What if exile isn’t a punishment—but a spiritual necessity? In this intensive course, we’ll read The Necessity of Exile by Shaul Magid alongside Torah, Talmud, and poetry to explore exile not as dislocation, but as a generative Jewish stance toward belonging, power, and liberation. Through sacred text and radical commentary, we’ll wrestle with what it means to be at home in a world that is not yet redeemed.
Each week, we’ll read one chapter of The Necessity of Exile outside of class. In our sessions, we’ll draw from Torah, rabbinic literature, and Jewish poetry to deepen our shared understanding and conversation. Students will be invited to take part in a living application of the course’s themes through an optional outside-of-class project. With structured prompts, check-ins, and creative support, you’ll be encouraged to explore the themes of exile and diaspora in your home, with friends, or in your broader community.
These projects can take many forms—ritual, art, conversation, documentation—and will be supported throughout the course as a space for innovation and imagination.
This class will be recorded and available to enrolled students to watch later.
Cost
This course is available at a sliding scale cost of $359 (the true cost), $299 or $239. If you can afford the full price, we hope you will choose that option, which allows us to continue to offer lower rates and scholarships to those who otherwise would not be able to access this learning because of financial barriers.
What if exile isn’t a punishment—but a spiritual necessity? In this intensive course, we’ll read The Necessity of Exile by Shaul Magid alongside Torah, Talmud, and poetry to explore exile not as dislocation, but as a generative Jewish stance toward belonging, power, and liberation. Through sacred text and radical commentary, we’ll wrestle with what it means to be at home in a world that is not yet redeemed.
Each week, we’ll read one chapter of The Necessity of Exile outside of class. In our sessions, we’ll draw from Torah, rabbinic literature, and Jewish poetry to deepen our shared understanding and conversation. Students will be invited to take part in a living application of the course’s themes through an optional outside-of-class project. With structured prompts, check-ins, and creative support, you’ll be encouraged to explore the themes of exile and diaspora in your home, with friends, or in your broader community.
These projects can take many forms—ritual, art, conversation, documentation—and will be supported throughout the course as a space for innovation and imagination.
This class will be recorded and available to enrolled students to watch later.
Cost
This course is available at a sliding scale cost of $359 (the true cost), $299 or $239. If you can afford the full price, we hope you will choose that option, which allows us to continue to offer lower rates and scholarships to those who otherwise would not be able to access this learning because of financial barriers.
Chava Shapiro (they/them) is a queer Jew dwelling on the lands of Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui peoples. Chava is a SVARA Kollel Fellow and a self professed stan for several of the Sages. They are an artist, writer, and educator exploring histories of resistance, identity, erasure, and collective memory. In 2019 they founded the Jewish Zine Archive, which serves as both an archival collection and digital Jewish cultural space. The Jewish Zine Archive has been featured in Hyperallergic, New Voices, and more. Chava's writing was featured in the anthology There is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart: Mending the World as Jewish Anarchists, published by AK Press. In addition to their cultural work, Chava has been involved in anarchist organizing and solidarity efforts for over twenty years.
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