Chaburah Overview

SVARA’s Pedagogy Chaburah for Rabbis & Educators is an eight-month learning community designed to support rabbis and educators in expanding their pedagogical toolkit to include SVARA’s traditionally radical, queer approach to learning and teaching Talmud. Through weekly learning and coaching, Pedagogy Chaburah graduates will emerge emerge with a new lens through which to view the Talmud, the bet midrash setting, the pedagogy of Talmud teaching, the teacher-student relationship—and the Jewish tradition itself. Over the course of eightmonths, members of the Pedagogy Chaburah will gain the skills and experience to support them as they upend the educational power dynamics of all-too-many conventional Jewish educational settings, shifting the focal point from teacher to learner, and transforming the bet midrash environment to one of critical pedagogy, clear methodology, rigor, love, and empowerment.

SVARA’s Pedagogy Chaburah for Rabbis & Educators will train learners in the following areas:

• Deepen their relationship to Talmud study in SVARA’s method as a personal practice
• Gain familiarity with SVARA’s framework for teacher training (“COMP”)
• Incorporate aspects of SVARA’s methodology and pedagogy into their teaching practice in varied ways
• Bring the values underlying SVARA’s methodology into their lives, teaching practice, and leadership beyond the bet midrash setting