Well Courses

“All who thirst, come to the water.” (Isaiah 55:1)
הוי כל צמא לכו למים (ישעיהו נה:א)

Scholars often compare the Torah to a well and its words to water—drawn from a deep place, this water can refresh and sustain all who seek it.

Torah study at Romemu is central to our spiritual journey. The Well, our program of educational offerings, provides learning opportunities for seekers at every level.

Regardless of your education or religious background, our programs welcome newcomers while also deepening the knowledge and practice of all Jewish learners, guiding participants toward living with holiness in challenging times. 

Lifelong learning efforts at romemu are led by master educator Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Esses. She is last year’s recipient of a Covenant award. To learn more about her watch this film.

Instructor: Jeremy Rosenshine
Location: Jewish Theological Seminary, 3080 Broadway, and Zoom
Time: 10:30 AM–12:00 PM

Dates: 

November: 1, 8, 15, 22 

December: 6, 13, 20 

January:  1o, 17, 24

February: 7, 21, 28 

March: 7, 14, 21, 28 

April: 4, 11, 18

May: 2, 9, 16, 23

June: 6

In this class, we will delve deeper into the Hebrew language and gain the keys to our spiritual tradition through Hebrew words. Familiarity with Hebrew letters and basic reading* is required. We will develop additional Hebrew skills, vocabulary, reading, and comprehension. Using the Romemu Siddur (prayer book) and other Jewish texts, we will uncover the meaning of words, discover hidden secrets in the word roots, and make connections to our broader Jewish heritage. Our study will allow us to connect more deeply to sacred language. Supplementary sources like songs, poems, and expressions will add to our joy of discovery.

*Prerequisite: Basic Hebrew reading—the ability to sound out letters. Reading comprehension is not required.

Instructor: Ana Levy-Lyons

Location: TBD

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

Dates (first Sundays):

December 6, January 3, February 7, March 7, April 4, May 2

Join this six-month program to embark on a transformative spiritual journey. In a world that’s constantly selling to us, distracting us, and sedating us with screens, we’ll support each other in deep reconnection – with our own bodies (nefesh), sacred community (am), and the earth (adamah).

For this journey, we’ll gather monthly in-person for learning, conversation, exercises, and a nourishing meal, building a supportive community together. We’ll use Jewish spiritual practices as well as wisdom from other traditions, and creative techniques that Ana has developed through her own practice and work with congregants and clients.

Each month has its own theme – a different landscape to journey through and practices to try:

1. Desert: Discover the themes, threads, and lessons of your spiritual autobiography. What are you here to learn?

2. Mountain: Develop the view from the top of the mountain, de-normalizing modern society. Practice breaking social rules (it’s fun)! How can you see the world with fresh eyes?

3. Jungle: Through exercise, physical work, deep relaxation, and tuning into natural rhythms, relearn how to be in the body. In a culture that wants to make us virtual, how can you stay animal?

4. City: Gain sovereignty over your time and attention. Restore in-person relationships. How can you become the master of the technologies you use, rather than a product of them?

5. Ocean: Reignite creativity and confidence. Make an item of Judaica, food, clothes, or something else that you would otherwise purchase. What would you do if anything were possible?

6. Siyum: Celebrate and honor the work we’ve done. Set intentions for continuing the journey.

Because community support and accountability is so important to this process, please only register if you can commit to all six sessions. There will be optional additional touchpoints including field trips, Zoom gatherings, partner work, and one-on-one work with Ana.

Cost: $200

• 20% discount for Romemu members or paid subscribers to Ana’s Substack publication, “The Journey Home”
• All participants will receive a free copy of Ana’s new book, The Secret Despair of the Secular Left as well as a curriculum booklet with practices and teachings.

Instructor: Rabbi David Ingber
Location: Class meets by Zoom only.
Time: 7:00–8:30 PM
Dates:

November: 2, 16, 23

December: 7, 14

January: 11, 25

February: 1, 8, 22

March: 1, 8, 15, 29

April: 5, 12, 19

May: 3, 10, 17, 24

June: 7

This year, Hasidic Masters returns to Romemu with a different kind of invitation: we’re going to become somebody’s students.

Rather than moving from teacher to teacher or sampling teachings from across the Hasidic tradition, we will spend an entire year immersed in a single extraordinary work: Sod Yesharim (סוד ישרים, “The Secret of the Upright”), the teachings of Rabbi Gershon Henoch Leiner, the Radzyner Rebbe and one of the great inheritors of the radical spiritual tradition of Izbitza.

Week by week, following the rhythm of the Torah portion and the Jewish calendar, we will take up one teaching from the Sod Yesharim and learn it deeply. Together we will read the original Hebrew, create and refine a working English translation, uncover the biblical, rabbinic, kabbalistic, and Hasidic sources beneath the text, and ask what this remarkable Rebbe might have to say to our own spiritual lives.

