The Tale of the Tower of Babel in Words...and Pictures

We will explore the pshat (author's original words) and midrash (homiletic stories) on Genesis 11:1-9, the story of the Tower of Babel. We will focus on what the Torah and rabbinic sources view as the people's major transgression, leading to their dispersion and multilingual future, and will examine some classical pieces of art to help us in our investigation. We will be doing some havruta (partnered) learning; no previous biblical or Hebrew knowledge is required. . . . Sharon Freundel attended Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of Maryland. She did graduate work at Teacher’s College of Columbia University and earned a Masters of Arts Degree in Jewish Education at the Baltimore Hebrew University. Ms. Freundel taught and was the department chair for Tanakh (Bible) and Torah SheBa’al Peh (Rabbinics) and was the Mashgichah Ruchanit (Spiritual Guidance Counselor) of the Upper School at the Berman Hebrew Academy. She then became the Director of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and subsequently, the Director of Jewish Life at the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital. Following that, she was the Managing Director of the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, a national organization whose mission is to catalyze radical improvement in Jewish Day Schools. Since her retirement in June, she has taken on coaching Judaic studies teachers and school leaders for Pedagogy of Partnership. She has lectured on Torah topics in Canada, Australia, Israel, and throughout the United States for the past 45+ years. She is a proud Jewish mother to three kids, two in-law kids, and is a delighted Savti to a grandson.