The paper describes the experience of teaching Alexander’s The Nature of Order (NoO) first in and Environmental Studies program at Ben Gurion University, and then as the main theoretical course of Building Beauty, and the lessons learned from it. At BGU, the course included only the first book The Phenomenon of Life, and included students from other programs in a school for Desert Studies. In contrast, at Building Beauty, the course is taught, much in the same way it was taught at UC Berkeley in the 1990’s, as the main theoretical course accompanying students’ work in the studio, and in real construction experience. Different teaching methods are used in the course. The first and second books are taught as a reading seminar, with students taking turns presenting the chapters, and exercises and/or a discussion following the presentations. This ensures that at each student reads in depth at least some of the chapters, and all of them get at least the main points of each chapter. Exercises in class help to clarify through use the main concepts of books I+II: what centers are? How they reinforce each other, the fifteen properties, the mirror of the self, structure preserving transformations, the fundamental building process and more. The third book, which is a discussion of recurring problems of architecture and urban design illustrated by examples from Alexander’s work, provides an opportunity to invite former students and collaborators of Alexander, or other practicing professionals who are sympathetic to his work and ideas, to present their work in the context of the chapters under discussion. This exposes the students to the wider community of practitioners that exists around the ideas of the NoO. It also widens the student’s horizons about the possible ways in which the ideas and processes proposed by Alexander may be applied in the real world. The discussion of the fourth book: The Luminous Ground proceeds with a series of invited lectures by speakers who are addressing, from their own life and experience, the metaphysical and theological implications of Alexander’s theory. The course, which started its life as a small reading seminar, has, in the last four years, been taught online, attracting a wider audience. This has made the discussion richer in some ways, but made it more difficult for students to connect intimately with the text. The paper will conclude with some of the testimonies from students and participants on the way that learning the NoO has been transformative for them, and my own conclusions on how teaching it has increased and deepened my understanding of the breadth of Alexander’s thinking, and the limits of understanding it on the basis of theory alone.