The world of Izbitza-Radzyn is daring and sometimes unsettling. It asks questions that remain urgently alive: How do we discern what God wants from us? How free are we, really? What do we do when the path forward isn’t clear? Can uncertainty itself become a spiritual practice? What is unique about the particular life each of us has been given to live? And where might God be found precisely when our old certainties fail us?

This will not be a class about Hasidism from a distance. It is an invitation to enter a spiritual world from the inside—to wrestle with a text, acquire its language, recognize its recurring questions, and discover what happens when we remain in conversation with one great teacher over time.

No previous experience with Hasidic texts is required, and participants do not need to read Hebrew. Hebrew texts and working translations will be provided.

Come for a class. Come when you can. But if you can, stay for the year. Let’s see what happens when we become students of the Sod Yesharim together.

Sessions will include close reading of texts, havruta study, translation, large-group discussion, and opportunities for personal and spiritual reflection.

Instructors: Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Esses and Cantor Shimon Smith
Location: In person at JTS  with Zoom option
Time: 6:00 – 8:00  PM

Classes will begin this winter on Tuesday evenings. Please reach out to Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Esses if you are interested by emailing her at Dianne@romemu.org. 

Join fellow spiritual seekers on a journey toward deeper Jewish learning, communal connection, leadership, and belonging. Whether you never had a B Mitzvah or are looking for a renewed and meaningful experience of this powerful rite of passage, Never Too Late welcomes you to deep ongoing study culminating in a group B Mitzvah during Shabbat morning services. The course will begin in January 2027 and culminate in Adult B Mitzvah ceremonies in the Spring of 2028. 

Students will study Torah throughout the course, developing essential skills in interpretation. They will also learn to chant from the Torah scroll, lead prayer, and deliver short Torah teachings related to their portion.

Prerequisite: Participants should have taken an introductory course in Judaism or be able to demonstrate familiarity with basic Hebrew reading and Jewish practice.

Tuition: $650 each Semester or $1,800  for all three semesters. Tuition includes individual preparatory meetings, rehearsals, B Mitzvah ceremonies. It does not include the kiddush celebratory luncheon, which will be covered collectively by B mitzvah participants. 

*Note: Open to Romemu Members only. 

Instructor: Wendy Miles
Location: In person at the Jewish Theological Seminary, 3080 Broadway
Time: 6:00 – 7:00 PM
Start Date: November 3

Dive into the Hebrew language in an intimate, relaxed, and supportive environment. We will begin by learning the Hebrew alphabet and develop foundational skills in both reading and writing. As we gain confidence with the basics, we will begin exploring Shabbat and holiday liturgy.

Dates: 

November: 3, 10, 17, 24

December: 8, 15, 22

January: 12, 19, 26

February: 9, 23

March: 2, 9, 16, 30

April: 6, 13, 20

May: 4, 11, 18, 25

June: 8

Instructor: Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Esses
Location: Jewish Theological Seminary, 3080 Broadway, and Zoom 

Time: 7:00–8:30 PM

Dates:
November: 17, 24
December: 8, 15, 22
January: 12, 19, 26
February: 9, 23
March: 2, 9, 16, 30
April: 6, 13, 20
May: 4, 11, 18, 25
June: 8

Reaching for Hope and Even Faith in these Times 

Is hope the opposite of despair — or is faith? Are they separate ideas? Interrelated? Does one build upon the other? Does faith depend on belief in God? Or can one have faith and yet not believe in God? 

In this Beit Midrash, we will begin by examining the sometimes counterintuitive concepts of hope and faith in the Torah’s narratives. In our search, we will incorporate rabbinic literature, Jewish philosophy and mysticism, and along the way will explore the experience of these two phenomena in our own lives. We will also explore hope and faith as resources to draw upon in these challenging times– and read testimonies of others who have survived difficult times and how they imagined the role of hope and faith in their lives.  

Sessions will include close readings of texts, large-group discussion, small-group study, and occasional opportunities for writing.

Instructors: Rabbis David Ingber and Dianne Cohler-Esses, with guest instructors
Time: 8:45 AM 

Location: Romemu and Zoom

Join us each Shabbat morning for a lively exploration of the week’s Torah portion. Rabbis David Ingber and Dianne Cohler-Esses, together with guest teachers, bring a range of perspectives and approaches to the weekly portion, including historical, literary, philosophical, and mystical. Enhance your experience of Shabbat by joining this sacred conversation. 

In addition to the courses above, families with young children are encouraged to check out all our Youth and Family offerings, including Seekers Holistic Hebrew School.

On Shabbat mornings, join us for Open Book at 8:45 AM (Learn more on our Shabbat page)

Financial Policies

No one will ever be turned away from any Romemu course or event for financial reasons.  To request scholarship funds, email support@romemu.org before registering for a course.

Please review our refund policy here.