Rabbinic Program Resources

ALEPH Ordination Program online courses which can help prepare your for admission are listed below with the semesters they are offered in parentheses. Also provided below are additional resources to help with your preparation

I. Torah

Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Grammar 101 & 102. (101 is offered every fall, 102 is offered every spring)

Mikraot G’dolot (Sp 2016, Sp 2019)

II. Jewish Traditions

A Walk Through the Siddur: An Introduction to the Liturgy(Sp 2015, Sp 2017, Sp 2019)

Recommended resources:

• My Peoples Prayerbook: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries, L. Hoffman, ed (Jewish Lights)
• A Guide to Jewish Prayer, Adin Steinzaltz (Schocken)
• Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts, Barry Holtz (Summit), especially pp. 403-429
• Quest for God, Part I, Abraham Joshua Heschel (Crossroad)
• The World of Prayer, Vols. 1 and 2, Elie Munk (Feldheim)
• The full article on Prayer in Encyclopedia Judaica
• The Path of Blessing, Marcia Prager (Bell Tower ’98/ Jewish Lights 2003)

Recommended personal practice: You should be regularly involved in communal worship, somewhere, somehow. If you can, attend a weekday minyan to absorb the sounds and rhythms of daily prayer. Tsei ulmad (go forth, and learn!) — Sample diverse synagogues regularly to gain a sense of the range of styles and approaches to liturgy and communal prayer. Learn what works well, and develop your sense for what you think is needed.

Jewish Traditions of Sacred Time (Sp 2018, Sp 2020)

• Seasons of our Joy, Arthur Waskow (Beacon)

Introduction to and the Fundamentals of Jewish Practice (F 2015, F 2017, F 2019)

Introduction to Jewish Philosophy (F 2016, F 2018)

Survey of Jewish History(F 2016, F 2018)

Recommended resources:

• Jacob Neusner, The Way of Torah: An Introduction to Judaism (Wadsworth, 1988)
• Chaim Potak, Wanderings (Knopf, 1978)
• Richard Elliot Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible?

Introduction to Jewish Renewal and Reb Zalmans Thought (Sp 2015, Sp 2017, Sp 2019)