Nahmanides Academy: Aaron Agroskin

What is Kabbalah?
Where do the mystical traditions of European Jews originate?
Why did Jews leave Western Europe, and how is the Catholic Church connected to this?

We will discuss these and many other questions during a walk along Ramban Street in Jerusalem, at the second meeting of the ShShI Academy* project.

The meeting will take place on Monday, October 12, at 20:00, and will be dedicated to the greatest Jewish thinker, Nachmanides.

Ramban (Moshe ben Nachman—Nachmanides) was a younger contemporary of Maimonides, whom we met at the Academy’s first meeting. Ramban was also a physician, the greatest rabbi, a communal leader, and a thinker of the Jewish Middle Ages. But his approach to halakha (Jewish law) and Jewish thought differed dramatically. In contrast to Maimonides’ rationalist philosophy, Ramban advanced a mystical approach that influenced the development of Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), without which it is impossible to imagine Judaism today.

The meeting will be led by Aaron (Arseny) Agroskin, a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a researcher of Jewish history, tradition, and Jewish-Christian relations, as well as a lecturer and Hebrew teacher. The combination of an academic perspective with a practitioner’s approach makes his lectures a unique intellectual journey.

With Aaron, we will discuss not only Nachmanides as a thinker and mystic, but also as a defender of the Jewish faith at a trial organized by the Catholic authorities and, as a result, a political refugee who ended his wanderings by making aliyah to the Land of Israel.

During the meeting, we will walk along one of Jerusalem’s most beautiful streets—Ramban Street—then sit at the Netzach Yisrael Cultural Center to warm up and drink tea.

It will be cool in Jerusalem in the evening, so we recommend bringing warm clothing.

Schedule

20:00 | We meet at the fountain in France Square
20:10 | We reach Ramban Street and begin the walk and study

Age: 18–35
When: October 12, 20:00
Meeting point: France Square, Jerusalem
Cost: ₪20

For inquiries

Coordinator of the Jerusalem branch—Danya Khatamov | WhatsApp/Telegram: 053-803-6491

*About the ShShI Academy project

There is learning in a classroom, and there is learning in the city. At the meetings of our Academy, we invite you to get acquainted with Israel’s outstanding thinkers on streets named after them: we walk around Jerusalem, stop along the way on city benches, and study right there.

The idea of education through walking is not new at all. In ancient Israel, sages discussed the Torah with their students on the road, while in Ancient Greece, Socrates and his interlocutors walked outside the walls of Athens and continued their philosophical conversations under the trees. Plato’s Academy itself also arose among groves and walking spaces outside the city.

That is how it will be for us as well—a walk through Jerusalem, several stops, and a lively conversation in the open air.

This is our Academy.