The Kress Project on the Hebrew Bible
The Kress Project on the Hebrew Bible
In 2022, Tikvah launched the Kress Project on the Hebrew Bible to help restore Biblical ideas and ethics to the center of education and to the heart of Jewish and American culture.
Through our many K-12 educational programs and online courses, we aim to inspire Jews and all Americans with the richness, depth, and beauty of our sacred texts and tradition. Below are the elements of this project, which we hope you will explore and share with others:
Parent-Child and Online Learning:
Parshah Course with Rabbi Sacks: In partnership with The Rabbi Sacks Legacy, Tikvah invites parents (and grandparents) to learn the weekly parsha with their middle-school-aged children. Through expert scholar-led seminar discussions, participants delve into the Hebrew Bible’s major themes, central figures, and enduring questions, as taught through essays from Rabbi Sacks’s essential commentary, Covenant and Conversation.
Tikvah Online Academy: TOA offers a wide array of high-level seminars for thoughtful middle and high school students interested in Jewish ideas, Zionism, American democracy, and Western Civilization. Through the Kress Project, we offer courses on central Biblical books and characters, ethical Jewish teachings, and foundational Biblical thought.
Pirkei Avot: Living with Jewish Values and Ethics: The Kress Project’s Pirkei Avot learning campaign facilitates parent-child study of the seminal Jewish text on Jewish ethics, Pirkei Avot. These lessons (released weekly, between Passover and Shavuot) have engaged Jews of all backgrounds with the foundational teachings of Jewish morality and ethics.
The Millstone Scholars Program is a National Honors program for 7th and 8th graders attending public and secular independent schools. Through weekly in-person seminars and guided study in 30+ locations, students explore the central ideas of Jewish civilization, Zionism, American democracy, and Western thought.
The first trimester of learning is devoted to the study of the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic literature, and focuses on the moral and intellectual leadership of figures such as Abraham, King David, Rabbi Akiva, and Maimonides. Students engage with timeless questions of justice, faith, and human dignity through the Jewish tradition, and consider how it shapes the Western world and their Jewish identities today.
The Menachem Begin Scholars Program:
The Menachem Begin Scholars Program is a highly selective, two-year fellowship for outstanding 9th and 10th grade students. Designed to shape the next generation of Jewish leaders, the program immerses students in the foundational texts and debates of Jewish, Zionist, and Western thought.
With support from the Kress Project, the first seminar of this fellowship is an intensive study of the Biblical books of Ruth and Esther, examining the political, moral, and spiritual dilemmas faced by Jews in exile. Through this deep engagement with the Hebrew Bible, students wrestle with enduring questions about leadership, identity, and redemption that continue to resonate in Jewish and civic life.
The Tikvah Scholars Program is a rigorous 11-day summer institute for exceptional high school students. Participants come together in a vibrant intellectual community to study foundational texts of Biblical, Zionist, and Western thought and engage in spirited debate.
The foundational seminar for students in public and independent private schools is called “Jewish Ideas and the Hebrew Bible: Ancient Foundations, Modern Questions.” Through deep textual study and guided seminar discussions, this Kress course invites students to explore ideas of justice, nationhood, leadership, and human nature in the Jewish tradition and consider its relevance to their lives today. Additionally, through the Kress Project, TSP offers several in-depth Bible elective courses each summer—such as courses on Ecclesiastes, Women in Tanakh, The Sabbath, and more.
The Kress Project sponsors a growing catalog of online courses on the Hebrew Bible for learners of all ages. Taught by leading scholars, these courses explore the theological, moral, and political dimensions of the Hebrew Bible, promoting serious engagement with the text and its timeless questions. Featured courses include Exodus, Deuteronomy, The Book of Job, and the Book of Samuel.
All courses are freely available at Tikvah Ideas, making the richness, depth, and enduring relevance of the Hebrew Bible accessible to thoughtful audiences everywhere.
For more information on these and other offerings, please email info@tikvah.org and a member of our educational team will be in touch.
A Note of Gratitude to our Founding Donors:
“We believe in the centrality of the Torah to Jewish, American and Western culture; to the Jewish people; to the family; and to the self. Our work with Tikvah is dedicated to bringing the Hebrew Bible and Jewish ethics back to the fore and inspiring young people with the great stories, moral lessons, and foundational debates of Jewish tradition. This is the best strategy for strengthening and sustaining the Jewish people into the future.”
Camille and Sandy Kress | Austin, TX