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Part of the series, The Dynamics of Change 

It’s human nature to build and rebuild, organize and disorganize. Institutions both large and small are grappling with the challenging tasks of shaping the present and future.  Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay, Associate Dean of The Rabbinical School, 91żě˛Ą, will lead us in a process of exploring communal narratives and asking provocative questions that help us discover solutions.  

Special guest speakers include Joy Friedman, Director of Organizing at Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and Rabbi David Baum, Congregation Shaarei Kodesh. They will share their models of relational work and transformative change, helping us imagine a Jewish future in which we want to live.  

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Part of the series, The Dynamics of Change 

With Annabel Gottfried Cohen, MRes, PhD student in Modern Jewish Studies, 91żě˛Ą, and curator of Living Yiddish in New York exhibit, 91żě˛Ą Library  

For newly arrived Jewish immigrants, New York was a city of contradictions. Here they experienced freedoms and opportunities they hadn’t enjoyed in the “old country,” allowing for the development of a mass popular culture that was at once Yiddish and American. Yet for many Jews, the pace of change was too fast, representing the decline of traditional Jewish values and cultures. Meanwhile, for those who found success on the Yiddish stage, screen, and in the press, America was indeed a “golden country,” but the vast majority of Jewish immigrants lived in extreme poverty and hardship. Home to the first popular Yiddish press and the world’s biggest Yiddish theater district, New York was also soon home to a sizeable Jewish labor movement and an important center for the transnational Jewish left. Using materials featured in the 91żě˛Ą Library’s exhibition, we learn about Jewish immigrants in late-19th to early–20th century New York, and the various ways that they embraced, resisted, and demanded change. 

About the Series

Change is an integral part of life and a central feature of the Jewish experience. Join 91żě˛Ą 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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Part of the series, The Dynamics of Change 

With Dr. Michal Raucher, 91żě˛Ą Fellow and Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University 

In the 1980s, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards—the Conservative Movement’s central authority on Jewish law—ruled on abortion’s permissibility based on a justification framework. This framework assumes that abortion is generally prohibited but permitted in certain circumstances. They based their position on their reading of particular biblical and rabbinic sources. In the decades that followed, many Jewish institutions in the United States supported abortion rights on similar grounds and using the same texts. More recently, we’ve seen a shift in Jewish attitudes towards abortion. As more Jews have shared their own abortion experiences, their narratives have moved to the forefront and shifted the conversation. Jews are now advocating for abortion rights based on their experiences of abortion and a different reading of classical sources. In this session, we explore why and how this change occurred and consider the impact it might have on abortion rights in the United States. 

ABOUT THE SERIES

Change is an integral part of life and a central feature of the Jewish experience. Join 91żě˛Ą 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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Part of the series, The Dynamics of Change 

This session has generously been sponsored by Yale Asbell, 91żě˛Ą Trustee.

With Dr. Benjamin Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, 91żě˛Ą 

Professor Sommer will use laws pertaining to the Sabbath and Passover to show how ritual law evolved in the Bible. During the session, he will offer examples that provide evidence of legal evolution within the Torah itself. These examples will show how the revision and remaking of Jewish law begins neither in modern times nor with the Rabbis of the Talmudic era but with the sages and scribes of biblical Israel. 

ABOUT THE SERIES 

Change is an integral part of life and a central feature of the Jewish experience. Join 91żě˛Ą 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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Part of the series,ĚýThe Dynamics of ChangeĚý

With Dr. Eitan Fishbane, Professor of Jewish Thought, 91żě˛Ą 

The termĚýtikkun, which refers to the process of cosmic-divine repair as well as the personal-psychological repair of the human soul, was central to Jewish mystical thought and literature. The idea and practice flourished especially in the Zohar and related texts in 13th- and 14th-century Spain; in the teachings of Moses Cordovero, Isaac Luria, and other Kabbalists of 16th-century Tzfat; and in the Kabbalah of modern eastern European Hasidism. In this session, we will delve into sources that understandĚýtikkun olamĚýas an act of healing the Divine Self, which has the potential of bringing God closer to our world. This is often referred to as “theurgy” in the study of religion. The mystics believed that our human actions in this world have the power to effect change and transformation within God’s very self!ĚýWhat is more, we will explore howĚýtikkunĚýwas used in describing the process of mending one’s moral and devotional life, sometimes referred to asĚýtikkun ha-middot. This process ofĚýtikkunĚýas personal growth and positive changeĚýwas also understood to have a broader theurgic effect upon the healing or repair of God.

ABOUT THE SERIES 

The Dynamics of ChangeĚý

Change is an integral part of life and a central feature of the Jewish experience. Join 91żě˛Ą 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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Part of the series, The Dynamics of Change 

With Dr. Eliezer Diamond, Rabbi Judah Nadich Associate Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics  

How does our speech affect us and others both for good and ill? How can changing our speech impact our character and our relationships with others?  Dr. Eliezer Diamond guides us in the study of both traditional sources and contemporary discussions as we seek to answer these questions. 

ABOUT THE SERIES 

The Dynamics of Change 

Change is an integral part of life and a central feature of the Jewish experience. Join 91żě˛Ą 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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Part of our the series, The Dynamics of Change 

With Dr. Alan Cooper, Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies, 91żě˛Ą 

When we sing the hymn Yigdal, we declare that God is One and unique in Unity, of mysterious and infinite Oneness. The idea that God is ineffable and unchanging is embedded in Jewish (as well as Christian and Muslim) thought. While that may be true of God, however, it does not apply to the various ways of discerning God’s Presence from biblical times to the present. In this session, we explore some of the ways in which perception of God has changed, especially in the transition from biblical religion to post-Temple and post-prophetic Judaism. 

ABOUT THE SERIES 

The Dynamics of Change 

Change is an integral part of life and a central feature of the Jewish experience. Join 91żě˛Ą 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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Part of our the series,ĚýThe Dynamics of ChangeĚý

With Dr. Yael Landman, Assistant Professor of Bible, 91żě˛Ą

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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ABOUT THE SERIES 

The Dynamics of Change 

Change is an integral part of life and a central feature of the Jewish experience. Join 91żě˛Ą 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?