A new series of classes on Jewish.TV, the multimedia portal of Judaism website Chabad.org, explores the lives of great women of the Torah, with Chabad.org editor Chana Weisberg delving beyond the biblical text and using various classical sources in describing her subjects’ motivations and inspirations.

The first installment of the “Biblical Women” series is entitled “Miriam: Mother of Rebellion.” It began its five-week run last week, and can be seen on Thursdays at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Recordings of past episodes can also be found on the site.

“What makes this class so engaging are the texts. This is not a lecture about one person's opinion,” explains Weisberg. “We are actually reading the Torah and then going into all the different opinions and commentaries and getting a full picture of who Miriam was the way our Sages actually taught us.”

In addition to the primary texts, each lesson also provides related articles and videos on Chabad.org for further study, as well as “Ideas for Discussion” in which on-line viewers can recap the ideas presented.

The classes take place at Weisberg’s home in Toronto with a group of women who gathered especially to take part in the launch of the online feature.

“The interactive element is important,” says Weisberg. “I think that the viewers at home will sort of imagine themselves sitting around the table with all of us as we learn about Miriam.”

Future installments of the series will highlight the lives of other biblical women such as Eve, Sarah, Rebecca and Dinah.