This page is not available in English as this course is given in Swedish.
For information about the course, we refer to the Swedish course page.
Photo: Paideia/Canva.
The Talmud is one of the foundational texts of Judaism, and the key to understanding Rabbinic thought. It is, however, an exceptionally challenging text to study, comprising complex philosophical, intellectual and legal debate in a format that is unfamiliar to many.
In this course, we will learn and practice techniques of reading and understanding that will help to unlock this most rewarding corpus of Jewish text.
Course structure
The course structure consists of lectures and chevruta (traditional paired learning).
Prior knowledge
The course is given in English.
The course is aimed at participants who have some previous experience of Jewish text studies.
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.
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This class is a deep dive into the work of acclaimed Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman (1950-2015) through a Jewish lens.
Born in Brussels, the daughter of Polish Holocaust survivors, Akerman was a prolific and relentlessly innovative director of over forty films (short, medium, and feature length) spanning styles from non-narrative avant-garde shorts to fiction, documentary, musical comedy, and literary adaptation. She is now regarded as one of the most significant directors and Jewish artists of the post-war generation. Her most famous work, Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, was ranked the number one film of all time by Sight and Sound’s 2022, the first time a woman director received the award. Her movies are collectively celebrated for their original approach to filmmaking, gender, exile, displacement, and religion.
Akerman resisted the “Jewish” label in her work. However, many of her films reference Jewish texts, explore life in the Jewish diaspora of Europe, New York, and Tel Aviv, or document the trauma and experience of the Holocaust. This class will pair her films with texts on/from Jewish ritual, philosophy, literature, and scripture to enhance our vision of her work and deepen engagement with Jewish perspectives and questions on living meaningfully.
Course structure
The course structure consists of film screenings, presentations, and class discussions.
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
Zoe Kelly-Nacht holds a Ph.D. in religious thought from Boston University, an M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. from Barnard College, Columbia University. She specializes in the intersections of religion, literature, and film. Zoe grew up in New York City, and prior to moving to Stockholm taught religious studies courses at Hunter College at the City University of New York and Marymount Manhattan College. She now lives in Stockholm with her partner and two small children.
Photo: ©Chantal Akerman, behind the scenes of her documentary DIS-MOI, 1980.
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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
More information about profile courses
This page is not available in English as this course is given in Swedish.
For information about the course, we refer to the Swedish course page.
Photo: Front of the book “Judiska städer. En europeisk läsebok” by Anders Hammarlund (Carlsson Bokförlag). Omslaget är skapat av Petter Antonisen. Omslagsbild: Israeliterna bygger städerna Pitom och Ramses. Ur Codex hebraicus 37, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg.
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.
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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.
About the teacher
Liam Elion is an Israeli trombonist, double-bassist and composer based in Europe. He released his debut album “Almost Free!” in 2023 on Varva Records and Music and is currently working in several projects as a sideman. Liam is a graduate of the Global Jazz Institute and the Jazz and Gender Justice Institute at Berklee College of Music (2023) and is pursuing a master’s degree in jazz performance via the EUJam program.
Photo: Canva/AI.
More information about profile courses
This page is not available in English as this course is given in Swedish.
For information about the course, we refer to the Swedish course page.
Photo: From the book “Änderungen der Familienamen der Prager Juden in Jahre 1788”.
This page is not available in English as this course is given in Swedish.
For information about the course, we refer to the Swedish course page.
Photo: Mikaela Rhodin och Jean Hessel i Stockholms Jiddisch Teateramator’ns uppsättning av Der Inspektor (2020). Joel Wolfson.
This page is not available in English as this course is given in Swedish.
For information about the course, we refer to the Swedish course page.
Photo: Anna Riwkin-Brick, Själagårdsgatan 19 i Gamla stan (idag Judiska museet i Stockholm) JUDF00474.