"I've wanted to build a relationship with Torah for some time now. I came to the summer with excitiement and mostly nervousness. I was nervous that I'd be disillusioned, expecting to love learning for so long. After two weeks of learning I am still nervous, though now the question is not whether I'll love it. These past weeks I have been moved to wonder, to question, and to stand in awe of and fall in love with the process. This has always been a tremendous goal of mine in life, and I am delighted to find that Torah embodies that model. I am only nervous because now that these days of learning have exceeded my expectations, I wonder what teacher can possibly nurture my love for learning as you have. I am hopeful that as I continue to learn I will find the moments that I need, moments that I never knew existed before I began my interaction with Torah. Thank you for a tremendous beginning." Eve Wettstein, (Participant in the Lishma Bet Midrash at Camp Ramah in Ojai, California)
”I had never studied in the Beit Midrash format, and was concerned that I would be uncomfortable. Your seminar served as an excellent introduction and convinced me of the value of this style of study. I'm going to try it with my medical student/resident team during my next teaching rotation.” William Harford, MD (Participant in the Bet Midrash at the National Havurah Committee Summer Institute)
“The course was intensely satisfying. You set the tone and you shaped the discussion, but you also left a lot of space for us to discover the text for ourselves. It was a perfect execution of havurah-style study (and of course I appreciate that the Bet Midrash is the original model!). I especially appreciated how you made room for us to wrestle with the text. These were challenging texts, some of which I had studied previously, but never as deeply as this past week.” Neil Litt, Princeton University Press
"Jonah is a gifted teacher who gently pushes us to stretch our limits. He is a demanding teacher whose kindness and skill have helped us to learn texts that seemed, at first, beyond our reach." Course Evaluation from Hebrew College
"This was a wonderful first plunge into Talmud. It was superbly taught. Yasher Koach to Jonah for his thoughtful planning and preparation of this curriculum. He is a master educator." Course Evaluation from Hebrew College
"I enjoyed the method – taking a single religious idea and tracing its development through time. I also enjoyed hearing the ideas of my brilliant fellow-students. Also, such an articulate and learned teacher – top notch." Laura Rosen (Participant in the Bet Midrash at the National Havurah Committee Summer Institute)
Content was beautifully organized and appropriately deep. Jonah is remarkably well organized as a teacher and able to keep the discussion and comments focused on the topic while responding appropriately with new and interesting information. Jonah is very knowledgeable about the topic. His manner is gentle and he radiates a holiness that is quite special when he talks about this material. This was one of the three best courses I have taken in twenty years of coming here. National Havurah Committee Summer Institute Course Participant.
"Jonah is incredibly talented at making the meaning of learning clear. He began by drawing on our awareness of the impenetrability of the bookshelves on day one. By the last day, the texts all over the table made sense and were accessible. What else can I say?" Course Evaluation from Hebrew College
"The course was one of the two best Jewish text-study courses I've ever had and one of the very best Institute courses I've ever had. I usually try to take courses at the Havurah Institute that are different from the kind I can get at home; since there are a lot of opportunities to learn Talmud in Washington, DC, taking your course was something of a risk but one that was well worth it. Text-study courses don't usually integrate havruta learning and full-class discussion well, but yours did this superbly. I was initially unsure whether switching havruta partners every day would work, but somehow it did, despite differences in our Jewish learning backgrounds. And your ability to teach people with such diverse backgrounds in the same class is very rare. I hope you'll consider teaching another course at the Institute soon.” Howard Wial (National Havurah Committee)
The course was outstanding in every way. There was an excellent balance of teacher-directed and participant discussion, and the material was approached from several different but complementary perspectives. Participant in "Freedom to Love: The Song of Songs in Biblical, Rabbinic, Mystical, and Present-Day Perspectives."
"I really enoyed Jonah's passion, knowledge and skill in teaching us this wonderful material" Course Evaluations at Hebrew College
“The class was absolutely great - one of the highlights of the Institute for me and one of the best text study experiences I've ever had.” Adam Gordon
