Part of the learning series, You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change

Produced in partnership with the

With Dr. Abigail Uhrman, Director of The William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education and Associate Professor of Jewish Education, 91żě˛Ą
And special guests: Howard Blas, Senior Consultant to the National Ramah Tikvah Network, and Elana Naftalin-Kelman, disability inclusion educator and former Tikvah Director at Camp Ramah in California

Jewish summer camps are bright centers of innovation in disability inclusion—expanding access, investing in trained staff, and reimagining what true belonging looks like. This work is no longer operating at the margins: it has become a core identity of many camps, shaping the culture and experience of the entire community. When inclusion becomes central, everyone’s camp experience grows richer. Campers learn empathy and interdependence, staff gain deeper tools for leadership, and the community as a whole becomes stronger and more connected.

In this session, Dr. Abigail Uhrman will draw on current research and practice to explore how this shift at camp represents a revolutionary expression of Jewish peoplehood—one that models equity, dignity, and shared responsibility as essential communal values. She will be joined by field leaders Howard Blas and Elana Naftalin-Kelman, who will reflect on how centering inclusion transforms the lives of individuals with disabilities, and drives broader cultural change within Jewish life. Together, we’ll consider how the lessons of camp may hold the key to a more just, vibrant, and welcoming Jewish future.

About the Series

What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join 91żě˛Ą scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now. 

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Part of the learning series, You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change

With Dr. Judith Hauptman, E. Billi Ivry Professor Emerita of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture

In his many volumes of Talmud commentary, beginning with publication of the first in 1968, Professor David Weiss Halivni introduced a groundbreaking approach to Talmud study: distinguishing between the attributed teachings of the rabbis and the anonymous editorial layer that surrounds them. This interpretive revolution transformed the field, offering a powerful tool for understanding the development of rabbinic thought.

In this session, Dr. Judith Hauptman, E. Billi Ivry Professor Emerita of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture at 91żě˛Ą, explored how Halivni’s method reshaped the study of Talmud and how she applied it to uncover what the early sages were truly trying to convey. Join us for a look at how a shift in reading can open up new dimensions of meaning in one of Judaism’s most complex and enduring texts.

About the Series

What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join 91żě˛Ą scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now.

Part of the learning series, You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change

The Russian Revolution promised liberation and equality, but for Jews its legacy was far more complex. Dr. David Fishman examined the Jewish socialist movement known as the Bund, the revolutionary role of figures like Leon Trotsky, and Lenin’s complex position on the “Jewish question.” Through images and historical context, we’ll consider how the Revolution promised liberation even as it imposed new constraints, and how radical politics reshaped Jewish identity and community in the Soviet era.

About the Series

What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join 91żě˛Ą scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now.

Download Sources

Part of the learning series, You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change

With Dr Robbie Harris, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages

Beginning in the 9th century in the Arabic-speaking Sephardic world and continuing through the 12th century in northern France, Jewish scholars introduced a new approach to reading the Bible. Alongside the traditional Rabbinic midrashim that had guided Jewish understanding for generations, they began writing plain-sense commentaries known as peshat. Reading the Bible was never the same!

In this session, Dr. Robbie Harris explores why this shift happened, and we dip our toes in some of these bold new biblical commentaries.

About the Series

What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join 91żě˛Ą scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now.

Download Sources

Part of the learning series, You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change

With Dr. Marcus Mordecai Schwartz, Ripps Schnitzer Librarian for Special Collections; Assistant Professor, Talmud and Rabbinics

Before the print revolution transformed how Jews accessed and spread knowledge, handwritten manuscripts shaped Jewish intellectual and spiritual life. In this session, Dr. Mordecai Schwartz explored the quiet revolutions embedded in manuscript culture—from scribal innovation to marginal commentary—and what they reveal about continuity, creativity, and change before Gutenberg. This session highlighted pieces on display at the Grolier Club of NYC in the exhibit, “Jewish Worlds Illuminated: A Treasury of Hebrew Manuscripts from The 91żě˛Ą Library,” which features over 100 manuscript and book offerings from The Library.

About the Series

What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join 91żě˛Ą scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now. 

Download Sources

Part of the learning series, You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change

With Dr. Benjamin Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages

For many readers of the Bible, the idea of one God seems timeless and self-evident. Yet in the ancient world, Israel’s embrace of monotheism was anything but inevitable. Scholars continue to debate how and when this concept emerged.

Professor Benjamin Sommer discussed the debate among modern scholars about the origin of biblical monotheism: did this religious idea develop gradually among the ancient Israelites during the biblical period, or did it appear suddenly early in Israelite history? To what extent were the theological beliefs of the biblical authors radically innovative, and to what extent did they display continuity with the religions of the Israelites neighbors in Canaan, Babylonia, Assuria, and Egypt?

About the Series

What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join 91żě˛Ą scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now. 

What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join 91żě˛Ą scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now. 

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