The Seder and the Song of Songs: A Love Story in Four Scenes
Learning With Your Own Havruta
Course Details
In this course, we will approach the story we tell at the seder - maggid - through the lens of Song of Songs, the megillah associated with the holiday of Passover. Each year at the seder, we tell a love story - the story of how the relationship between God and Israel began. Many people like to tell and retell the story of how they fell in love - trying to identify a pivotal moment, relating the challenges and obstacles that stood in the way.
As we learn together, we will focus on four scenes in rabbinic midrash that aim to identify the pivotal moment when we “fell in love” with God, and God “fell in love” with us. We will look at each of these scenes closely over four sessions, asking what each teaches us about the Exodus story, and the twists and turns of being in a deep relationship.
Rabbi Aviva Richman is a Rosh Yeshiva at Hadar, and has been on the faculty since 2010. A graduate of Oberlin College, she studied in the Pardes Kollel and the Drisha Scholars' Circle and was ordained by Rabbi Danny Landes. She completed a doctorate in Talmud at NYU. Interests include Talmud, Halakhah, Midrash and gender, and also a healthy dose of nigunim.
