Our Learning Company LLC
Media Release
Contact:
Sergiu S. Simmel
Founder & President
Our Learning Company LLC
Phone: 617-731-3132
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Innovative Adult Learning Courseware Publisher Announces
New Audio Coursebook Featuring World Renowned Brandeis
Professor
Brighton, Massachusetts, 27 November 2006 - Our Learning Company LLC (OLC) -
a start-up publisher of innovative Adult Learning courseware with Jewish
content - announces its follow-on audio coursebook featuring Dr. Reuven
Kimelman, world-renowned professor at Brandeis University. "The Moral
Meaning of the Bible - The What, How and Why of Biblical Ethics -- Volume I"
is an 8-part series featuring studio-recorded audio sessions, study text and
uniquely colorful mindmapped graphic summaries.
Reflecting a significant increase of interest in the Jewish heritage of
highest quality teaching and lifelong learning, OLC's mission is to bring
the highest quality Jewish teaching into the hands of learners, Jews and
non-Jews, in a convenient, portable, and flexible format. "Learning from the
enormously rich Jewish tradition should not be limited to the classroom
experience that may not fit either the location or the schedule of today's
busy adults," says Sergiu S. Simmel, OLC's Founder and President. "Having
personally benefited from the gift of some of the best teachers world-wide,
I set out to solve a simple question: How can we make this superb teaching
available to the widest possible Jewish audience?"
Following the ground breaking audio coursebook on "The Hidden Poetry of the
Jewish Prayerbook - The What, How and Why of the Jewish Prayerbook," this
new title is geared to learners whose experience in learning from Jewish
sources ranges from none to comprehensive. The course examines well known
Biblical episodes, such as Adam and Eve's eating from the Tree of Knowledge,
the failure at the Tower of Babel, Moses' argument with God on Mount Sinai
to save the people of Israel in spite of the golden calf episode, or
Abraham's binding and near sacrifice of Isaac. The first volume focuses on
eight such narratives. In each session, "we explore its historical
background, highlight its literary artistry, and uncover the ideological
motivations of the text by asking three questions: what is said, how is
said, and why is said. In doing so, we show how historical issues, literary
considerations, and ideological factors converge to illuminate the full
meaning of the Biblical text," writes Dr. Kimelman in the Introduction to
the course.
The package combines a professionally recorded audio track with substantial
visual support and reference materials, suitable for both individual and
group learning. The audio part is organized in short sessions under 30
minutes each, designed for listening in both informal (such as during
commutes, trips or exercise routines) and formal (such as individual or
group learning) settings. Each session includes opportunities for discussion
or introspection, depending on how one uses the resource. The study text is
based on the NJPS translation, and is laid out as "stage scripts" to make it
more readable and to facilitate greater involvement through role playing.
Each session is summarized by a multi-colored "mindmap," a unique technology
for knowledge representation, gaining widespread use in many educational and
business applications. The printed and audio materials are bound by an
elegant hard cover into an audio coursebook, suitable for gifting and active
study.
In reference to OLC's first title with Professor Reuven Kimelman, Rabbi Mark
Bisman of Scottsdale, Arizona wrote: "Reuven Kimelman's course on the hidden
Poetry of the Siddur is superb. Not only have I learned from it, but a lay
leader whom I gifted a copy reported that [it] changed the way he looks at a
prayer book. Thanks for your pioneering efforts." "I find [it] very clear,
well organized, and easy to listen to. Often I have to go back and repeat
sections because they are so densely packed with material,." remarks Rabbi
Michelle Missagieh of Los Angeles, California. Barry Shrage, President of
the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, and a pioneer in adult Jewish
learning, notes that "After a decade of growth, Boston's revolution in adult
Jewish learning has helped prepare the ground for yet another high quality
resource for Jewish learners everywhere. Professor Reuven Kimelman's recent
audio coursebook gives learners and teachers alike a uniquely new modality
for study and understanding."
OLC distributes its audio courses through a number of channels, including
Jewish organizations fostering adult Jewish learning, congregations, retail
outlets as well as directly to Jewish learners worldwide. Its recently
launched B'al Peh Program through several such organizations, such as the
Synagogue Council of Massachusetts and the Florence Melton Adult
Mini-School, is designed to reach both active and inactive learners and
teachers, and offer them alternative learning and teaching opportunities.
Our Learning Company LLC of Brighton, Massachusetts (OLC), was formed in
2004 with the focus of bringing top-quality teaching to adult Jews
worldwide. OLC's products, initially offered as audio-courses with a rich
suite of support materials, enable today's busy adults to enjoy the
studio-recorded content wherever they are and whenever they can dedicate 30
minutes to a new topic. They also enable Jewish educators and study groups
to benefit from such rare, top-quality resources in group learning settings.
# # #
If you'd like more information about this topic, the audio-course itself,
pricing and ordering, 2006/5767 Hanukkah Special Discounted pricing, or
OLC's other products, please call Our Learning Company at 617-731-3132 or
e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author
and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL)
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