In this class, we will look at the lives of the paytanim – the scholars, rabbis and poets – who wrote the piyyutim we’ve been singing on shabbat. By exploring each paytan's world and the current events that affected them, we’ll learn how it shaped their theology & philosophy, and how that is, in turn, expressed in their piyyutim.

Each class will focus on one paytan, diving into what their day-to-day life was like and how they navigated their religious world with the secular one. The first 3 sessions will focus on the paytanim who were foundational to establishing the Sephardic piyyut tradition and continued to build on each other's work in the Golden Era of 11th Century Spain. The next half will focus on Sephardic paytanim post-expulsion of the jews from Spain, and how they furthered the tradition in communities around the Mediterranean and beyond.

Mondays, 7:15- 8:45 PM
1/22, 1/29, 2/12, 2/19, 2/26

Members
All adult education programs are included in Kitchen membership

Non-members
$180