Chabad of Nanaimo
Location 5450 Oceanview Terrace, Nanaimo, BC V9V 1G7 Canada
Phone250-797-7877
Upcoming Course: Decoding the Talmud

Decoding the Talmud

Inside the Story, Substance, and Significance of the Book that Defines Judaism

Enter the intricate world of the Talmud: the monumental classic that has defined Jewish learning for centuries. Join this six-week course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute to discover the Talmud, its history, authors, and significance—and experience it for yourself.

You'll learn the key terms, logical principles, and historical context required to decode every part of the Talmudic page. Plus, see how it became central to Jewish life and why it inspires fascination, debate, and study today.

Dates & Times
The course date hasn't yet been announced for this location. Please email [email protected] or call 250-797-7877 for more info.
Upcoming Course: Colorful Profiles

Colorful Profiles

Short Stories of Extraordinary and Unexpected Characters from Jewish History

Join this four-week journey to encounter twelve stories of Jewish history’s most fascinating men and women. Discover the incredible Jewish lives of converts, captives, royal advisors, philosophers, philanthropists, and more. You’ll be fascinated by their sacrifices, adventures, and achievements, and get a vivid look at our people’s rich heritage and history.

Dates & Times
The course date hasn't yet been announced for this location. Please email [email protected] or call 250-797-7877 for more info.
Endorsements Endorsements, Reviews and Comments of JLI's Courses and Programs.
Past Courses

Secrets of the Bible

November 2020
Secrets of the Bible

A lush garden...a snake...forbidden fruit...temptation...the sin of knowledge...shame...mortality...
What is really going on?

Revisit six seemingly absurd stories you likely remember from Hebrew school. Uncover their hidden themes and eye-opening insights into the mysteries of life.
~ What is the deeper meaning behind these stories?
~ How did they shape the Jewish worldview?
~ What wisdom do they hold for you today?

Sign up for a thought-provoking experience, sure to deepen your understanding of Judaism and enrich your life!

Judaism's Gifts to the World

January 2020
Judaism's Gifts to the World

By most indications, modern society is a model of moral progress. Yet when it comes to everyday values, we still grapple with the big ones…

   - What are our responsibilities toward the less fortunate?
   - How do we fashion a more moral and equal society?
   - How can we make a move toward more cohesive family living?

Join us to unpack six of the world’s most cherished values and how they were delivered to humankind by the Torah. By tracing their fascinating journey to the mainstream, we’ll discover a timeless core of purpose, integrity, and clarity in each value—a powerful gift of guidance as we navigate our own daily choices.

Worrier to Warrior

November 2019
Worrier to Warrior

We yearn to feel happy, self-assured, and enthusiastic, yet we’re consumed by feelings of doubt, regret, insecurity, and suffering. Do our delicate positive emotions have a fighting chance at being in control? This course explores negative emotions in a completely new light, offering spiritual mechanisms that allow us to remain upbeat no matter what life brings.

Outsmarting Antisemitism

November 2021
Outsmarting Antisemitism

Rise above the Hate

We cannot let antisemitism define our Judaism, but we cannot ignore it either. As direct memory of the Holocaust fades, Jews around the world are wondering whether the patterns of past centuries are returning, in both the Old and New Worlds, where Jews experience more hate crimes than any other group.

Are Jewish people doomed to be stuck in this cycle forever? Is there a way to escape this history of hate?

Outsmarting Antisemitism takes this dark subject on squarely, with a sense of unabashed optimism, profound faith, and a distinctly Jewish approach.

Through illuminating source texts and captivating case studies, this course considers the sources of this ancient scourge, along with the appropriate strategies for overcoming it. It’s time to find the confidence to fight hate with hope and to stand tall against antisemitism with positivity, purpose, and plenty of Jewish pride!

Meditation from Sinai

February 2022
Meditation from Sinai

The Torah was given at Sinai. So were the meditative tools to help us open up, see more, and live more deeply.

This course teaches the what, how, why, where, and when of Divine Meditation, Mindful Awareness, and Soulful Transcendence. 

 

Learn more about available continuing education credit for medical and mental health professionals at www.myjli.com/continuingeducation

 

Advice for Life

February 2024
Advice for Life

The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s spiritual leadership is the force behind the modern Chabad movement.

Join this new multimedia course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute to journey through the Rebbe’s practical wisdom on work, family, health, and well-being. Discover how the Rebbe applied Jewish values to serve as a guide for finding deeper meaning in everyday life.

 

Experience the Rebbe’s exceptional approach to uncovering timeless meaning in everyday questions of health, work, family, fulfillment, struggle, and inner peace.

The World of Kabbalah

October 2023
The World of Kabbalah

Discover the core mystical and spiritual teachings of Kabbalah and their relevance to everyday life. You’ll learn to think like a Jewish mystic and gain powerful insights to fuel deeper self-understanding and personal growth. Curious why there’s so much buzz around Kabbalah? Discover it for yourself by attending The World of Kabbalah.

Beyond Right

May 2022
Beyond Right

Talmudic analysis and mind-bending logic have long been a hallmark of Jewish scholarship. But buried beneath much of the discussion and legalese are core Jewish values that fuel so much of the debate. This course examines a number of key legal issues that disclose fundamental ethical considerations that serve as the engine of Jewish civil law.

 

MCLE BOARD-APPROVED IN MANY STATES FOR UP TO NINE (9) CLE CREDITS FOR ATTORNEYS

Visit www.myjli.com/accreditation for a complete accreditation statement

With All My Heart

July 2019
With All My Heart

Whether you’re seeking relief from stress; you’re hoping for focus, clarity, and connection to a raw and vulnerable place deep within you; or you just want to start each day from a positive, humble, and grateful frame of mind, this course is for you.

