Sacred Sounds: Kabbalat Shabbat Exploration in Learning, part 2
Prof. Daniel Matt, 4/3/24
An immersive exploration of the tunes, words, and significance of Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming the Sabbath) on Friday evening). In this video, Prof. Alter Prof. Robert Alter illuminates the poetic beauty and meaning of the Psalms, offering insights into their historical context and literary elegance.
Sacred Sounds: Kabbalat Shabbat Exploration in Learning, part 1
Prof. Robert Alter, 3/27/24
An immersive exploration of the tunes, words, and significance of Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming the Sabbath) on Friday evening). In this video, Prof. Alter Prof. Robert Alter illuminates the poetic beauty and meaning of the Psalms, offering insights into their historical context and literary elegance.
What REALLY Happened on Purim
Jehon Grist, 3/24/24
Esther’s story is exciting, romantic and disturbing. Set in the imaginary lavish court of the Persian king 2,400 years ago, it is an early example of anti-Semitism. Is there actual history here? Why did many Jews oppose its addition to the Biblical Canon? We will explore key parts of the text of the Book of Esther and its world, then fast forward to its ‘movie midrash’ – how Hollywood has interpreted the story.
Why Jewish Holidays Are Always Late or Early: How the Jewish Calendar Evolved
Ron Feldman, 3/6/24
Examine Jewish timekeeping as a way to understand Jewish attitudes toward the natural world. In particular, we will trace the history and differences among ancient Jewish calendars of the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Talmud with particular focus on different ways of incorporating the rhythms of the lunar month (a natural cycle) and Sabbath (a non-natural cycle).
What REALLY Happens on Tu BiShvat: From the Kabbalah to the Kibbutz
Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan & Rachel Biale, 1/24/24
Tu BiShvat (the 15th of the month of Shvat) appears in the Talmud as one of four new years in the calendar, dedicated to trees. We will learn about the mystical meaning of the holiday and hear about tree planting as a formative experience of a childhood (Rachel) and an emerging young adult (Peretz) on kibbutzim, and explore how a minor agricultural task become the symbol of Jewish Spiritual and National revival.
Buber and Heschel: Encountering the I-Thou and Articulating the Ineffable, part...
Rabbi Molly Karp
This course explores Buber’s and Heschel’s key theological teachings. For Buber, our relationship with the Divine and with each other should be I-Thou rather than I-It relationships. Heschel explores the ways Judaism allows us to encounter the ineffable with “radical amazement”. Heschel was a great champion of the Civil Rights Movement; marching to Selma with Martin Luther King, he said, “my feet were praying.”
Tu Be’Av: The Little-Known Jewish Summer Love Festival
David & Rachel Biale
On Tu Be’Av (the fifteenth of Av), “the daughters of Jerusalem would go out and dance in the vineyards. And what would they say? ‘Young man, lift up your eyes and see—whom would you choose.'” (Talmud, Ta’anit). Learn about the holiday and dip into romantic love stories from the Bible and Midrash.
The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton
Andrew Porwancher
After debunking myths about Hamilton’s origins, Prof. Porwancher arrives at a startling conclusion—Hamilton was, in all likelihood, born and raised Jewish. While he did not identify as a Jew in his American adulthood, Hamilton emerged as an important advocate for Jewry in the United States. This story offers a fresh insight into a young republic, torn between New World promises and Old World prejudices.
What REALLY Happened at Sinai?
Dr. Jehon Grist & Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan
Shavuot celebrates Matan Torah – the giving of the Torah at Sinai. But what really happened there? Jewish tradition holds that every Jew throughout all time was present at Sinai. What do we “remember” from it? And what does archeology tell us about it: was there a mass gathering? a golden calf? tablets inscribed with ten commandments? Or did something even more earthshaking happen in the Sinai desert?
What REALLY Happened on Passover?
Ron Hendel and David Biale
It’s not what you think, it’s not what the Hagaddah tells us, it’s not what you remember from Sunday School or “The Ten Commandments”. Hear an analysis of the Biblical text, both historical and literary, which will turn your Passover seder upside down.
Hanukkah in Song: From the Heartfelt to the Hilarious
Bonnie Weiss
A musical journey from “I Have a Little Dreidel” and “Rock of Ages” to original songs, hilarious Tom Lehrer satiric numbers, and Hanukkah-themed new lyrics set to music by Leonard Bernstein and other acclaimed composers
What Really Happened on Hanukkah?
Dr. David Biale
The reason we celebrate Hanukkah turns out to be more complicated than what we learned as children. We may also be surprised at how little the rabbis of the Talmud understood about Hanukkah, the only Jewish holiday not mentioned in the Bible.
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