In early 2020, the Northern California Board of Rabbis (NCBOR), based in San Francisco, and the Taube Center for Jewish Life & Learning, based in Warsaw, Poland, co-created Minyan Makers, a one-year Jewish text-based learning initiative. Over the course of a year, Bay Area rabbis led online workshops for Jewish cultural and educational professionals across Poland that explored the contemporary relevance of Jewish religious texts.

This fall, inspired by the success of Minyan Makers, the Taube Center will launch a new Jewish learning program, Doresh, developed by Taube Center’s Rabbinic Intern, Gabe Miner. Doresh in Hebrew means “seeking or searching, often an intellectual pursuit,” which accurately describes the project’s goals. The program, which will begin in September, will accept 10 participants in one of two cohorts.  Each cohort will have five learning sessions, two more than in the Minyan Maker model, based on the request of former participants.  With the goal of connecting to their own heritage and history, the texts discussed will also include those by Polish Jewish rabbis and commentators.

Doresh, like its predecessor, is designed for professionals working in Polish Jewish cultural and educational institutions. Engaging in this program allows them to gain a deeper understanding of Jewish sources and explore–guided by selected rabbinical educators–how Jewish texts address contemporary themes and social concerns.

The program, facilitated by Miner who is continuing his rabbinical studies at HUC-JIR, is  supported by the Libitzky Family Foundation and Mrs. Roselyne Swig.

For more information on the program, please contact Gabe Miner