About Roberta

For the past several  decades, in the US and Jerusalem, I’ve participated in weekly study and Shabbat services that go through the Torah, the five books of Moses, engaging, struggling, laughing, crying and protesting.

At times, particularly in Jerusalem when I’ve been studying with teachers Aviva Zornberg, Emuna Witt and Sarah Yehudit Schneider, I’ve experienced the study itself as a deep spiritual practice that connects me to deeper truths, other realms and parts of myself that are usually hidden from my day-to-day living.

I learned that for over 1000 years Jews met in early morning gatherings, sometimes illegally, to study the Torah. The Rabbis, the religious elders who have formed the basic liturgy and books that guide the spiritual life of Judaism, divided the book, the Torah book, into 54 parts. One (or sometimes two) of each are read each week. The Torah cycle ends and then begins again with the conclusion of Sukkot, the fall harvest festival, according to the ancient solar-lunar Hebrew calendar.

This website follows that cycle established by the rabbis perhaps 1500 years ago.