Jewish wisdom teaches profound techniques to give wings to our emotions and words to our yearnings, allowing us to make contact and communicate with something larger than ourselves and feel comfort and shelter within a reality that’s more whole, more intense, more real, and more beautiful.
 

Crime and Consequence

February 2019
Crime and Consequence

When innocent people are wrongly convicted...
When "correctional facilities" turn first-time offenders into hardened criminals...
When known murderers walk free on a technicality …
Fairness in justice simply cannot be left to chance.

In Crime and Consequence, we explore 3000 years of Jewish wisdom concerning criminal convictions, sentencing, crime prevention, and rehabilitation. We challenge our thinking, pondering the application of Talmudic principles to real and complex, modern-day cases, and we get to the heart of questions such as:

Should we consider testimonies given in exchange for a reduced sentence as reliable evidence?
What is the goal of punishing criminals? is it to gain retribution for the victim, keep criminals off the streets and safeguard from future crime, set an example and instill the fear of law, or to rehabilitate the criminal and reintroduce him to society?
Is life-without-parole a justifiable penalty? Is it within our right to sentence a man to death? When would these be warranted? Is there a better way?

The Dilemma

February 2017
The Dilemma

Accredited for Continuing Legal Education (in most states)

Apply mind-bending, brain-twisting, hair-splitting Talmudic reasoning to solve real-life modern dilemmas—situations that actually happened yet seem impossible to solve. What do you do when your gut tells you one thing, and your brain tells you another? Prepare for a mental expedition to mind-wrestle with situations that force us to choose between two reasonable truths.

Analyze, discuss, and debate Talmudic texts with live interactive polling for an authentic taste of original, dynamic Talmud study.

 

How Success Thinks

November 2016
How Success Thinks

Whether it’s at home, in the office, or in your personal life, everyone craves success. This course provides uniquely Jewish ways of thinking to help you develop a growth mindset, identify and cultivate your signature strengths, deal with your weaknesses, and overcome the obstacles to your success.

Strength and Struggle

May 2016
Strength and Struggle

In Strength and Struggle we unlock the secrets of great character by exploring some of the most dramatic narratives and inspiring personalities in all of history. Set in the midst of our nation’s formative years, an era in which our ancestors fought to carve out a civilization among hostile neighbors, these thrilling tales of judges, kings, and prophets reach into the essence of the human condition. Their heroes and antiheroes teach us eternal lessons of struggle and triumph, courage and humility, hope and resilience.

Survival of a Nation

May 2017
Survival of a Nation

Experience an inspiring and thrilling account of what was then considered the most improbable and astonishing victory in all of military history.

Drawing on ideas of great Jewish writers and thinkers from throughout the ages, Survival of a Nation presents the Six-Day War as you’ve never experienced it before.

Its six sessions confront the impossible yet important questions of our time with affectionate and fervent patriotism, while also remaining realistic, and morally anchored.

Great Debates

November 2017
Great Debates

Debate is not only encouraged within Judaism but resides at the very heart of our history and theology. Great Debates in Jewish History explores six fundamental conflicts that pitted the greatest Jewish minds against each other—six instances of divergent perspectives, including several that are still debated today.

Discover stirring and surprising accounts that span two millennia of Jewish disputation, reflecting the panorama of Jewish history and its monumental political, ethical, and spiritual challenges. Encounter the gripping narratives of six fascinating eras, the intellectual tension and points of view they unearth, and the light they shed on the most fundamental of Jewish beliefs.

Wrestling with Faith

October 2018
Wrestling with Faith

Most people, even the devout, struggle with beliefs about G-d. It is easy, for example, to affirm the basic tenets of Judaism during a prayer service, but when it comes to trusting G-d with our daily decisions, many share a secret, painful fear that G-d isn’t really looking out for them. Many of us have been brought up under the assumption that mainstream science is incompatible with our Jewish faith. So when we see compelling evidence for biological evolution, for example, we feel forced to choose between science and our faith. Wrestling with Faith was created to tackle questions like these—the “big issues” that keep people from an intimate relationship with G-d. The course acknowledges the often unspoken doubts and fears that all people share, and seizes their invitation for us to dig deeper for the answers.

What Is?

May 2018
What Is?

Imagine that you were able to rethink everything you knew about the universe, the laws of nature, your own consciousness, and the very idea of existence and reality. Imagine the new insights you will gain, the fresh perspective with which you will embark on the journey of life each morning.

What is? does exactly that. Drawing on the wisdom of Chassidic teaching, the most basic building blocks of existence are reexamined from the bottom up, revolutionizing our understanding of life, reality, and our place in the world.

Communication: Its Art and Soul

January 2018
Communication: Its Art and Soul

Can you express yourself effectively in 140 characters or less? Should you?

The rise of the internet, mobile phones, and social media has completely changed the way we relate, interact, and communicate with one another—and it’s high time we reclaim this lost art.

In Jewish philosophy, communication is more than just a tool: it is who we are. Humans are defined as communicative beings with a communicative soul, and aligning ourselves with this soul is our raison d’être.

In Communication: Its Art and Soul, we contrast Jewish thought with scientific discovery to unearth the essence of communication and how to utilize its powers to better ourselves, our relationships, and all of society

The Jewish Course of Why

February 2016
The Jewish Course of Why

Give your Judaism the intellection you know it deserves. Prepare to tackle the quizzical, queer, and seemingly-unanswerable questions about Jewish belief and practice.

Ever wondered why there are so many Jews in Hollywood? Why Jews eat gefilte fish and cholent and wish each other mazal tov and l’chaim? Why the Bible sanctions slavery and animal sacrifices? What is the cause of antisemitism? What does Judaism say about Christianity? About the role of women in Jewish life? You will also gain insight into mysterious Jewish practices, strange biblical narratives, and enigmas of Jewish identity.