Friends! The following message just went out to our book study participants. If you’ve been on the fence about joining or missed an earlier invite, here is your chance to join! The following email is copied in full. You still have time to pick up the book at join the Discord server to be ready for the official first week starting Monday, October 14. If I see you join the Discord but you didn’t sign up otherwise, consider yourself in! Easy as that.
Welcome to the Virtual, Asynchronous book study for Amy Jill Levine’s The Gospel of John: A Beginner’s Guide to the Way, the Truth, and the Life, hosted by this goofy guy, Adam!
In this email, I’ll share the link to the book for you to pick up if you haven’t already done so. I’ll also share an invite to our Discord server, where we’ll facilitate group discussions and have an online space to share thoughts and resources or hang out! I’m also including the link to my YouTube channel, where I’ll host live events throughout the study. The first live stream is scheduled for Monday, October 14, 3:00 pm EST. I’ll also post our weekly chapter introductions on YouTube.
My most sincere thanks for joining me in this study. I love the writing I’ve been doing at Hitzonim, and I hope this study creates an additional avenue for us to build community! Welcome, friend. It’s good to have you!
The Book
Please purchase AJ Levine’s book on John. There is a Leader guide (with a gold cover) and the general book (with a blue cover). You should purchase the general book, not the leader guide. It is available at Amazon and Bookshop.org.
The Discord Server
In the past, I’ve experimented with a Facebook Group (not everyone is on Facebook) and a Google Group (a little complicated to navigate), so for this study, I’m trying a Discord server!
>>> Follow this link to join the Discord server! <<<
After you’re there, introduce yourself in the #Meet-and-Greet Channel. You’ll see I posted there as an example! I hope each of you will take a moment to introduce yourselves. We have men and women of all ages and, from what I know about you, who signed up includes Christians and Jewish people, some who may identify with a more conservative theology and some with more progressive beliefs.
We’re all here on the common ground of seeking to share and learn! I want to reiterate that this is not a Christian or Jewish study. It is a study of AJ Levine’s understanding of John, with opportunities to offer our own perspectives! Some of our perspectives are Christian, some Jewish, and some secular. No one is right or wrong. We all come informed by our personal stories and unique experiences.
The YouTube Channel
Subscribe to me on YouTube if you want notifications when I post or follow along on our Discord. I’ll start each week with a ten-minute video introduction to that week’s chapter themes. I’ll also go live on YouTube during the study to bring us together in different ways.
The Schedule
This study is six weeks long, between October 14, 2024, and November 18, 2024. Each week begins with a video introduction from Adam that rehearses the major themes I suggest we read for that week. Each Wednesday, I’ll post a prompt to our Discord server for group discussion, and on most Fridays, when the discussion calls for it, I’ll try to synthesize our group discussion or highlight key themes. I encourage you to chat with each other anytime in the #General or #OffTopic channels in Discord.
- Pre-Study, October 7, 2024: Intro email, get the book, join the Discord, and feel free to read the Introduction
- Week 1, October 14, 2024: The Wedding at Cana
- Week 2, October 21, 2024: Nicodemus and the Samaritan; Woman at the Well
- Week 3, October 28, 2024: The Healing of the Man at the Pool
- Week 4, November 4, 2024: The Man Born Blind
- Week 5, November 11, 2024: Foot Washing
- Week 6, November 18, 2024: Mary Magdalene and Doubting Thomas
I’m genuinely looking forward to studying with you! I hope we can do more things like this with our growing community at Hitzonim! You’re the best!
Shalom, Salaam, Peace,
xx. ❤ -a.
Hitzonim | Outsiders 
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