Manger Winter Learning Seminar
Overview
Hadar’s Manger Winter Learning Seminar (MWLS) is an opportunity for students and young adults to study in Hadar’s Beit Midrash and take part in a dynamic, multi-level, and rigorous exploration of Jewish texts with passionate teachers and committed peers.
Immerse yourself in a stimulating week of Torah study, Jewish music, prayer, shared meals, and conversation while connecting to an incredible network of peers who are excited about learning and are working to build bolder, more ambitious, and more meaningful Jewish lives.
This seminar is designed for students, young adults, and recent graduates with a passion for Jewish texts and an openness to learning, sharing, and growing. Both weeks of the seminar will take place at Yeshivat Hadar on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Schedule
Week One runs from December 17-21 and Week Two runs from January 7-11.
Arrival and Check-In
Orientation and Energizers
Dinner
Arvit
Opening Shiur
Rabbi Micha’el Rosenberg
Shaharit
Breakfast
Morning Seder
Food as Boundary: Jews, Gentiles, and Breaking Bread
Lunch
Minhah
Talmud Shiur
Snack & Break
Ideas at the Heart of Hadar:
- Praying Anew: Unlocking Meaning in the Words of the Siddur
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
- The Power and Limits of Radical Hesed
Rabbi Aviva Richman
- Gender Egalitarian Prayer and Halakhah
Rabbi Micha’el Rosenberg
Elective Sessions
- Shabbat is Coming, Time to Cook: The Mitzvah to Cook for Shabbat
Miriam Lichtenberg
- Obligation and Autonomy in the Torah and Jewish Practice
Rabbi Ethan Tucker
- Does the Torah Care About Your Bank Account? Financial Considerations in Halakhic Decision Making
Rabbi Jamie Weisbach
Dinner
Arvit
Culinary Journeys with the Jewish Food Society
Dr. Yael Raviv
Shaharit
Breakfast
Shiur Klali
The Perfect and the Good: Keeping Kosher in a Non-Kosher World
R. Ethan Tucker
Lunch
Minhah
Open space
Shaharit
Breakfast
Morning Seder
Denial and Delight: Jewish Asceticism
Lunch
Minhah
Talmud Shiur
Snack & Break
Faculty Panel
Elective Sessions
- TBD
Shira Botzum
- Torah of the People: Hasidic Ideas of The Torah Found within Each of Us
R. Elie Lehmann
- “My Offering, My Bread" - The God That Eats and Why it Matters
Akiva Mattenson
Dinner
Arvit
Wednesday Night Mishmar
Shaharit
Breakfast
Morning Seder
Meat from Heaven: Is Lab-Grown Meat Kosher?
Lunch
Minhah
Talmud Shiur
Snack & Break
Elective Sessions
- Let's Call the Whole Thing Off: Shmita and Debt Cancellation
Dr. Vincent Calabrese
- Life Trips Us Up: The Torah of Mental Health
R. Elie Lehmann
- Serving God from Yuck to Yum
Dena Weiss
Dinner and Closing Circle
Arvit
Arrival and Check-in
Orientation and Energizers
Dinner
Arvit
Opening Shiur
Rabbi Aviva Richman
Shaharit
Breakfast
Morning Seder
(Gentile) Chefs in the Kitchen: Food as Boundary
Lunch
Minhah
Talmud Shiur
Snack & Break
Ideas at the Heart of Hadar:
- Praying Anew: Unlocking Meaning in the Words of the Siddur
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
- The Power and Limits of Radical Hesed
Rabbi Aviva Richman
- Gender Egalitarian Prayer and Halakhah
Rabbi Ethan Tucker
Elective Sessions
- Shabbat is Coming, Time to Cook: The Mitzvah to Cook for Shabbat
Miriam Lichtenberg
- My Offering, My Bread - The God That Eats and Why it Matters
Akiva Mattenson
- Love of God–and Talmud
Dr. Jeremy Tabick
Dinner
Arvit
A Night with Magevet, Yale’s Jewish A Capella Group!
Shaharit
Breakfast
Morning Seder
What’s Kosher? Food and Labor Ethics
Lunch
Minhah
Talmud Shiur
Snack & Break
Elective Sessions
- TBD
Shira Botzum
- The Humble King: Searching for God with Rebbe Nahman
Dr. Vincent Calabrese
- Physical Truth, or Rabbinic Power Play? Making Sense of Insensible Food Laws
R. Micha’el Rosenberg
Faculty panel
Dinner
Arvit
Light refreshments
Dr. Eddie Scharfman Memorial Lecture
Covenant, Land, Power, and Responsibility
Rabbi Ethan Tucker
Shaharit
Breakfast
Shiur K’lali
Kosher-Certified Pork? The Laws of Mar’it ‘Ayin
R. Micha’el Rosenberg
Lunch
Minhah
Outing
Shaharit
Breakfast
Morning Seder
The Ethics of Eating Meat
Lunch
Minhah
Talmud Shiur
Snack & Break
Thursday Afternoon Mishmar
Break
Dinner and Closing Circle
Arvit
Faculty

