Different But Equal?
The Paradox of Chosenness
Feb 8, 2021 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Jewish conceptions of chosenness or election—rooted especially in the language of Exodus 19:5-6—traditionally were hierarchical, often asserting Jewish superiority over others. Such notions run afoul of modern ideas about social justice, typically anchored in egalitarian values that would have been alien to pre-modern authors. Is it possible to uphold a version of Jewish “difference” that is simultaneously non-hierarchical yet answerable to traditional sources?
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Other Gods: What the Bible Thinks about Other Nations’ Deities
Feb 1, 2021 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The Bible frequently instructs the nation Israel not to worship “other gods” (אלהים אחרים). But the Bible never actually states that these other gods do not exist. Praying to other gods would be an act of disloyalty for an Israelite, but not an absurdity—there are apparently other gods who would hear the prayers in question. In fact, the Bible regards it as perfectly appropriate for other nations to worship them, because the “other gods” are simply the gods of other nations. In this session, we will examine the biblical attitude toward these other gods and what their existence implies about other religions. We will see, paradoxically, that the Bible remains monotheistic, even though it acknowledges the existence of many deities.
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Some Unexpected Stories About Women in the Talmud
Jan 25, 2021 By Judith Hauptman | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Although most Talmudic anecdotes feature men, some feature wives, mothers, and daughters of rabbis. These women learned Jewish law, and even, on occasion, helped formulate it. Join Dr. Judith Hauptman to study several of these short episodes and explore their significance, both historically and through the present day.
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The Challenge of Accepting the ‘Other’: Jewish Attitudes Toward Converts
Jan 4, 2021 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
One of the best ways to understand the identity of a community or people is to consider what happens when someone who is originally an “other”—a “foreigner”—approaches to become a member of the community. How does the community respond? Does the community permit the “foreigner” to become one of its own? What residual attitudes are expressed toward one who began as “other” and part of the community? In the case of Jews and Judaism, all of these questions pertain to the case of the convert. In this session, we will examine how the convert has been viewed and treated in Judaism, from antiquity and through the ages. By doing so, we will gain a more nuanced understanding of who “we” are.
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Traveling to Babylon—For Good
Aug 23, 2021 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The first time Jews traveled to Babylon, it was part of a great exile. But when the rabbis returned to Babylon many centuries later, joining a now “native” Jewish community there, they found themselves very much at home. Some did indeed claim Babylon as home, while others traveled back and forth between Babylon and Palestine as rabbinic messengers to ensure that the teachings of each were available to the other. Two confident centers of Jewish life developed, not unlike modern New York and Jerusalem. In this session, Dr. David Kraemer explores the legacy of those rabbis and how their work continues to impact Jewish life today.
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A Journey Without End—
The Explusion From Spain and the Age of Perpetual Jewish Migration
Aug 16, 2021 By Jonathan Ray | Public Event video | Video Lecture
In the summer of 1492, the Jews of Spain were expelled from their homeland by royal decree. The dispossessed embarked on a series of journeys in search of new homelands – a process that would last generations and transform Sephardic society and culture.
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Work-Life Balance in Ancient Times:
Why the Rabbis Left Their Homes to Study Torah
Aug 9, 2021 By Rachel Rosenthal | Public Event video | Video Lecture
We often think of questions about how to balance work and family as modern ones. However, a series of stories in Ketubot show that people have been struggling with these issues for hundreds of years. In these stories, the rabbis leave home to learn Torah, and often return to domestic chaos. Dr. Rachel Rosenthal explores these stories to better understand how the rabbis understood their obligations to Torah, to themselves, and to their families.
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The Early Modern Travel Pass:
Controlling the Plague and Jewish Mobility in 16th Century Tuscany
Aug 2, 2021 By Stefanie B. Siegmund | Public Event video | Video Lecture
In the wake of the Black Death, governments in the Italian states began to enlarge their departments of health and sanitation in an effort to control the plague. Over time they experimented by banning travel to and from suspect regions and quarantining merchants’ goods. Italian Jews, heavily invested in local and regional commerce, were among the merchants affected, attracting the attention of the authorities.
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