StartWhereYou Are.
New Lehrhaus is the independent institute for Jewish study, founded in Berkeley and teaching online and in person. Each term our faculty of scholars, writers, and artists offer dozens of courses, and every one is open to students at any level of background. You choose the subject, and you set the pace.
Rethinking tradition can reshape identity
Curiosity over certainty
We value the question more than the answer. Doubt, dialogue and discovery are not obstacles to learning — they are its essence.
Tradition in motion
We see Jewish tradition not as static or sealed, but alive — ready to be reinterpreted, reshaped, and lived with relevance today.
Pluralism as a driver
We thrive on diversity of background, belief and expression. When we learn across difference, we expand the meaning of community.
Shared authorship
Teachers and students meet as co-creators. Every encounter is an exchange — a conversation that belongs to everyone in the room.
our—mission
Jewish tradition isn’t about looking back. It’s about looking again.
At New Lehrhaus, we explore modern life in conversation with ancient wisdom and reimagine tradition through the lens of today.
Our classes are spaces of discovery, not doctrine. We study literature, art, philosophy and language to uncover meaning in our lives and in our world.
It’s about changing the way we see. Because when you shift your lens, you shift everything.
The past becomes relevant through active engagement.
New Lehrhaus brings together scholars, artists, educators, and cultural thinkers who share a commitment to open inquiry and meaningful dialogue. Each brings a distinct perspective, meeting students where they are and shaping learning as a shared, evolving conversation grounded in curiosity, rigor, and contemporary relevance.
We are grateful to our major funders who make our work possible
Goodman Family Foundation
The Frederick J. Isaac Fund
Jewish Community Federation
Libitzky Family Foundation
Jonathan Logan Family Foundation
Lamed Vavniks (Major Donors ($1,000+)
- Liki & Joe Abrams
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Rich & Chris Aptaker
- Marty Aufhauser
- In Memory of Carol Berluti
- Ellen Bob & David Waksberg
- Stephan J. Cohen
- David DeNola
- Martin & Jill Dodd
- Sandy Edwards
- Linda & Sanford Gallanter
- Jim Gilbert
- Katherine Haynes
- Fred Hertz
- Arnold & Joanne Jacobson
- Rabbi Yoel Kahn & Dan Bellm
- Laura Kalman & Randy Garr
- Eitan Lev Kensky
- Hannah Kranzberg
- Harold Lindenthal
- Cindy Ostroff
- Nancy & Martin Peckerar
- Norman Reid
- Fred Rosenbaum & Dorothy Shipps
- Rabbi Judy Shanks & Dr. James Gracer
- Howard Simon & Vivien Igra
- Lynn Simon & Larry Ginsburg
- Dalia Sirkin
- Beverly Voloshin
- Lisa & Howard Wenger
- Peter & Deborah Wexler
Lamed Vavnik Teachers (Supporting New Lehrhaus with In-Kind Teaching)
- Robert Alter
- Daniel Boyarin
- Rabbi Steve Chester
- Susie Coliver
- Stewart Florsheim
- Erich Gruen
- Ron Hendel
- Rabbi Shelly Lewis
- Bruce Phillips
- Steve Rosen
- Naomi Seidman
- Howard Simon
- Stephen Whitfield
Ancient texts speak differently in every generation
1920
Die alte Judengasse, the historic Jewish quarter in Frankfurt am Main, where Franz Rosenzweig established the original Lehrhaus in 1920
A New Kind of Learning
In 1920 Frankfurt, a young philosopher named Franz Rosenzweig confronted a pressing question: how could Judaism remain vital for Jews fully immersed in modern intellectual and cultural life? His answer was the Freie Jüdische Lehrhaus (the Free Jewish House of Learning), where learning would move not simply from ancient texts toward modern life, but from the questions of contemporary life back to classical sources.
“It is a learning in reverse order. From life, from a world that knows nothing of the Law...back to the ancient source.”
— Franz Rosenzweig
1974
Fred Rosenbaum, a graduate student in Berkeley around 1970, just before he founded Lehrhaus Judaica.
New Life in the Bay Area
Rosenzweig’s vision found new life in Berkeley in 1974, when Fred Rosenbaum founded Lehrhaus Judaica. For nearly five decades, Lehrhaus brought serious adult Jewish learning to the Bay Area, approaching Jewish history, thought, culture, and texts through the questions and intellectual currents of contemporary life.
2021
David Biale (ז״ל) and Rachel Biale, who led the founding of New Lehrhaus in 2021.
The Lehrhaus Renewed
When HaMaqom (formerly Lehrhaus Judaica) closed in summer 2021, David Biale (ז״ל) and Rachel Biale led the founding of New Lehrhaus that September, carrying forward Rosenzweig’s vision of learning that begins with the questions and knowledge of contemporary life and brings them into conversation with Jewish texts and ideas.
Today
Deena Aranoff teaching at New Lehrhaus in Berkeley.
The Conversation Continues
New Lehrhaus carries this century-old experiment forward for a new generation, bringing scholars, artists, writers, and students together to explore Jewish civilization through open inquiry, rigorous study, and conversation across disciplines and perspectives.