Rabbi Elie Kaunfer

Rabbi Avi Killip

Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz

Dr. Jeremy Tabick
Dr. Jeremy Tabick is the Content Manager and faculty at Hadar, where he teaches, curates, and edits Hadar's content—both online and in print—and Project Zug courses. Jeremy received his PhD in Talmud at JTS. He graduated from the University of Manchester (in the UK) with a Masters in Physics, and is an alumnus of Yeshivat Hadar and the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He lives in Riverdale with his wife and three children.

Rabbi Ethan Tucker

Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz

Rabbi Micha'el Rosenberg
FAQs
If you’re a college student, recent graduate, or young adult looking to deepen your Jewish life through learning, prayer, music, and community, then yes!
See here for some frequently asked questions about what it’s like to study in Hadar’s Beit Midrash. In general, this program includes Talmud study in the morning, one-off elective classes in the afternoon, and evening programming such as a lecture, panel conversation, or live-podcast taping.
Sunday evening through Thursday evening, December 17-21, 2023 & January 7-11, 2024.
The two weeks of MWLS will cover different aspects of this topic - so sign up for either week or both!
Yeshivat Hadar, housed at West End Synagogue, 190 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023.
Hadar’s immersive programs are opportunities to step out of your day-to-day routine and immerse yourself in islands of Jewish content and conversation. We strongly encourage all participants to attend the totality of our programs. If you have an extenuating circumstance that prevents you from participating, please write to us at [email protected].
Yeshivat Hadar holds a daily minyan during the MWLS (morning and afternoon) in which a quorum is 10 Jewish adults, gender is not a factor in who leads tefillah, and we generally follow the liturgy in the Koren-Sacks Siddur, with a few exceptions. While participants are not required to attend this minyan, you are warmly welcome to join, as this offers a taste of a fully integrated, holistic yeshiva experience.
Yeshivat Hadar runs according to halakhic norms, set under the guidance of its Rashei Yeshiva and faculty, and observance is a core commitment of the yeshiva. All aspects of our programming are meant to be compatible with and reinforce a life of mitzvot. However, personal observance is not a condition of participation in the MWLS. Some programs such as the Summer Beit Midrash are designed for a cohort of shared obligation in mitzvot, whereas the MWLS welcomes participants who are seeking that holistic experience of learning and observance, as well as those who are invested solely in the experience of intensive learning.
Please reach out to [email protected] with any additional questions.
Theme
This year’s theme is “לא על הלחם לבדו: Not by Bread Alone.” Our choices about food intersect with nearly every aspect of our lives. Over the course of these two weeks, we’ll consider how food choices reflect our values - religiously, socially, financially, and politically. Is there a Torah value of enjoying food or is food only meant for sustenance? Is it - or how is it - ethical to eat meat? Is kashrut meant to draw boundaries between Jews and non-Jews, and between Jews and other Jews?
The two weeks of MWLS will cover different aspects of this topic - so sign up for either week or both!
Ready to take a deep dive into halakhic sources? Students with an extensive background in Talmud are invited to join Hadar’s Advanced Kollel for morning seder. We will cover the topic of פת של נכרים in the first week of MWLS and בישולי נכרים in the second week.
Cost
The cost for the seminar is $180 for 1 week or $360 for both weeks. Tuition includes access to the full range of programming, daily breakfast and lunch, as well as dinner when programming runs into the evening.
We also offer a $50 discount for referring friends who attend the program. Email [email protected] to discuss. Yeshivat Hadar Alumni 2019-2023, contact [email protected] for your recent Yeshiva Hadar alumni discount code.
Application Deadline
The priority deadline for applying is December 3, 2023. After this date, we will offer rolling admissions until the program is filled. Space is limited, so don’t wait to apply!