Cultivating the Soul

Advanced Hasidic Text Study of Pirkei Avot

Count the omer in a way that counts.

Moving from freedom (Passover) to revelation (Shavuot) and from emancipation to commitment.

April 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11, 18

Mondays, 1:30 – 2:45 PM ET

This is a special opportunity to study with one of the leading scholars and teachers of Hasidic commentary, Rabbi Erin Leib Smokler, PhD, Director of Spiritual Development at Yeshivat Maharat‭. This six-week text study is designed for clergy, educators, and seasoned learners. All text will be presented in Hebrew with English translation.

Tradition invites us to count the days in the seven week period between Passover and Shavuot, called the Omer.

Passover marks our physical liberation from Egypt, but Shavuot marks our spiritual elevation at Mount Sinai. The seven weeks in between are not just a countdown; they are a “workout” for the soul. We study Pirkei Avot (Ethics of Our Ancestors) during the Omer because receiving the Torah requires more than just showing up. This beautiful tradition turns a simple countdown into a journey of character development, preparation, growth.

Join us as we count the Omer using this ancient tradition of study. We will draw on the wisdom of this text—with Hasidic commentaries––to guide us in exploring how we might make our days count.

As Shavuot approaches, it is customary to study one chapter of Pirkei Avot each week. This course will do just that, getting to know this core text more deeply and discovering new angles each week. Each session will highlight one or more mishnas from that week’s chapter, with attention to how Hasidic thinkers interpreted these teachings as resources for spiritual growth.

We will learn from the Kedushat Levi, Maor Eynayim, Sefat Emet, Netivot Shalom, and others, and reflect on how we can internalize this beautiful wisdom and take account of our inner lives.

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Here’s What Participants Have Told Us About Learning with Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

I can’t praise Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler enough as a teacher of Hasidut. I have studied with her for several years. Her approach to these texts is incredibly insightful, accessible, and deeply relevant on a psychological and spiritual level. Despite her great erudition, she is humble and open to the contributions of her students.

Rabbi Suzanne Singer

Emerita, Temple Beth El

Riverside, CA

Erin Smokler combines a love for Hasidut, the expertise to explain difficult texts, and the ability to teach beginners and advanced students simultaneously. In addition, she shows great humility in always welcoming questions, comments, and insights from her students.

Irving Mandelbaum

I love studying with Rabbi Erin! Rabbi Erin’s unique gift is her use of language; she is an amazing master of the descriptive word. She can take Hasidic ideas and find the right words to make them feel contemporary; she always connects intellectual ideas to the heart-level. I feel personally enlightened and spiritually moved every time I study with her. Literally the words she uses to describe or examine a thought opens new horizons of understanding for me; it is truly her gift as a teacher.

Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller

Temple Beth Torah

Ventura,CA

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IJS is pleased to offer this course at three tuition levels.
We encourage you to pay at the highest level you can, which will enable more students to participate.

Abundance Level

$349

Basic Level

$249

Reduced Level

$149

Meet Your Instructor:

Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler is the Director of Spiritual Development at Yeshivat Maharat, where she teaches Hasidism and Pastoral Torah.

Erin earned both her PhD and MA from the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought, and her BA from Harvard University. She was ordained by Yeshivat Maharat.

Erin previously served as Assistant Literary Editor of The New Republic magazine, and her writing has appeared there, as well as in The New York Times Book Review, The Jewish Week, and other publications. Her collection, Torah in a Time of Plague: Historical and Contemporary Jewish Reflections (Ben Yehuda Press) received the 2021 National Jewish Book Award in Modern Jewish Thought and Experience.