Every Body Beloved: A Jewish Embrace of Fatness

with Minna Bromberg
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When

Sundays · 8 weeks · Starts March 15
11:30 am-1:00 pm Eastern Time/8:30-10:00 am Pacific Time

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This eight-session course invites participants into a "Jewish embrace of fatness," exploring how Jewish tradition can be deployed as a beacon of justice and healing in a fatphobic world. We will move beyond common "concerns for health" that often mask bias and instead examine anti-fatness as a profound moral and theological issue.

Through a combination of text study, personal reflection, and group discussions, students will engage with Jewish stories and concepts—including the Exodus from Egypt, the creation of humans in the Divine image, and Talmudic stories of caregiving—to dismantle internalized bias and foster a more inclusive community. The course is designed for interactive learning, featuring rigorous investigation of both ancient and contemporary texts.

We will study traditional Jewish texts alongside modern fat activism to understand body autonomy as a form of partnering with God in creation. Participants will be encouraged to bring their own unique perspectives to the table, creating a space where every body is recognized as being imprinted with divinity. Throughout the eight sessions, the curriculum progresses from an introductory look at resisting anti-fat bias toward a holistic liberation of the self and the community. We will use the framework of the Exodus to explore the journey from the "narrow places" of dieting toward freedom, and investigate the theological implications of being created B’tzelem Elohim (in the image of God).

The course further tackles the ethics of "healthism," the physical necessity of making Jewish spaces truly accessible to fat bodies, and the power of speech to harm and to heal. The course concludes by celebrating the sacred wondrousness of the fat body through a joyful re-examination of the Song of Songs, moving toward an embrace of every body as Beloved.

Class art features the book cover of the Every Body Beloved book, featuring art by @katmaxisfree

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This class will be recorded and available to enrolled students to watch later.

This class is not eligible for rabbinical school credit.

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.

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If you need financial aid beyond the sliding scale, please fill out this form, and we will get right back to you.

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