINE)

The Torah contains 613 of them, and some people commonly refer to them as good deeds. But is that really a good description?

In this course, we will learn how the unique relationship between the Jewish people and their God is constituted by both the written and oral components of the Torah, how our observance of mitzvot has grown and transformed through history, and what relevance these ideas might have in a modern, secular society. 

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

 

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject is needed.

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

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: Foto: Paideia/Canva.

Frequently Asked Questions

In this course we will explore Arab Jewish music from the 1700s right up to 2025, from liturgical poetry to Israeli Mizrahi rock, from Marrakech to Tel Aviv. How have Arab Jews sung, prayed, and partied in Arabic indicating a spirited equality in the Arab world alongside Muslims and Christians?

Throughout the course we will listen (and shake it!) to dozens of incredible and unforgettable songs while learning a small portion of the historical and social context these songs were written and performed in.

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

 

Course structure 

The course will be taught in lecture style with expectation that participants will have listened to song recordings prior to each session. Some small popular media articles will also be shared prior to sessions.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject is needed. 

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 

Maor Oz is a PhD student at the University of Toronto in the Department for the Study of Religion and the Centre for Jewish Studies. His research has focused on the media representation of Arab Jews in Israeli society, in addition to the role of Arabic in modern Mizrahi Jewish culture in Israel. His doctoral research focuses on Jewish food culture and migration in the modern Mediterranean.

Photo: Iraqi Party, Fiona Murphy, from the film “Remember Baghdad”

Frequently Asked Questions

COEXISTENCE, POLARIZATION AND DIFFERENCE – CONTEMPORARY JEWISH PERSPECTIVES (ONLINE)

In this course we will explore the meanings of coexistence, difference, and polarization through a contemporary Jewish lens, with emphasis upon the thought of Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020) and Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972). In a post-October 7th era that may often appear intolerant and frustrating, how are we to make sense of these realities?

As a response to this question, this course views critical (and philosophical) reflection to be a form of conflict prevention and/or de-escalation, with relevance not only for politics, but also for our interpersonal relationships with friends, family, and co-workers. While mediation and conflict resolution techniques may help resolve disagreements that have an identifiable cause, what happens in contexts of political polarization where hateful rhetoric and uncivil dialogue may frustrate dialogue from the start? A need thus crystalizes, as this course suggests, for an alternative approach, and ideally one conceived prior to the encounter with the other.

To complement our task we will review several paradigmatic instances from the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. 

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

 

Course structure

This course will be interactive, collaborative, and discussion-based. To study text in guided chevruta (learning pairs) for various exercises and processing is part of the course structure. 

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

Both new and previous participants are welcome to apply. No prior knowledge about the subject is needed. 

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

Jordan Spencer Jacobs is a Phd candidate in Religious Studies at the Universidad Complutese de Madrid and is a researcher at the Center for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University. His dissertation examines the idea of knowing and not-knowing in the thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel and its relevance for interpersonal contexts today. A trained mediator, he holds an MA in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence from Brandeis University, and has worked professionally in the fields of peacebuilding and restorative justice in public schools.

Photo: Pixabay.

Frequently Asked Questions

THE NIGUN – WORDLESS MELODIES IN THE JEWISH TRADITION (ONLINE)

Nigunim are wordless, repetitive melodies intended to inspire emotional and spiritual transcendence. A large part of the Hasidic musical tradition, they can be vastly different musically and are often rooted in Jewish text, lifecycle events or significant times in the Jewish calendar. At each session we will learn a couple of nigunim and explore how they might weave into Jewish practice.

Music is a universal language, the nigun can be an inclusive access point to Judaism for those who might be unfamiliar with Hebrew or struggle to connect with a religion that is so text-based.

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

 

Course structure 

No previous musical experience is required. With everyone but the teacher on mute, you can sing to your heart’s content (even if you can’t sing!) in the comfort of your own home. If you fancy playing along by ear on an instrument, please do! Or if you’d prefer to just listen and let yourself be carried along by the music, that’s great too.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject or previous musical experience is required.

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

Ayala Gottlieb Alter is a Cantorial student, Singer, and Cellist from London. An accomplished concert artist and function musician, she served as Cantor for The Great Synagogue of Stockholm in 2024 and performed at The Riksdag in January 2025. Ayala is currently working towards the European Academy for Jewish Liturgy’s Baal T’filla Diploma and lending her voice to Masorti Judaism UK’s exciting new Shema Koleinu Tefillah (prayer) skills online resource.

Photo: Paideia/Canva.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you enjoy Israeli music and want to sing in Hebrew, this is the course for you.

Experience the richness of the Hebrew language through song. In this course we approach the language and have the opportunity to deepen previous knowledge by starting from and working with song texts in Hebrew.

Together we read, sing and listen to songs related to Jewish holidays, Israel, seasons and Jewish history. The classes offer opportunities for fun learning and focus on the participants’ interests. 

Bruchim habaim, welcome!

Click here to see a compilation of all courses in Hebrew that the school offers for the fall semester of 2025.

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

 

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

Beginners as well as Hebrew speakers are welcome to apply. The course is suitable for everyone regardless of their level of Hebrew. For those who are beginners in Hebrew, song texts with transcribed text are offered.

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

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: Paideia/Canva. 

Frequently Asked Questions

This course is a continuation of the previous Fashion and Identity course, which explored fashion from classic time until the 19th century. In this follow-up, we turn our focus to the 20th and 21st centuries, examining how fashion reflected—and influenced—social, political, and cultural change.

Each lesson explores one decade, from the 1900s through the 2000s, and breaks down the values, aesthetics, and key events of the time. We’ll look at how fashion echoed everything from wars and revolutions to feminism, queerness, and pop culture. Art, music, film, and politics will help us understand the broader visual world of each era.

