Acclaimed Israeli author Etgar Keret, the director of the 91快播 MFA in Writing, shared his passion for storytelling in this session of our series, “What’s Next: New Ways of Engaging with Jewish Text” He spoke with Lisa Springer, Dean of the Division of Lifelong and Professional Studies (DLPS) and Associate Provost for Continuing and Digital Learning.

This session is a special preview of 91快播鈥檚 new MFA in creative writing, which will foster an inclusive community of writers from around the world. The low-residency program will offer students the opportunity to share their experiences and perspectives and work with world-renowned authors.

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With Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, Director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts

In preparation for your seder, Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, Director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts, led a thought-provoking session, exploring a Talmudic story that reflects key themes of Passover, raising profound questions about free will, obligation, and inclusion. How do we determine our purpose? Who are our fellow travelers, and what do we owe them? This discussion offers new insights to bring to your Passover table.

About the Series

What’s Next: New Ways of Engaging Jewish Sources 

91快播 is well-known as a hub of innovative scholarship and a center of academic Jewish Studies. Recently, 91快播 has launched programs in Biblical Hebrew, Pastoral Care, and Teen Learning, offering accessible entryways into the Jewish textual tradition. Explore how 91快播 is bringing together new modes of learning with classical sources to meet the needs of today鈥檚 world. Sessions will give participants a taste of the ideas and teaching that are central to these programs

With Dr. David Zev Moster, Director of the Biblical Hebrew Program, 91快播

For his 40th birthday, David Moster purchased a rare set of books from the 1800s. The chain of events that followed led to the 91快播 Library temporarily welcoming a rare and valuable 13th Century Tanakh manuscript into its collection. In this session, you learn about the fascinating backstory of this manuscript and the thrilling story of its reunification. We explore how the study of manuscripts and the scribes who created them can help you think about your own translation and interpretation of the Tanakh.

About the Series

91快播 is well-known as a hub of innovative scholarship and a center of academic Jewish Studies. Recently, 91快播 has launched programs in Biblical Hebrew, Pastoral Care, and Teen Learning, offering accessible entryways into the Jewish textual tradition. Explore how 91快播 is bringing together new modes of learning with classical sources to meet the needs of today鈥檚 world. Sessions will give participants a taste of the ideas and teaching that are central to these programs. 

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With Rabbi David Ingber, Founding Rabbi, Romemu, and Senior Director of Jewish Life and the Bronfman鈥疌enter, 92NY

Purim is a celebration of uncertainty鈥攁 holiday that invites us to embrace the hidden, the paradoxical, and the unknown. Join Romemu鈥檚鈥疪abbi David Ingber for a deep dive into the mystical themes of Purim, where doubt becomes a gateway to faith and masks reveal more profound truths. Together, we explore how the story of Purim reflects the concealment of the Divine, the role of chance and chaos in our lives, and the profound spiritual lessons that arise when we step into the space of not knowing. Discover how Purim challenges us to find meaning and connection amid mystery.

About the Series – What’s Next: New Ways of Engaging with Jewish Sources

91快播 is well-known as a hub of innovative scholarship and a center of academic Jewish Studies. Recently, 91快播 has launched programs in Biblical Hebrew, Pastoral Care, and Teen Learning, offering accessible entryways into the Jewish textual tradition. Explore how 91快播 is bringing together new modes of learning with classical sources to meet the needs of today鈥檚 world. Sessions will give participants a taste of the ideas and teaching that are central to these programs. 

With Dr. Phil Keisman, Director of Teen Education, 91快播, and Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay, Associate Dean, The Rabbinical School, Executive Director, The 91快播 Hendel Center for Ethics and Justice. 

In this past year, 91快播 launched two national fellowship programs for teens: Ruchot (in partnership with the Rabbinical Assembly, Adas Israel Congregation, USY, USCJ, and Ramah), which engages them in community organizing and social action, and the Emerging Leaders Fellowship, a student-led research program that introduces high school students to academic Jewish Studies. Both programs are inviting young Jews to establish their own connections to Jewish life and tradition. 

Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay, executive director of The 91快播 Hendel Center for Ethics and Justice, and Dr. Phil Keisman, director of Teen Education, share lessons they learned from the teens involved in the programs and offer examples of the pedagogy at the core of each program. They share what will come next for both the students and the programs. 

This session was sponsored by Temple Israel Albany

About the Series

91快播 is well-known as a hub of innovative scholarship and a center of academic Jewish Studies. Recently, 91快播 has launched programs in Biblical Hebrew, Pastoral Care, and Teen Learning, offering accessible entryways into the Jewish textual tradition. Explore how 91快播 is bringing together new modes of learning with classical sources to meet the needs of today鈥檚 world. Sessions will give participants a taste of the ideas and teaching that are central to these programs. 

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With Rabbi Luciana Pajecki Lederman, Director, Beit Midrash and Nishma Summer Program, and Dr. Miriam Meir, Area Coordinator of Jewish Languages, Senior Lecturer, Hebrew Language 

The innovations of the rabbis can be seen not only in the content of their laws but also in their creative use of the Hebrew language. While they preserved the laws and formulations that they inherited from the Bible, the rabbis also transformed them in significant ways. In this session, we closely examine passages about the return of lost objects to uncover how linguistic shifts reflect new rabbinic understandings of property and their theological implications. 

Nishma, the 91快播 Summer Beit Midrash program, immerses students of all levels in the Jewish tradition of text study, fostering improved Hebrew language skills and greater independence in reading classical Jewish texts. Luciana Pajecki Lederman and Miriam Meir, Nishma faculty members, demonstrate how language acquisition and text study intersect in this dynamic and enriching learning experience. 

About the Series

91快播 is well-known as a hub of innovative scholarship and a center of academic Jewish Studies. Recently, 91快播 has launched programs in Biblical Hebrew, Pastoral Care, and Teen Learning, offering accessible entryways into the Jewish textual tradition. Explore how 91快播 is bringing together new modes of learning with classical sources to meet the needs of today鈥檚 world. Sessions will give participants a taste of the ideas and teaching that are central to these programs. 

With Dr. David Kraemer, Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics 

At key moments in our history, revolutions in information technologies have affected the way we study Torah and even the way we define it. Today we are going through such a revolution with very profound consequences. What are the effects of the current revolution and how is affecting our Torah鈥攊n the classroom, in The 91快播 Library, and beyond? 

About the Series

91快播 is well-known as a hub of innovative scholarship and a center of academic Jewish Studies. Recently, 91快播 has launched programs in Biblical Hebrew, Pastoral Care, and Teen Learning, offering accessible entryways into the Jewish textual tradition. Explore how 91快播 is bringing together new modes of learning with classical sources to meet the needs of today鈥檚 world. Sessions will give participants a taste of the ideas and teaching that are central to these programs.