A Beit Midrash is a traditional house of Jewish text study. At “Camberville” Open Beit Midrash, we aim to create space for a blend of text study, community building and identity formation. We run programs throughout the year, hosted in different spaces across Cambridge and Somerville.
Open Beit Midrash was founded four years ago, in the fall of 2015. We offer 15-20 learning opportunities a year, and have engaged over 150 individuals ages 20-70 this past year. We primarily serve Cambridge and Somerville, but have also had participants join from Brighton, Brookline, Newton, and Jamaica Plain. Not only that: since our founding, two New York communities have also been inspired to start their own Open Beit Midrash organizations.
Each year over a dozen community members, lay leaders, and Jewish professionals have the opportunity to teach and lead sessions at our programs. Texts and topics have ranged from the Talmud to philosophy to poetry, from demons, to tzedakah, to spousal dispute, to robots. Our concept is this: if you’re excited to share it, we are excited to learn it. Our learning events regularly host 30-40 people, and it is at these events that we have the chance to learn from volunteer teachers on all sorts of topics. Several times a year, we run a larger event, for 60-100 people, on a theme. Past themes have included “Flavors of Judaism”– a BBQ exploring Food and Eating in Judaism, “A Shmorgasboard of Jewish How-Tos”– an event of 20-minute “How To” sessions, and “70@70”– an Israel event to explore different facets of Israel as it reached 70 years.
We also run a regular chevruta program, where a group of 40-60 people pair up and study a single text together over the course of 6 or 8 weeks. This new program, introduced only this year, has been hugely successful. Friends have been made, chevruta pairings have stuck. Our Siyum, concluding event that we held last Chanukah, was a moving celebration of community and Torah study.
But we are not just a center for Torah study. We are a center for community, and a place where Jewish people of different ages and backgrounds come together. Jewish communities worldwide are often defined by their prayer practices. But why should prayer practice define us? At Open Beit Midrash, we believe that Jewish Community should be defined by our ability to learn from and grow with each other. Our learning is only made richer when we do it with people different from ourselves.
Have you ever…
Met a new friend or chevruta at Open Beit Midrash?
Learned a concept or idea at Open Beit Midrash?
Connected with friends on a week night at Open Beit Midrash?
Felt that beautiful Beit Midrash atmosphere at Open Beit Midrash?
Had the chance to develop a new idea to share at Open Beit Midrash?
If so, or if these are things you value, we ask you to consider being part of the group of people that will keep us going this coming year.
THANK YOU!
Grateful to the alum who handed us $100 cash this morning! It’s not recorded in our Jewcer stats, but only $130 to go! Let’s do this.
WOW. Day 6, 26 donors in, and we are almost HALF WAY THERE! We’ve already passed our Day 6 goal, but can we get to $1250 today?
Day 4 and we are ON TRACK! Thanks everyone, let’s keep going strong!
Amazing first day everyone! Thanks for helping us surpass our Day 1 goal of $180.