Can you learn Judaism online?

Can you learn Judaism online?

The short answer: yes.

The longer answer: yes, and....

Yes, you can learn Judaism online.

Online learning has been around for a good while now, both in formal learning programs, like here at Judaism Online, and in those quick, bite-sized YouTubes that show you how to remove the cover of your porch light (yep, I consulted that one), what the symbols on your washing machine mean, and so on.

Online learning works for cognitive kinds of learning, like what Judaism is, and for practical demonstrations of how to accomplish various tasks.

Yes, you can learn Judaism online, and....

There are limits to online learning. When it comes to learning Judaism, I can teach you about keeping kosher, for example. I cover the Bible's basis for the rules of kashrut, namely which animals are kosher and which not, and that even the kosher animals have to be slaughtered in accordance with Jewish law. (I wish there were a nicer word than "slaughtered", but then again, I'm vegetarian.) I teach how we don't mix dairy and meat in the same meal, how we keep separate dishes for milk and meat, and so on. I teach the process for making your kitchen kosher, whether it's your dishes or your oven.

But when I work with students in person, there's more learning that has to take place, and that can't be done well online. I visit them at their home and do a walk-through of their kitchen, explaining what needs to go, what can be kashered (made kosher), and how to kasher each item. (During the pandemic, I did a virtual walk-through with a conversion student, who showed me around his kitchen using his phone.)

For another example: Jewish prayer. I can teach you Jewish prayer and individual prayers. I can show you videos to help. But you also have to pray with Jews in a synagogue to learn beyond the cognitive part of learning. (The cognitive part is totally necessary, but it has to be supplemented by experiential learning.)

Which is to say that you can totally do the cognitive part of your Jewish learning here at Judaism Online. And then, as I explain in the FAQs, you also need to be part of an actual, not virtual, Jewish community. That's how you get the experiential, in-person learning that no course, online or otherwise, can provide.

Now, that works well for students who happen to have a Jewish community nearby. (If you don't know if there is one, contact me, and I'll help you find a synagogue.)

It gets more complex if you don't have a synagogue or rabbi or Jewish community within hundreds of miles or kilometers. If that's the case, contact me, and I'll help chart a course for you if you're interested in conversion. We'll find a way for you to visit a community and take part in Jewish life in person, to make sure you learn by experience in addition to watching my recorded lessons and consulting with me online.

This is why the second part of the answer is yes, and...and not no.