2023-2024 Seminars and Talks
Beyond Judaism 101
Rabbi Moshe Pitchon
This series of seminars and talks looks at what Jews have done at juncture moments when Jewish ideas took a turn.
By probing some of those critical moments, the question is posed: Is Judaism not fundamentally what Jews do?
Jeremiah
November 1, 6 and 15, 2023
The first episode of the series of seminars and talks examines Jeremiah’s role as a spectator and participant in the events that led up to the overthrow of Israel’s monarchy.
Jeremiah not only describes those political events but also upholds a viewpoint that opposes what Israel’s establishment, represented by the palace and the Temple, held until the destruction of Jerusalem upended those beliefs. Following this incident and Jeremiah’s interpretation, Israel started to shift its perspective on the world in more ways than one.
The War of the Generals
December 12, 2023
The Yom Kippur War ended on October 24, 1973, when the United States and the Soviet Union brokered a ceasefire agreement.
Shortly after the truce, a “war of generals” erupted, setting off heated emotions and allegations unlike anything Israel had ever seen. Generals Ariel (Arik) Sharon and Shmuel Gonen (Gorodish) and Chiefs of Staff Haim Bar-Lev and David Elazar were the major players in this “war,” which was primarily waged through the media and other government agencies.
The Medieval Jews of the Iberian Peninsula
February 1, 8 and 15, 2024
One of the longest, best documented, and most versatile of the diaspora Jewish communities.
During 900 years of Jewish settlement in the Iberian Peninsula, Jews shared the challenges confronting the people of Spain and partook in building one of the world’s major civilizations.
Most significantly, much of the hundreds of years of Jewish life in Spain mirrors phenomena in contemporary Jewish life. This makes the content of this course not a curiosity but a learning.
Syllabus
(1) its foundation, from its beginning until the Muslim conquest in 711- 715;
(2) its formation, in Muslim Iberia until the Almoravid conquest around 1150;
(3) its “Occidentation,” in Christian Iberia until around 1360;
(4) its bifurcation, in Christian Iberia until 1497;
(5) its rationalization, in Christian Iberia and its colonies;
The 2023-2024 Jewish Studies Series Registration
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