SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva
More About SVARA’s Teaching Kollel
Program Overview
SVARA’s Teaching Kollel is a two-year program, consisting of a learning year, followed by a pedagogy year. Both are structured around immersive retreats, Talmud learning faculty mentoring, chevruta study, and peer support for a holistic approach to teacher training. You can find a fuller overview and description of the program here, including tuition information. The program components include:
YEAR ONE
In the Learning Year (Sept 2022 – May 2023), Fellows will be expected to learn weekly in chevruta (2 hours), attend a weekly online shiur (2 hours), participate in a monthly online book club devoted to reading and analyzing important articles and books from the field of contemporary critical Talmud scholarship, and attend two four- to five-day in-person retreats.
YEAR TWO
In the Pedagogy Year (Sept 2023 – May 2024), Fellows will be expected to learn weekly in chevruta (2 hours), attend a weekly online shiur (2 hours), explore and analyze articles & readings about critical pedagogy / democratic education, attend two two four- to five-day online intensives and teach two six- to eight-week SVARA-method bet midrash programs in their home community or online.
Ideal Applicants
• identify as queer or trans
• are experienced educators/facilitators with strong facilitation skills
• lead with self-awareness, groundedness, humility, and mentschiness
• are committed to & passionate about Talmud study as a personal practice
• are committed to acknowledging and interrogating mechanisms of power and inequality in the world and the bet midrash
• have had at least three years of experience learning in a SVARA bet midrash and/or in the SVARA method in chevruta
• have experience learning rabbinic texts in the original beyond the intermediate level (basic familiarity with grammatical structures like binyanim, ability to decode texts independently in SVARA’s method using bet midrash tools)
• are invested in creating transformative and empowering learning experiences
• are resourceful and skilled in community-building, organizing, and project management
• have the desire and intention to create a bet midrash learning community using the SVARA method that opens up access to Talmud learning to queer and marginalized people
