Join our weekly online class on the Haftarah (the weekly Shabbat reading from the Prophets), Wednesdays, 12:00-1:00 pm EASTERN time, starting on February 10, and continuing through March 10.

We’ll follow the traditional cycle of the Haftarot, which in the coming weeks includes provocative material around the special Shabbatot around Purim and Passover. Our approach is to combine scholarship and spiritual inquiry. That is, we’ll place the readings in their historical context, dissecting the original meanings of the prophets. But we’ll also pursue their enduring spiritual relevance for our own lives, through the prism of Jewish tradition. No experience necessary, all are welcome!

To receive the weekly Zoom links and subsequent recordings of the sessions, please register below. There is no commitment to attend every class; you’re welcome to participate in as many sessions as you’re able to attend: Register once to receive the weekly link for the entire course:

There is no charge for this course, but if you would like to support our work, please click on the link below.

Neal will be teaching about Esther and the Comedy of the Bible to the Arizona Jewish Lawyers Association, live via Zoom, on Wedensday, February 24, 2:00-3:00 pm EASTERN Time (12:00-1:00 pm in Arizona, Mountain Time.) . Guests are welcome: RSVP at azjewishlawyers@gmail.com.

Perhaps you’ve noticed that sprinkled throughout the Torah are fragmented stories - echoes of the long-gone myths of ancient Near Eastern civilizations. The Bible as we have it is a palimpsest for earlier cultures which occasionally peek up between the editorial seams of the text. Inspired in part by Greil Marcus's "The Old, Weird America," we discover through these stories a Bible that is a much stranger and funkier than it is often credited with being.

This is a three-week Zoom course, meeting on Tuesday evenings December 1, 8, and 15, 7:00-8:30 pm EASTERN time. All are welcome! Note: If you’ve taken a similarly-titled course with me before - this material is new.

While there is no charge for this class, click below to contribute to this project.