Neuroqueer Talmud - Ableism, Power Dynamics, and Oppression in Rabbinic Literature

Neuroqueer Talmud: Ableism, Power Dynamics, and Oppression in Rabbinic Literature - November 16, 23, 30 + December 7 & 14 - 17:00 - 19:30 CET

Neuroqueer Talmud is back!

In this round of Neuroqueer Talmud, we will turn to Bava Metzia and a section of the Talmud that discusses personal harm. Together, we will ask: How do the rabbis understand harm between people? How do systems of power and hierarchy show up in rabbinic discourse? What might it mean to read these texts through the lenses of disability, queerness, and neurodivergence - especially in a world still shaped by ableism and oppression?

Our first session will build our toolkit - learning how to navigate rabbinic literature, reframing the Oral Torah through a queer lens, and beginning to see the Talmud as a conversation across centuries that we are invited into. Over the following four weeks, we will study the Talmud’s teachings on personal harm in depth. We will develop skills, work in chevruta (paired study), and practice making Talmud and our tradition our own.

Our pedagogy is Neuroqueer.

We approach Talmud not as a fixed inheritance, but as a tradition to be reclaimed. Rabbinic literature has often been used to uphold systems of exclusion - but it also contains radical tools for imagining otherwise. Neuroqueer Torah means bringing our full selves - our neurodivergence, our queerness, our disabilities, our contradictions - into dialogue with the text. It means refusing to leave parts of ourselves at the door, and discovering what Torah can become when it is read from the margins.

Our Beit Midrash (study hall) is different.

• No prior Talmud learning or Hebrew fluency is required—only the ability to recognize the Hebrew alphabet.

• You do not need to perform expertise to belong here.

• We will guide you carefully through every text.

• Learning is not about mastery, but about building relationship - with the text, with each other, and with ourselves.

This is a mixed-level space, where those encountering Talmud for the first time and those with years of study both have something essential to bring. Every person is a necessary voice in the conversation.

We will meet over 5 sessions over Zoom. Each session will be 2.5 hours (150 minutes). We follow the Guidelines for Safe and Neuro-Affirming Spaces: optional cameras, structured breaks, slow pacing, access to written materials, and a consent-based approach to participation.

Tuition: €250 (discounted from the true cost of €350, to make learning accessible to as many people as possible).

If tuition is difficult for you, please use the code HEZI-HEZI for 50% off (€120).

If you are able to contribute above €250 toward the true cost, please consider adding the difference in the tip box. This generosity helps sustain this learning for others.

Register here: https://autisticrabbi.as.me/nqt-nov-2025

Hope to learn with you soon!