Metivta (Aramaic for spiritual academy) Kabbalist Certification
First Year:
Torah:
The study of the weekly Parsha in the Torah, HafTorah, Midrash and the writings of the Shalachim. This is to develop a within the student to understanding the comparisons as well as the contrasts. This will be achieved as we bring the information in the Torah into interaction with the texts. The student will be responsible to keep a journal which will be due at the end of the course.
Talmud:
First Order: Zeraim ("Seeds"). 11 tractates. It deals with prayer and blessings, tithes, and agricultural laws.
Second Order: Moed ("Festival Days"). 12 tractates. This pertains to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals.
Third Order: Nashim ("Women"). 7 tractates. Concerns marriage and divorce, some forms of oaths and the laws of the nazirite.
Fourth Order: Nezikin ("Damages"). 10 tractates. Deals with civil and criminal law, the functioning of the courts and oaths.
Fifth Order: Kodashim ("Holy things"). 11 tractates. This involves sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the dietary laws.
Sixth Order: Tohorot ("Purity"). 12 tractates. This pertains to the laws of ritual purity.
The selection of one Tractate by the student will be required and to submit a paper to the instructor with a full understanding of the Tractate which the student has chosen as well as understanding the six orders of the Mishna.
Shulcan Aruch :
The Shulchan Aruch (Hebrew: שולחן ערוך, literally: "Set Table") is a codification, or written catalogue, of halacha (Jewish law), composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. It, together with its commentaries, is considered by the vast majority of Orthodox Jews to be the most authoritative compilation halakha since the Talmud, with the exception of a minority who continue to hold by the Mishneh Torah. The Shulchan Aruch has come to simply be referred to as the Code of Jewish Law due to its popular appeal. This study of the above text will provide the student with the knowledge of the accepted way to do things from a Orthodox viewpoint. The student will be examined by the Bet Din to see if the canidate is proficent in the understanding of the Shulcan Aruch.
Second Year Course:
Tanya:
Likkutei Amarim (Hebrew, "collection of statements"), is an early work of Hasidic Judaism, written by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad, in 1797 CE. The work is more commonly known by its opening word: Tanya (Aramaic for "it was taught in a baraita"). The Tanya deals with Jewishspirituality and psychology, from a Kabbalistic (Jewish mystical) point of view. Most of the work's first part, "The Book of the Average Man", the beinoni, serves as a fundamental and basic guide to the spiritual service of God. In this context, the beinoni (lit. intermediate one), is in the middle of the spectrum between a tzaddik (a person who does a lot of good) and a rasha (a person who does a lot of evil). The state of the beinoni is described as one of ongoing tension and struggle. This struggle is not simply the confrontation between good and evil, but rather the ongoing encounter between one's two souls - the animal and the divine - the soul that draws downward toward the earth and the soul that aspires upward toward the Divine. The Tanya seeks to demonstrate to the "average" Jewish man or woman that knowledge of God is there for the taking, that spiritual growth to ever higher levels is real and imminent, if one is willing to engage in the struggle. Although many view the Tanya as a work of explanation on Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism, its approbations make clear that Tanya is first and foremost a book of advice in the practical service of G-d. The student will select a topic from Tanya and write about it to show a proficiency about the text.
Likutey Moharan:
Rebbe Nachman's magnum opus is the two-volume Likutey Moharan (Collected Lessons of our Rebbe), a collection of 411 lessons displaying in-depth familiarity and understanding of the many overt and esoteric concepts embedded in Torah, Talmud, Zohar and Kabbalah. The student will have to exhibit through an examination of the Bet Din a thorough understanding of Rebbe Nachman and be able to bring a synthesis between him and Mashiach Yeshua and the Shalachim.
Zohar: The Zohar ("Splendor, radiance") is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. It is a mystical commentary on the Torah (the five books of Moses), written in medieval Aramaic and medieval Hebrew. It contains a mystical discussion of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, sin, redemption, good and evil, and related topics. The Zohar is not one book, but a group of books. These books include scriptural interpretations as well as material on theosophic theology, mythical cosmogony, mystical psychology, and what some would call anthropology. The student will be required to submit a journal in which the weekly Parsha on the Torah, HafTorah , Midrash and the writings of the Mashiach Yeshua and the Shalachim are compared and contrasted with the Zohar.
Kabbalah:
Gershom Scholem (December 5, 1897 – February 21, 1982), also known as Gerhard Scholem, was a Jewish philosopher and historian raised in Germany. He is widely regarded as the modern founder of the scholarly study of Kabbalah, becoming the first Professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The student will select a topic in his book on Kabbalah and write a thesis paper.