Double Portion: Learning for Michael Horen

Pirksie Avot Chapter 1 Mishna 18

Shiva is behind us - thank you for reaching out and supporting us from near and far. We truly felt taken care of, that we had a large circle with which to share our grief as well as our stories and memories. And we know that continues to be the case.

Now we are into shloshim - the first month of mourning. It is traditional to do some Jewish learning in the memory of the person who passed away. Mishna, the foundation of the oral Jewish law, is often selected as a source of learning since it shares the same Hebrew letters with the word for soul, neshama.

There were two mishnayot that my Abba illustrated during his time in Jewish publishing

- Mishnah Chulin (from the order of Kodshim) dealing with the laws of kosher slaughter and diet.

- Mishnah Avot (from the order of Nezikin) a compilation of ethical teaching, often referred to as “Pirkei Avot.”

I’m inviting you to join us in learning these texts before January 31, when we will mark the end of shloshim, our first full month of mourning.

I’ll be uploading his illustrations for you to follow along with and you can sign up for learning here (the idea is for more than one person to learn the same part:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Bw-uKsl-0u81sw-3Mxe1eIuAO2Lz0jRucXQ3tsX46Mg

If you'd prefer to learn another piece of Mishna, there is a full siyyum that my parents community in Florida is organizing and you can access the sign up for that here