Join our inaugural slate of online educational offerings, beginning April 2026. Whether you’re eager to broaden your Jewish knowledge, delve into contemporary issues, or explore classical Jewish texts with expert guides, the RRC Beit Midrash offers inspiring ways to deepen your learning journey.  

Spring 2026 Courses  

• $136 for the four-session Reconstructionist Judaism course  
• $118 for all three-session courses  

Reconstructionist Judaism  

Sundays, 5–6:30 PM EDT | April 12, 19, 26 & May 3  

An overview of Reconstructionist history, thought, and practice, taught by scholars and leaders of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Reconstructing Judaism.  

This four-session course guides you through the essential dimensions of Reconstructionist Jewish life:  

• April 12 — Introduction and History with Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D
• April 19 — Behaving with Rabbi Alex Weissman  
• April 26 — Believing with Rabbi William Plevan, Ph.D.
• May 3 — Belonging with Nora Chernov, Rabbinic Intern 

Meet the Instructors  

Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., RRC ’99, is the first woman rabbi to head a Jewish congregational union and a Jewish seminary, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., became president and CEO of Reconstructing Judaism in 2014. She has drawn on her training as a rabbi and historian to become the Reconstructionist movement’s leading voice in the public square.

Rabbi Alex Weissman, RRC ’17, serves as Director of Community Life and Mekhinah at RRC, where he teaches Mishnah, practical rabbinics, and Reconstructionism. He has previously served as Rabbi of Congregation Agudas Achim, Director of Organizing at T’ruah, and Senior Jewish Educator at Brown RISD Hillel.  

Rabbi  William Plevan, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Contemporary Jewish Thought at RRC, director of its Israel program, and the 2023–24 Democracy Fellow. He writes and teaches on contemporary Jewish theology, ethics, and political thought, and is currently at work on a book about the ideal of community in Martin Buber’s thought.  

Nora Chernov (she/her) is a student at the Reconstructist Rabbinical College where she serves as the Advanced Intern for Community Life and assists in the RRC Beit Midrash. A passionate student and teacher of Jewish thought and text, Nora grew up at the Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore and attended Camp Havaya as both a camper and staff member.

An Introduction to the Zohar  

Tuesdays, 7–8:30 PM EDT | May 5, 12 & 19 with Professor Joel Hecker  

The Zohar is the central and canonical text of the Jewish mystical tradition, a mystical midrash of extraordinary depth, beauty, and influence. In this three-session course, Professor Hecker will introduce you to the Zohar’s unique literary style, its rich theological models, and its spiritual, ethical, and mystical aims. Together, we’ll explore how the Zohar’s creative interpretive voice strikes a remarkable balance between innovation and continuity with earlier Jewish tradition.  

Professor Joel Hecker is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Mysticism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the author or editor of several books on Kabbalah, including Volumes 11–12 of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (Stanford University Press, 2016–2017).  

Resisting Authoritarianism: Jewish Ethics and Jewish Politics  

Wednesdays, 7–8:30 PM EDT | May 20, 27 & June 3 with Rabbi William Plevan, Ph.D.  

How does Jewish ethics view the abuse of political authority — and the obligation to resist it? Drawing on Biblical, rabbinic, and later Jewish ethical sources, this course explores how Jewish thinkers across the ages have grappled with these urgent questions. How were their ethical views shaped by the circumstances of their time? How did Jews live by these values in practice? And what do these examples offer us today? This is a course for a moment that demands both learning and moral clarity.  

Rabbi Plevan is Assistant Professor of Contemporary Jewish Thought at RRC, director of its Israel program, and the 2023–24 Democracy Fellow. He writes and teaches on contemporary Jewish theology, ethics, and political thought.
 

An Introduction to the Talmud  

Sundays, 10:30 AM-12 PM EDT | June 7, 14, 21, 28 with Professor Sarra Lev  

Rabbi Sarra Lev, Ph.D., (they/them), professor of Rabbinic Literature,  equips students with the tools to engage in a lifetime of Talmud study, inviting them into a conversation spanning centuries. They are the author of  And the Sages Did Not Know: Early Rabbinic Approaches to Intersex (University of Pennsylvania, 2024).