Beruriah is the only female scholar mentioned by name in the Talmud. She is simultaneously a part of the rabbinic world of Torah study and also an outsider to it. This podcast discusses the texts in which she appears and considesr the challenge of reconciling one’s own sensibilities with a broader tradition of learning.
The Fluidity of Identity: Evidence from Medieval Philosophy & Kabbalah
Why do we begin our history as a people with the story of our enslavement? We will explore the role of slavery in the development of our national identity and in our celebration of Passover.
“‘The Lord Is Righteous, For I Have Disobeyed Him’ – Theological Justification in the Midst of Tragedy”
Resurrection and Reincarnation: Two Central Jewish Teachings and Their Meaning for Today
Open any modern siddur and you will find numerous passages from Sefer Tehillim. Indeed, Tehillim seems almost naturally suited for use in daily tefillah. Yet the perspective offered by hindsight often obscures complexity and challenge. This shiur examines how and why Jewish liturgy changes, grows and develops by exploring the dynamic history of singing Psalms in Jewish daily liturgy from the biblical period through the era of the Geonim. It will tell the story of the Psalter’s rise, fall and resurrection as a central feature of Jewish worship. It will then explore the various internal mechanics as well as external factors that explain why Tehillim reemerged as part of Jewish daily prayer during the period of the Amoraic rabbis. Ultimately, the Psalter’s liturgical history sheds light on the story of Jewish prayer as a whole developed, how the order of prayer transformed from the shema and amidah into the service(s) we know today.
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This class was part of Night Seder for Winter Zman 2021-22.
Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation
Death and Afterlife in the Rabbinic and Kabbalistic Imagination
Jewish death rituals are famous for their existential profundity and psychological insight concerning our most difficult times. Less well-known is the vast treasury of myths about death and the afterlife that undergird those rituals. These myths go back to the beginnings of Judaism, flower in rabbinic literature, and reach their fullest elaboration in kabbalah. We will study a selection of these rabbinic and kabbalistic myths, particularly those in the Zohar, the central work of kabbalah. Shakespeare may have declared that death is the “undiscovered country,” but we will study the journeys of the Jewish imagination deep into its innermost provinces. The only requirement for this course is that you be willing to employ your imagination, your mind, and your soul to engage with this overwhelming, and often shattering, feature of the human condition.
Anger and Kabbalah: Confronting Divine and Human Rage in the Zohar
The Bible portrays God as capable of catastrophically destructive anger, as well as infinite mercy. Rabbinic texts severely condemn human anger, comparing it to idolatry, while portraying God as engaged in an internal struggle with his own anger. In the Zohar, the central work of Kabbalah, anger plays a central role in the cosmic drama. Unrestrained divine anger can lead to the emergence of a demonic realm, ruled by the diabolical Sama’el and Lilith. Human action is required to appease divine anger and restrain the evil forces. How should we, in our turbulent time, understand these Jewish stances to this much-decried emotion?
Session 1: We are going to confront a theme that is both a central issue in Jewish thought and also, lamentably, an urgent issue for our time: anger. We will look at this theme through a variety of Jewish texts, including biblical, rabbinic, and kabbalistic texts, with an emphasis on the latter.
Tonight’s class will introduce us to this theme — key biblical and rabbinic texts, culminating in an excerpt from the Sefer Ha-Bahir, the “Book of Clarity,” the first recognizably kabbalistic text, dating in its current form from the late 12th century.
Session 2: This class will have 3 parts: a brief introduction to the Zohar, a discussion of the divine anger in the aftermath of the Korach rebellion, and a Zoharic exploration of the power of incense to appease divine anger.
The Bible portrays God as capable of catastrophically destructive anger, as well as infinite mercy. Rabbinic texts severely condemn human anger, comparing it to idolatry, while portraying God as engaged in an internal struggle with his own anger. In the Zohar, the central work of Kabbalah, anger plays a central role in the cosmic drama.
Unrestrained divine anger can lead to the emergence of a demonic realm, ruled by the diabolical Sama’el and Lilith. Human action is required to appease divine anger and restrain the evil forces. How should we, in our turbulent time, understand these Jewish stances to this much-decried emotion?
Session 3: After studying some Zoharic perspectives on divine anger, we will turn to human anger. We will preface our discussions with condemnations of anger in the Rambam and Talmud, while noting an opening for “good anger” in one Talmudic discussion.
Then we will look at an extended passage in the Zohar that portrays anger as demonic possession — and even declares that to look in the face of an angry person is tantamount to idolatry!
But it also leaves open the possibility of a “good anger” — true to its maxim, אית רוגזא ואית רוגזא – “there is anger and there is anger”…. We will also reflect on the relationship between conceptions of human and divine character.
Dr. Nathaniel Berman and Rabbi David Silber: Legends of the Cave
Kabbalah for our Turbulent Souls: Zoharic Myths of Anger, Shame, and Desire!
Divine Contractions: A New Perspective on the Kabbalistic Notion of Tzimtzum
Part of a three-part lecture series on “In the Image of God: Divine and Human Self-Restraint.”