“Perhaps They Will Listen”: Prophets and the Art of Persuasion
Jun 5, 2023 By Yael Landman | Public Event video | Video Lecture
While the biblical prophets wore many hats—defense attorney, miracle worker, leader, and commander-in-chief, among others—one role of the prophets was to persuade their audiences. These audiences are often portrayed as uninterested in the prophets’ words, or even violently opposed to them. In the face of resistance, the prophets deploy numerous rhetorical strategies in order to convince their audiences to listen to them; many of these strategies, which we explore in this session, are the same devices that make biblical prophecies works of art that continue to strike a chord with readers today.
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Patient Change, Slow Influence: The Model of the Rabbis of Late Antiquity
Jun 26, 2023 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Download Sources Part of the series, The Dynamics of Change With Dr. David Kraemer, Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, JTS Perhaps the most important change-agents in all of Jewish history were the Rabbis of Late Antiquity. It is they who transformed Judaism—and Jews—from a Temple-based religion to one that needed no […]
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The Dynamics of Change
By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Change is an integral part of life and a central feature of the Jewish experience. Join JTS scholars for an in-depth exploration of significant changes—religious, political, and personal—throughout Jewish history and life. Together we’ll consider core questions such as: What inspires change? What circumstances are most conducive to change, and what (or who) drives it? How do we experience change and adapt to its impact? How can Jewish values and ideas inspire us to change the world for the better?
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Kiddush and Havdalah: Marking the Boundaries of Sanctified Time
May 22, 2023 By Judith Hauptman | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Kiddush marks the onset of Sabbath sanctity and havdalah marks its end. Both of these ritual acts derive from the Talmud. A review of Talmudic texts reveals that although kiddush did not change much during the Talmudic period, havdalah underwent significant modification. It began as a simple statement of the end of Sabbath sanctity but evolved into a full-blown ritual in which we recite blessings, light a candle, smell spices, and drink wine.
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Between Suns: Twilight in Rabbinic Sources
May 15, 2023 By Sarit Kattan Gribetz | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Rabbinic sources imagine the period of twilight between the six days of creation and the Sabbath to be a mystically productive time. It was then, they explain, that God created the rainbow and the manna, letters and writing, Abraham’s ram and Moses’s staff. But when is twilight and how long does it last? Does it belong to the day that is ending, the day that is beginning, or to both days at once? These questions are not merely theoretical—their answers determine important matters of Jewish practice.
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Talmudic Writings on the Passage from this Life to the Next
May 8, 2023 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
It may surprise you to learn that, in the opinion of Talmudic teachings and the traditions that emerge from them, death is not a moment but a process—a transition that leads from one stage of life (which we call “life”) to another (which we call “death”). These beliefs have profound implications for our understanding of Jewish rituals of death and mourning, Jewish theology, and much else. Prof. Kraemer offers a close reading of the texts that discuss these rituals as well as the beliefs underlying them.
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Sarah’s Laugh: Doubt, Trust, and the Ambiguity of the Womb
May 1, 2023 By Mychal Springer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
On Rosh Hashanah we read about two central biblical characters, Sarah and Hannah, who after facing infertility for many years are told that they will conceive. Many years ago, when I was undergoing fertility treatments and listened to these stories on Rosh Hashanah, I felt as if my struggles were actually at the heart of Jewish religious experience, selected by the rabbis to echo in the birth of every new year for generations of Jews.
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The Blasphemer in Leviticus: A Marginal Figure
Apr 24, 2023 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The Bible abounds with characters who transgress boundaries, for better and for worse. One of these characters who comes to a bad end is the half-Israelite, half-Egyptian blasphemer in Leviticus 24:10-16, 23. It’s clear that the Bible wants this story to show the dire consequences for blasphemy, but why is the identity of the blasphemer so specific, and how does this story relate to other laws outlined in the same chapter of the Torah? We explore these issues with the aid of both traditional and modern critical commentary.
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