New Lehrhaus

New Lehrhaus is the independent institute for Jewish study. Based in the Bay Area, we are a non-denominational lifelong learning institution dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry, contemporary relevance, and cultural and religious pluralism. Our courses take up subjects found nowhere else, taught at a level that respects intelligence, for curious people of every background.

We embrace what Franz Rosenzweig, founder of the original Lehrhaus (House of Study) in Frankfurt, called “new learning”: an approach that begins wherever you are, with whatever knowledge and curiosity you bring, and moves from the periphery toward deeper understanding. In our community, historians learn alongside physicists, artists alongside engineers, and newcomers alongside seasoned scholars.

Each year we offer about 100 courses, online and in person, to nearly 1,000 adult learners. Some are taking their first class in Jewish studies, and many have learned with us for years. Scholars, writers, and artists teach Jewish literature, history, languages, thought, and culture. Recent offerings include classes in less commonly taught Jewish languages, conversations on Israel/Palestine that bring in perspectives beyond the Jewish communal mainstream, and diverse lunchtime reading groups.

What guides us:

• Depth and breadth: rigorous study across a wide range of subjects, through text study, lectures, conversation, and the arts.
• Outstanding teachers: scholars, writers, and artists who bring both expertise and generosity to the classroom.
• Pluralism and inclusion: a secular, non-denominational home where people of every background, belief, and level of knowledge learn together.
• Rooted in the Bay Area, open to the world: our home is in Oakland, and online learning brings together teachers and students from across the country and beyond.