North Shore, Boston to join worldwide release of ‘SoulQuest’

Wed Sep 23, 2009, 09:15 AM EDT

SWAMPSCOTT - This November, the North Shore Community Collel and Jewish Learning Institute will unveil its fall course, “SoulQuest: The Journey Through Life, Death, and Beyond" with classes in Swampscott and Boston.

Layah Lipsker of Chabad of the North Shore in Swampscott will teach the course in Swampscott.

The twin mysteries of life and death have fascinated philosophers and laymen alike since the dawn of time. Many questions have been asked, but far fewer have been answered, she says.

“This is a classic case of the market creating the demand for this course,” says local Jewish Learning Institute instructor Lipsker “We have received consistent requests from students to create a course that addresses these issues head on. Sooner or later, everybody must reckon with questions of their own mortality.”

“This course addresses the most commonly asked questions about the soul’s journey,” says Rabbi Yisrael Rice, the course author. “And then some not-so-common questions that many people have never even thought of.

“Though there are many traditions that deal with the nature of the soul and its journey through this life and beyond,” continues Rice, “this course reveals a counterintuitive conclusion that is unique to the Jewish tradition.”

Participants will find comfort in understanding the soul’s journey, Lipsker says, adding that “the course consistently brings the study of our before and after back to its practical ramifications of day-to-day living.”

Lessons will examine a range of classic Jewish sources, drawing extensively from the Talmud and Kabbalah.

The course will be held at the Chabad Community Shul on Burrill Street in Swampscott for six Wednesdays from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and evenings from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Rabbi Yossi Lipsker of the Chabad Community Shul will teach the same course in downtown Boston from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Thursdays at One Financial Center, 18th floor, at the law offices of Brown Rudnick.

Start dates are Nov. 4 in Swampscott and Nov. 5 in Boston. Potential students are welcome to call 781-581-3833 for more information.

SoulQuest, like all JLI courses, is designed for people at all levels of Jewish knowledge. Participants without any prior experience or background in Jewish learning can attend and enjoy this course. All JLI courses are open to the public and attendees need not to be a member of any particular synagogue or temple.

Visit myJLI.com or Soulquestion.com for up-to-date information about SoulQuest or see nsjewish.com.