The aim of Middle School Rabbinics is to open up Judaism’s rabbinic texts to the inquiry and exploration of our maturing students.  As complex and far-ranging as these texts – the Talmud (the central legal and theological text of the Jewish people), rabbinic midrashim (narratives), and subsequent commentaries – are, they are nevertheless accessible to study for all ages.  As such, our class will learn to read these texts in the original Hebrew (and some Aramaic!) and begin the formal process of understanding the rabbinic vision of living life Jewishly. This classroom will function as do classic batei midrash – that is, as typical houses of Jewish scholarship.  The students will learn about the historical and cultural milieu of the developing Talmud as well as immerse themselves in rabbinic texts.  They will learn to translate, debate translations, discern meaning, debate interpretation and begin to construct a three-dimensional comprehension of the religion and practices of the modern day.