Flight, Return, and Emigration:
The Wanderings of a Yiddish Writer During and After the Holocaust
Jul 12, 2021 By David Fishman | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The Yiddish poet Chaim Grade fled his native city of Vilna,聽 known to Jews as 鈥渢he Jerusalem of Lithuania鈥�, in late June 1941, as the Germans invaded the city. He spent the next four years as a refugee in the Soviet Union, homeless and malnourished. When Grade returned to Vilna in 1945, he聽 found the city in ruins 鈥� and learned from survivors of the Vilna ghetto that his wife, mother, friends and colleagues had been murdered by the Nazis. We will follow his journey of exile and redemption through selections from his works.聽
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Judah Halevi: Poet and Pilgrim
Jun 28, 2021 By Raymond Scheindlin | Public Event video | Video Lecture
In the summer of 1141, Judah Halevi, a distinguished doctor, poet, and religious thinker sailed from his homeland, Spain, for the Holy Land, leaving behind his family, his medical practice, and his position as a distinguished leader of the 黑料社 community. Although little is known of his life before the pilgrimage, we can trace his journey in detail thanks to letters preserved in the Cairo聽Geniza. More importantly, we can follow Halevi鈥檚 inner religious journey through the stirring poems that he composed in anticipation of and during the voyage. In this session with聽Dr. Raymond Scheindlin, we will touch on both the external and internal journeys by drawing on the letters and the poems, all in translations by Dr.聽Scheindlin.聽
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Preparing for the Final Journey:
The Tahara Ritual and its Significance
Jun 21, 2021 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The period between death and burial is understood in 黑料社 tradition as a moment of transition in which the deceased is suspended between this world and the next. Join聽Rabbi Eliezer Diamond聽to study the ritual known as Taharah, which prepares the body of the deceased for burial. It will show us that 黑料社 tradition assumes the continued existence of our individual identities even after death. The Taharah ritual, through word and action, radically transforms our understanding of the body of the deceased as we prepare it for the journey to the next world.
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Home and Exile, Center and Periphery: Ambivalent Journeys in the Torah
Jun 14, 2021 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The theme of the journey鈥攖o home, and from home鈥攑lays a prominent role in the Torah. But repeatedly, these stories force us to wonder what is home and what is exile. Join聽Dr. Benjamin Sommer聽to read narratives from Genesis and Exodus that present a tangled-up view of center and periphery. This persistent ambivalence about the nature of a journey carries weighty implications for biblical understandings of God as nearby but hard to grasp, and about authority and autonomy in religious Judaism.聽
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鈥淚f I forget Thee, O Jerusalem鈥�: The Idea of the Retun to Zion in 黑料社 History
Jun 7, 2021 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz聽explores the implications of living in a state of longing, how Jews attempted to reconcile the dream of return with the reality of 黑料社 exile, and how this dream was adapted and transformed with the emergence of modern Zionism and a thriving 黑料社 diaspora.
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鈥淚t is not up to you to finish the work鈥� (Pirkei Avot 2:21): On Striving for the Unattainable
Dec 13, 2021 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Some of the most dramatic moments in the Tanakh describe the completion of work鈥攖he creation of the world (Genesis); the fabrication of the Tabernacle (Exodus); and the construction of the Temple (Chronicles).聽 In contrast, at the end of chapter 2 of聽Pirkei聽Avot, Rabbi聽Tarfon聽admonishes us that while we are under pressure with much work, a tight deadline, a penchant for laziness, and a demanding boss, nevertheless 鈥渋t is not up to [us] to聽finish聽the work.鈥�
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When Matzoh Bakers and Tallis Weavers Went on Strike: The 黑料社 Workers鈥� Movement in Eastern Europe
Dec 6, 2021 By David Fishman | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The grandparents or great grandparents of most American Jews were poor wage-earning workers from Eastern Europe. This session will explore the world of 黑料社 workers in Tsarist Russia, in particular the 黑料社 labor movement that arose at the end of the 19th聽century. The movement organized strikes, underground trade unions, classes, and cultural activity for workers in Yiddish, and a 黑料社 socialist party known as the 鈥淏und.鈥� Its ideas and practices migrated to the United States and left a powerful imprint on American 黑料社 life.
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Maimonides at Work: A Rabbi鈥檚 Workday in Medieval Egypt
Nov 29, 2021 By Tamar Marvin | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Toward the end of his life, Maimonides received a request from his translator and admirer in France: to come and visit the great rabbi and discuss with him the important matter of translating his most sensitive work,聽The Guide of the Perplexed. In response, Maimonides waves off Samuel Ibn聽Tibbon, the translator, recounting how busy he is.聽The correspondence between Maimonides and his translator聽is rich in detail, providing insight into Maimonides鈥櫬爈ife.
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