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Torah from Sinai vs. Torah from Pumbedita
Rabbi David Kasher, 3/28/2025—This program explores the relationship between the Torah given at Sinai and the Torah developed in the academies of Pumbedita. Through close readings of Talmudic texts and later philosophical and theological interpretations, we will examine the radical concept of the Oral Torah, and try to understand how rabbinic tradition balances sacred origin with human creativity.
Religious Life & Spirituality
Bible
Joint Memoirs: A Quarter Century Apart
Rachel Biale, 5/22/2025—Rachel Biale discusses her book, "And Now Can Love Begin (published in 2024). She wrote this as an imagined memoir, ventriloquizing her parents, Chaim and Anina, who arrived in Palestine in 1942 and 45, respectively. She explains the historical setting of the book and the unusual process of writing a joint memoir as if written by her parents, in contrast and parallel to her 2020 joint memoir with her husband, David Biale z"l, "Aeorgrams Across the Ocean: A Love Story in Letters 1970–72".
The Arts
Contemporary Jewish Life
The Evolution of Israel through Maps: From Genesis to 1948
Leonard Rothman, 5/21/2025—There are over 1500 unique original antique maps of the land of Israel, including special maps of Jerusalem. This presentation will review antique and modern maps illustrating events in the Bible and details of the Land of Israel. The presentation will feature images of selected maps and a discussion of the cartographers' historical and religious backgrounds, and their impact on their mapmaking.
Israel
History & Thought
Artificial Intelligence & Jewish Intelligence
Dr. Molly Freeman & Prof. Ariel Mayse, 5/8/2025—Grounded in Jewish values and concepts of what it means to be human, we will critically examine the intrusion of AI into increasingly more aspects of our daily experiences. Jewish teachings will provide a framework for critically determining if, what and when to engage with artificial intelligence applications.
History & Thought
Contemporary Jewish Life
In the Shadow of Empires: Assyria-Babylonia, Egypt and Biblical Israel, part 3
Dr. Jehon Grist and Dr. Eli Tadmor, 4/4/2025—Biblical Israel’s legacy from its ancient neighbors is not just a saga of conflict. Law, literature, early religious practices, and even food and drink owe much to the surrounding ancient cultures. The presenters explore these points and also discover how both cultures' influence culminate in the Passover narrative and traditions.
History & Thought
Moon, Mikveh, Magic
Deborah Apple, 4/2/2025—Explore the moon cycle’s connection to water and traditions of immersion from ancient Mesopotamian myths and rituals to Abrahamic religions—the Jewish mikveh, Christian baptism, and Islamic wudu. Engage with traditional texts and create a prayer or symbolic action echoing these texts.
Religious Life & Spirituality
Contemporary Jewish Life
In the Shadow of Empires: Assyria-Babylonia, Egypt and Biblical Israel, part 2
Dr. Jehon Grist and Dr. Eli Tadmor, 3/27/2025—Biblical Israel’s legacy from its ancient neighbors is not just a saga of conflict. Law, literature, early religious practices, and even food and drink owe much to the surrounding ancient cultures. The presenters explore these points and also discover how both cultures' influence culminate in the Passover narrative and traditions.
History & Thought
In the Garden of Words: Genesis in Translation
Rebecca Schisler, 3/26/2025—Schisler shares her experience reading Genesis in its original Hebrew, and how the practice brought fresh eyes and profound reinterpretations regarding gender, sinfulness, and seduction to one of the most influential texts on earth.
Text Study
Bible
In the Shadow of Empires: Assyria-Babylonia, Egypt and Biblical Israel, part 1
Dr. Jehon Grist and Dr. Eli Tadmor, 3/20/2025—Biblical Israel’s legacy from its ancient neighbors is not just a saga of conflict. Law, literature, early religious practices, and even food and drink owe much to the surrounding ancient cultures. The presenters explore these points and also discover how both cultures' influence culminate in the Passover narrative and traditions. (Please be aware that, due to a technical issue, only the last 45 minutes of the program were recorded. We apologize for the missing material.)
History & Thought
From the Page to the Stage, part 8
Nicholas McGegan, 3/11/2025—The Bible has been a font of inspiration for composers throughout the ages. This course pairs passages highlighting dramatic Biblical stories with their interpretations in opera and oratoria spanning Baroque to 20th-century music. In this segment Nicholas McGegan discuss works inspired by Jephta's daughter (Judges, Chapter 11).
The Arts
Text Study
Bible
Josephus: Traitor or Hero?, part 2
Prof. Daniel Boyarin, 3/6/2025—Prof. Boyarin presents a view of Josephus very different from the one we have inherited from previous generations. He argues that the idea that Josephus was a traitor is entirely misleading, even a calumny, and explicates his virtues as a Jew and as a thinker.
History & Thought
From the Page to the Stage, part 7
Profs. Robert Alter and Ron Hendel, 3/4/2025—The Bible has been a font of inspiration for composers throughout the ages. This course pairs passages highlighting dramatic Biblical stories with their interpretations in opera and oratoria spanning Baroque to 20th-century music. In this segment Profs. Alter & Hendel discuss Jephta (Judges, Chapter 11).
The Arts
Text Study
Bible

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