Scotland
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A new Jewish organization has started in Scotland to teach Torah and Jewish religious text study, offering “deep inclusive Jewish text learning.”

Azara’s first program will be a month-long course in Edinburgh next summer, reported the Edinburgh Evening News.

The group hopes to work across the spectrum of the Scottish Jewish community, as there are few if any current organizations in Scotland that teach Jews how to read ancient Hebrew and Aramaic religious texts.

Previously, the only place of Torah study in Scotland was the Glasgow Yeshiva for teenage boys, which is no longer open.

Scottish Jews have in recent years gone abroad for Torah study and Jewish textual learning. Azara hopes that by appealing to the whole of the Scottish Jewish community, they can help stem the tide of emigration, which has been a real problem. The community is now only a quarter of the size it was in the 1950s.

Azara’s courses will be offered in multiple formats for those unable to attend for the whole month.

“Classical Jewish texts are full of thoughtful debate about just the sort of questions that we ask today: how to build a just society, how to make life meaningful, how to cultivate connection?” the group stated.