You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change
You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change
Fall 2025 Learning Series
Mondays, October 20–December 8, 2025
1:00–2:00 p.m. ET
Online
What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join JTS scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now.
Session Topics and Faculty
October 20
Monotheism: Evolution or Revolution
With Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, JTS
November 3
Before the Print Revolution: Manuscripts and the World They Made
In connection with The Library exhibit at the Grolier Club
Dr. Marcus Mordecai Schwartz, Ripps Schnitzer Librarian for Special Collections; Assistant Professor, Talmud and Rabbinics, JTS
November 10
Peshat: The Reinvention of Reading During the Twelfth Century Renaissance
Dr. Robert Harris, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, JTS
November 17
Progress, Regress, and Transformation: Hermann Cohen’s Ezekiel as a Revolutionary Prophet
Dr. Shira Billet, Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Ethics, JTS
November 24
Possibility and Peril: Jews and the Russian Revolution
Dr. David Fishman, Professor of Jewish History, JTS
December 1
A Scholarly Revolution: Rewriting the Rules of Talmud Study
Dr. Judith Hauptman, E. Billi Ivry Professor Emerita of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture, JTS
December 8
Hanukkah: Rebellion, Revolution, and Reinvention
Dr. Yitz Landes, Assistant Professor of Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures
December 15
NEW DATE! Revolutionizing Belonging: Disability Inclusion and the Future of Jewish Camp
Dr. Abigail Uhrman, Director of The William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education and Associate Professor of Jewish Education, JTS
If you have previously registered for another session in this series, your registration admits you to all sessions in the series, and you may attend as many as you’d like.
The Zoom link for all sessions in the 2025 Fall Learning Series will be in the confirmation email that you receive after you register.
