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JLI Flagship Program
Founded in 1998, JLI's flagship program continues to operate in over 600 locations worldwide, offering three accredited courses per year on an array of topics, including Jewish ethics, Jewish mysticism and philosophy, Jewish history and culture, and Jewish belief and practice. JLI's courses are accredited for continuing legal and medical education, and all courses offer CEU credits.
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Bringing you the brightest Jewish minds in the form of free online videos.

Experience classical Jewish learning in a series of weekly classes.

Dedicated to empowering Jewish women through quality education.

A stepping stone into Judaism available at a college campus near you.

Advanced learning for teenagers that want to get the most out of Judaism.

On-demand research on any Torah-related topic.

Den 1880

Location 14 Erb Street W (Corner Albert & Erb), Waterloo, ON N2L 1W4 Canada

Phone5197254289

Email [email protected]

Current Course: Decoding the Talmud

Decoding the Talmud

Inside the Story, Substance, and Significance of the Book that Defines Judaism

Enter the intricate world of the Talmud: the monumental classic that has defined Jewish learning for centuries. Join this six-week course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute to discover the Talmud, its history, authors, and significance—and experience it for yourself.

You'll learn the key terms, logical principles, and historical context required to decode every part of the Talmudic page. Plus, see how it became central to Jewish life and why it inspires fascination, debate, and study today.

Course Details

Lesson 1 The Jewish People and the Talmud

Why Jewish life orbits a book of law.

Jewish law’s ultimate record is the Talmud, but what is Jewish law? Explore its nature, scope, and roots in the written Torah and Oral Law—and see learning’s central role in Jewish practice and culture.

Lesson 2 The Mishnah

The origins, authors, and contents of Judaism’s first legal code.

See how Jewish law shifted from oral tradition to written code and encounter the Mishnah’s precise style, tight structure, and tolerance for debate—and its spiritual significance in Jewish life.

Lesson 3 Decrypting the Mishnah

How the sages studied, debated, and understood the Mishnah.

Discover the tools, methods, and principles the sages employed in the centuries-long effort to unpack the Mishnah’s full practical implications.

Lesson 4 To Create the Talmud

How the sages shaped its structure and substance.

Meet the pivotal sages in the Talmud’s story—from Rav and Shmuel’s first academies to Rav Ashi and Ravina’s final text—and see how they wove in stories as well as ethical and philosophical teachings.

Lesson 5 How the Talmud Thinks

A unique method of logic—and why it matters.

Understand the Babylonian Talmud’s rigorous mode of legal reasoning, how it balances dueling principles to arrive at clear legal boundaries, and how its elegant logic fuels deeper learning.

Lesson 6 The Talmud until Today

Talmudic literature and fifteen centuries of constant study.

See how and why the Talmud became the core of Jewish law and discover the vast literature of responsa, legal codes, and commentaries that continue the conversation until today.

Dates & Times

- 6 Tuesdays, Jan 28th - Mar 4th 2025 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
- $65.00 CAD
- This course is an in-person course only
- register

Upcoming Course: Colorful Profiles

Colorful Profiles

Short Stories of Extraordinary and Unexpected Characters from Jewish History

Join this four-week journey to encounter twelve stories of Jewish history’s most fascinating men and women. Discover the incredible Jewish lives of converts, captives, royal advisors, philosophers, philanthropists, and more. You’ll be fascinated by their sacrifices, adventures, and achievements and get a vivid look at our people’s rich heritage and history.

Course Details

Lesson 1 Courageous Converts

A Roman prince outwits his uncle to study Torah, an Italian priest studies his way to a new life, and a Polish noble meets an old Jew studying Talmud on a Paris park bench—see their journey to Judaism and what came next.

Lesson 2 Influential Jews

Spain’s top Torah scholar leads a Muslim Army, an Amsterdam rabbi with a printshop talks England into readmitting Jews, and a rabbi teaches a Catholic scholar and saves Central Europe’s Jewish books— how did they integrate Judaism into their influence?

Lesson 3 Unsung Heroines

A businesswoman saves thousands from the Inquisition and rebuilds Jewish life across the Mediterranean, and a female Torah scholar shapes Halachic discourse while raising a family, feeding students, and caring for the sick—see the secret ways women shaped Jewish history.

Lesson 4 Heroes and Hostages

Four rabbis are captured by 10th-century pirates, Germany’s foremost Jewish leader is held for ransom, and thousands of East European Jews languish in Ottoman slave markets—how did Jewish communities respond?

Dates & Times

The course date hasn't yet been announced for this location. Please email [email protected] or call 5197254289 for more info.

Endorsements Endorsements, Reviews and Comments of JLI's Courses and Programs.

Professor Judea Pearl (Father of Daniel Pearl) Director, Cognitive Systems Laboratory, University of California, Los Angeles

It is history that gives humans the sense of immortality and a bond that transcends passing differences. I applaud JLI for launching this worldwide study of Jewish history, a unique opportunity to rediscover our collective identity.

Natan Sharansky Noted Soviet dissident, Former Member of Israeli Knesset

In these tumultuous times, strengthening our identity is critical. JLI's course, The Land and the Spirit, provides an intriguing opportunity to connect to our roots, to be empowered by a personal link with our people and history, and to understand our bond to Israel. It is only by drawing a clear line from the past to the present that each of us can chart a course for a creative, constructive, and fulfilling future as part of the Jewish People.

Professor Alan M. Dershowitz Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

I found the Rohr JLI course You Be The Judge fascinating. If my first-year students had been exposed to this material before starting law school, they would be better prepared for the rigors of the Socratic method.

Elyakim Rubinstein Israeli Supreme Court Justice, Former Attorney General of Israel

Many thanks for sharing with me the exciting Rohr JLI curriculum of You Be The Judge and for the excellent idea of bringing the treasure of Jewish law, a major point of Jewish life and Jewish ethos, to the attention of interested people.

Ellen Langer, PhD Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, Bestselling Author of eleven books including Mindfulness, Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and The Power of Possibility, Cambridge, MA

On the level of the individual to the level of culture, the ills we experience, by and large, result from mindlessness. The wisdom discussed in Toward a Meaningful Life should be widely read to help provoke a reversal of this trend and lead us to mindful lives full of everyday meaning.

Professor Jonathan D. Sarna Director, Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University

I am delighted to learn that the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute has created the course entitled Flashbacks in Jewish History. The great encounters between Judaism and its surrounding civilizations are of paramount importance for anyone seeking to understand Jewish life in the past as well as in the present.

Sir Martin Gilbert Leading Historian Official Biographer of Sir Winston Churchill

The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute and Rabbi Aaron Herman are to be congratulated for their challenging course, The Land and The Spirit, in which the spiritual values and centrality of the Land of Israel are expounded through a fascinating range of religious and secular texts. These texts span a remarkably wide range of opinions, from Moses to Herzl, from Rashi to Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, from Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson to Natan Sharansky (There is No Zionism Without Judaism), from the Talmud to the opinion writers of the Jerusalem Post. These texts, like the course itself, will serve a noble cause in stimulating thought and encouraging understanding.

Marlene Post President, Hadassah International, Chair for North America, Birthright Israel (Taglit)

The story of our people is filled with tales of leadership and vision, kindness and compassion. These are the gifts that enriched our own communities, and they are gifts we have shared with others around the world. The past provides us the inspiration to continue to work for the betterment of society.

Past Courses

Nurturing Relationships