Nonreligious chavrusa ideas?

amother

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 3:19 am

I come from a not religious background, and one of my friends from growing up told me that she would like to learn something with me once a week. I'm so excited because I know she's never been exposed to authentic Judaism before and I really want to show her how relatable and insightful Judaism can be. I don't want to be preachy though... Does anyone have suggestions of ideas that I can present to her? So far I have thought of "The Five Levels of Pleasure" by Reb Noach Weinberg and "Permission to Believe" by Rav Keleman. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

amother

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 3:49 am

That is so great that she's coming to you!! She must feel very comfortable with you. B'h, your learning together will help you both to grow!

I would present your friend with a variety of options and then she can choose! I would also go in with the disclaimer that none of these books are "absolutes" - different Rabbis and authors have different opinions.

What about something about Jewish philosophy, so she understands the underlying structure? Or self-growth, like some of Rabbi Pliskin's books? I also love Rabbi Simon Jacobson's books about Elul and the Jewish holidays 60 Days A Spiritual Guide To The High Holidays (http://www.amazon.com/Days-Spiritual-Guide-High-Holidays/dp/B0007MUR18) or Towards A Meaningful Life (http://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaningful-Life-New-Edition/dp/0060732784).

I personally hated 'Permission to Believe' I just couldn't get into it and it kind've made me not want to be Orthodox.

You could also contact Jew in the City, I.e. Allison Josephs, for suggestions - she uses Twitter and Facebook and has e-mail.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 3:50 am

Is your friend interested in random factoids?

Many years ago, when I was first becoming religious, a bunch of my "barely religious" friends and I used to meet for tea once a week. We'd pull out the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch and open it to a random page. We'd find a halacha, and then discuss what we thought it meant, what it meant back then, and what it means in our age. We made lots of notes and took them to our rabbis. We'd then came back the next week to compare what we learned, and then we'd start on the next random page.

Any yeshivah bochur would tell you that we were going about it completely wrong, but we had fun and learned a lot, without it ever feeling preachy. At first it was just an academic exercise, but it got us all thinking a lot deeper about having lives that were more than just "cultural Judaism", and inspired us to take on more and more mitzvot in our lives.

I'm a HUGE fan of Breslov, and I find Rabbi Brody's work to be very approachable. His new book "6 Days to the Top" is a quick and easy read, light on the religious aspects, and very much into practical ways to live a better live through emunah and understanding how G-d loves us. I highly recommend it!

amother

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 3:44 pm

My partner in Torah and I went through Rabbi Becher's book Gateway to Judaism. There are a few books like this. A grown up version of the original JEP books. We also start off learning a bit of Gateway to Happiness. It really teaches you how to think Jewishly.

self-actualization

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 4:40 pm

Things I have learned with my Partners in Torah:

1) The Chumash, straight Breishis and Shemos, with discussions that bring in Rashi
2) The Book of our Heritage by Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov (discusses holidays and history)
3) Artscroll - My First Book of Jewish Holidays
4) Pirkei Avos - Artscroll green cover version
5) The Ways of Our Tzaddikim - two volume version translated by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

For me it works best to learn from a text so that the preparation is much easier and the lesson is contained instead of being "all over the place." Also, when we look back and see that we have covered ground, we feel accomplished.

I also think that the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch is not a bad idea, but my Partners in Torah have been more curious about hashkafah than about halacha.

Chana Miriam S

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 4:49 pm

I was not completely unobservant when I first started learning with my chavrusa so I had some things in mind I wanted to learn.

once we were done learning what I wanted, she chose to do the chafetz chayim one a day book. I liked that. the principles apply to just about everyone, jewish or not.

topics we have studied in our time together:

challah (taking) in detail (that was my first request because I was a caterer)
taharat hamishpacha (I wasn't religious when I got married)
candle lighting
the laws of having a non jew work for you on shabbat
Nefesh shimshon
Kashrut- starting with Rabbi Binyamin forsts book (not a book for total beginners) and moving on to the more complicated halachot in the next two volumes.

there is a book called shaarei halacha that oorah sent out one year. its a good over all book that keeps the subjects moving along.

chaos

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 11:19 pm

I think MaBelleVie's suggestion is a good one - ask her what she's looking to learn about and what kind of approach she's looking for.

My first chavrusa started me off with halacha. It was a huge mistake. I didn't have the context to appreciate halacha nor did I have the interest in learning minutae when it wasn't at all obvious to me why these sources had any relevance. Philosophy or hashkafa would have been a much better place to start. But everyone is different so it may be worth talking to her to find out what about Judaism is generating this spark of interest for her and start with that.