The war is over, but the Jewish question has not gone away. The race is on for the Allies to find a solution before the refugee camps overflow and a new conflict consumes the Mandate. Meanwhile a new strain of Zionism is rising out of the ashes of Europe, and it is not interested in half-measures.

This class opens with a recapitulation of the process of formation nof the gemara, moves through an overview of the state of the Roman Empire and ends with a look at the relationship between Patristic Christianity and Judaism. That's why it is called setting the stage for the Middle Age.

The last in the series of our discussion of the gemara, this class focuses on the sealing of the conversation. In addition, we discuss the power of this sealing to build an identity based in text and law.

What does a West Bank rabbi and alternative peace activist who doesn't map on to the left/right binary have to say about revolution? Listen in to this interview with R' Yehudah Hakohen and you will discover that the spirit of the Lehi is alive and well, just not in the way you might imagine.

Is it really true that one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist? This episode describes the split between the Lechi and the Irgun, as well as the intra-underground struggles which followed.

This class continues the discussion of the emergence of the gemara. We map out the parallel development of Jewish life in the land of Israel and Bavel, and ask the underlying question of whether one can miss the boat in history.

This class discusses the mishna as the end of an era and begins to explore the nature of the authority and autonomy in the discussion of the gemara.

By 1942 there was no escape from Europe for the Jews, and even if they had managed to run - who would take them in. This second episode on the Holocaust explores the message of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and finally brings American Jewry into the picture of the Jewish Story.

This class explores the context of formation of the mishna as well as the nature of the work itself. On a deeper level it explores how the same power of argumentation which destroyed the Second Temple could be come the basis for a renewed Jewish life.

There are things which need to be spoken about no matter how hard, and questions which need to be asked no matter how unanswerable. This is the first of two episodes which engage the how and why of the Holocaust.