Exploring the Five Megillot: Scrolls of the Jewish Year (Trimester #1)
Sunday Mornings
September 7, 14, 21, 28
October 5, 12, 19, 26
November 2
Time: 10:30 AM-Noon ET
Instructor: Gideon Amir
Location: Zoom Classroom
Standard Class Rate: $150
Base Rate: $135
(Subsidized by Haberman Institute donors)
Haberman Institute courses are offered on a sliding payment scale.
Both tiers receive identical access to the program. Should the registration rates become a barrier to enrollment, please contact our Executive Director, Matthew Silverman.
Sunday Learning with Gideon Amir
This 27-week course, divided into three trimesters, offers an in-depth exploration of the Five Megillot—Qohelet (Ecclesiastes), Song of Songs, Eicha (Lamentations), Ruth, and Esther—each a distinct biblical scroll associated with a different Jewish holiday and facet of human experience. Across the trimesters, we will engage with these texts through literary, historical, theological, and rabbinic perspectives.
The course includes close textual study, insights from classical and contemporary commentaries, and comparative discussions on the role each scroll plays in Jewish liturgy and cultural tradition.
Gideon Amir was born in the Netherlands to Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel in 1947. He grew up in Jerusalem and served in the IDF as a Paratrooper.
Gideon received his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rechovot. In 1980, he moved to the United States, where he worked as a manager in several companies including Sperry Univac, British Telecom, and Cisco Systems.
In 1999, he pursued his interest in Judaic Studies and enrolled in a full-time graduate program at Baltimore Hebrew University, where, in May 2001, he received his Master’s degree with honors. Redirecting his passion for teaching from computer science to Jewish and Bible studies, he became an adult Jewish educator for several education programs, including the Haberman Institute, where he continues to teach today.
Register for trimesters two and three below.