PILLAR Institute

Jamie has recently been teaching Torah-related classes at the PILLAR Institute. From their website: "PILLAR Institute for Lifelong Learning is the only independent lifelong learning institute in the Pikes Peak region and throughout southern Colorado. There are three class catalogs a year, with exciting classes and interesting instructors, who are local and who are from other parts of the world."

PILLAR's current catalog is here.

The wisdom available in these stories/classes is available to everyone, religious or not.

Jamie's Torah-related Classes:

Creation (I and II)

"Our scientific understanding of "The Beginning" is expanding. The universe itself is expanding. Is our understanding of God expanding? We'll explore what the Genesis Creation story tells us about God alongside some of the science of it all. You may be surprised what the Biblical Creation story is really trying to impart. This class is also done in two parts, the Genesis chapter 1 story and the Genesis chapter 2 story. April/June 2024.

For some brief notes from Creation I, click here.

For some brief notes from Creation II, click here.

The Flood (Noah) and the City of Babel (Tower and all)

Between Creation and the Patriarchs are two early-history stories in Genesis that deserve some attention. We'll look at the particulars and the lessons they teach for us today in the story of Noah and the Flood and in the story of the City (not Tower) of Babel. July 2024.

Abraham (I and II)

How/Why did God choose Abram (later Abraham)? What tests did God put Abraham through and what do we learn from those? Hopefully we'll get through the Binding of Isaac. Other topics we'll try to hit along the way include: wealth creation, lying, faith versus works, both sides of the covenant, how God communicates (at least back then), family/marriage, perpetuation of "The Way," and Sodom and Gomorrah. July/December 2024.

Isaac and Jacob

Here are the stories of the other two Patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob. Topics include the younger outshining the older, morality of hunting, selling birthrights, was does belief in God mean, envy or emulate, strong women, human intervention in God's plan, Jacob's deception, favoring one child over another, making deals with God, idols versus God, lying, crises in faith, and more. Not yet scheduled.

Joseph: Spoiled Brat to Egypt's #2

We’ll explore the life of Joseph as presented in the Book of Genesis from his father’s obsession to his brothers' hatred to ending up in Egypt interpreting dreams and ultimately saving Egypt and surrounding areas from famine. This story includes all manner of life lessons fully applicable today. May 2025.

Moses and the Exodus

About 400 years after a Hebrew (Joseph) saved Egypt from famine, baby Moses was born to a Hebrew family in the midst of enslavement by the Egyptians and a decree by the Pharoah to kill all the baby boy Hebrews. We pick up here in Exodus 1, teasing out what we can learn from Moses’ early life to the Burning Bush to the Ten Plagues brought upon Egypt and through the parted Red Sea to Mt. Sinai where the Ten Commandments will be delivered. (The Ten Commandments themselves is a separate pair of classes - see below.) September 2025, January 2026.

The Ten Commandments Applied Today (I and II)

This is done in two parts. First Commandments 1-5, then Commandments 6-10. "If everyone in the world followed even a subset of the Ten Commandments, we’d be about as close to a utopia as is possible. We’ll walk through each of the Commandments, explain what the commandment actually commands, and look at some real-world applications. You need not be any particular religion or even religious at all." Fall 2023. Part 1 & 2: March 4, 2026, 10am-1pm (new location: 5550 Tech Center Dr., Suite 203).

In the Wilderness

Here we look at the life lessons learned by Moses and the Israelites as they journey through the Wilderness for 40 years on their way to the Promised Land. These lessons still apply today. We'll focus on the Book of Numbers. Not yet scheduled.

Other Classes:

Railroad Chapel Cars, January 2025.
History of U.S. Flags, March 2025; July 21, 2026, 10am.
The World of Gemstones, November 2025.
Hubble and Webb Telescope Findings, April 2025; December 2025; August 18, 2026, 10am; September 10, 2026, 10am.
Epiphanies about Epiphany, not yet scheduled.