In the final sessions, we’ll step into the 21st century and the future, asking how technology, sustainability, identity politics, and artifical intelligence are reshaping the way we dress and design. What does the future of fashion look like? And who will define it?

From flappers to punks, power suits to digital couture—this course gives participants the tools to critically explore fashion as a cultural language, decade by decade and into the future.

 

Course structure

Visual presentation is the main method used in the course. Participants are asked to prepare a short presentation at the end of the course as a final task.

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. Suitable both for returning as well as new participants.

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: AI-generated picture by Roei Derhi, fashion show in the 21st century.

Frequently Asked Questions

This course explores how art, language, and symbols have been used to create myths, shape fears, and mark groups as “other.” Based on three popular lectures from a previous course, it has now been expanded into a full exploration of how visual culture has been used to demonize, exclude, and control.

We will examine how Jews, witches, Sodomy, and the devil have appeared in Western art, focusing on the use of images in religious, political, and cultural propaganda. Through works by artists like Goya, Salvator Rosa, and others, participants will explore how images helped shape persecution, moral panic, and cultural memory.

Topics include:

  • Antisemitism in visual culture
  • The image of the witch and the female body
  • The devil in art and theology
  • The portrayal of sodomy in history and art

Participants will leave the course with a deeper awareness of how words and images construct power—and how art can both reflect and challenge systems of oppression.

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

 

Course structure

Lecture and image analysis, with space for discussion and reflection make up the course structure. Participants will be encouraged to engage critically with historical artworks and contemporary connections.

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No prior knowledge about the subject is needed. Application is open to anyone interested in culture, politics, identity, and how images shape reality.

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

Roei Derhi is a fashion 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: Witches going to their Sabbath (1878) by Luis Ricardo Falero

Each session, we look at that week’s Torah reading, or Parsha, for insight into our contemporary lives, our relationships and our inner worlds. The texts and commentaries guide us in creating and exploring an expressive, creative vocabulary of symbols and marks on paper, using various art materials and techniques of art therapy. 

The course is given in collaboration with the Jewish Community in Stockholm.

 

Course structure

The methods used in the course are lectures, discussions and artmaking. 

Prior knowledge

The course is given in English.

No artistic or textual experience is needed, the course is also suitable to those with previous knowledge of the weekly Torah reading, Parsha.

Course material

Course material is included in the cost for this course.

About the teacher

Esther Amster moved to Stockholm as a Rabbanit in the Jewish Community and lives here with her husband, Rabbi Mattias Amster, and their children. Esther received her Masters degree in Art Therapy from the School of Visual Arts in NYC, and has studied Jewish texts, thought and history at schools in the US and Israel, receiving her BA from Touro College.

She has taught studio art for over ten years, led art therapy groups with a focus on identity and empowerment, and taught Jewish texts with special attention to symbolism in Jewish thought and practice. 

Photo: Canva/Paideia.

Frequently Asked Questions

Under what circumstances was Israel born and what is it today – a dream come true out of the ashes of the Holocaust or an attempt at creating an utopia on its way to become another Middle-Eastern failed state? When did it stop being a social-democratic welfare state and become a neo-liberal market economy? And is there any chance for peace with its neighbors?

The course will take us on a journey through the historic events, the big questions, ideologies and vital issues, the conflicts, the violence and the wars, the leaders, the prophets and political parties and the people who shaped 75 years of Israeli history. 

 

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

Born and raised in Israel and currently living in Stockholm, David Stavrou is a journalist, a guide and a teacher. As a journalist he writes for Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz and for other publications about Sweden, Scandinavia and Europe and about issues related to democracy, human rights and genocide worldwide. His book, “An Israeli Cross”, which he co-authored with his brother, Daniel Stavrou, was published in 2014 by Israeli publisher Indibook. His second book about the Israeli diaspora in Europe, “Leaving Zion”, was published in 2020 by Israeli publisher Pardes. He is married and a father of four boys.

Photo: Haifa, Canva.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yizkor Books have been published since 1943 to commemorate entire Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust. They have been published mainly in Israel, in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English. There have also been publications in other languages, such as Hungarian and German. The books were published by individuals, various organizations, and even school children, reaching peak numbers in the 1960s and 70s.

The books include a variety of texts, stories, historical overviews, poems, maps, drawings, photographs, and necrologies (lists of Holocaust victims) of the people and the institutions that made up the now-gone Jewish community. The books were created based on the idea that every person in the community was worth remembering, including even people from the lowest social strata, from the poorest to the richest. Yizkor books are an essential source of knowledge about Jewish life in Eastern Europe in the generation before the Holocaust, as well as during the Holocaust itself. In many cases, the books are the only source we have on the life and death of individuals, who would otherwise be lost to oblivion.

In this course, we will examine Yizkor books in person, take a look at their history and the people who published them, as well as discuss the role the books filled in Jewish commemoration of the Holocaust and its victims in the wake of the complete destruction of entire Jewries, and how they approached some areas of society, such as people with disabilities and Jewish-Gentile relations. We will also talk about how valuable books have been used as an essential source of information about Jewish victims of the Holocaust, as well as how we can use the books today to find information about family, ancestors and roots.

The New York Public Library has a substantial collection of Yizkor books available digitally online at Yizkor Book Collection – NYPL Digital Collections. 

 

Course structure

The methods used are lectures, discussions and examining actual Yizkor books in class. 

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

Lior Becker, PhD, is a modern historian, teacher, and interdisciplinary scholar. His areas of expertise are Holocaust history, historiography and memory, 19th and 20th-century intellectual history, genocide studies, and Eastern-European Jewish history and culture. He has long experience teaching teens and adults in both Sweden and Israel. 

Photo: Iosif Perlman and his sisters and brothers, from Centropa.