Jacob’s Dysfunctional Family
Jacob’s familial narrative is filled with destructive choices, inspiring much midrashic interpretation. Though midrash is often dismissed as purely imaginative, where can we find its roots in the original text?
James Kugel is Chair of the Institute for the History of the Jewish Bible at Bar Ilan University in Israel and the Harry M. Starr Professor Emeritus of Classical and Modern Hebrew Literature at Harvard University. He is the author and editor of numerous books and articles.
Click here to access podcasts recorded by James Kugel.
Jacob’s familial narrative is filled with destructive choices, inspiring much midrashic interpretation. Though midrash is often dismissed as purely imaginative, where can we find its roots in the original text?
Shana Strauch Schick is a lecturer in at Bar Ilan University in Israel. She holds a PhD from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. Her first book is Intention in Talmudic Jurisprudence: Between Thought and Deed (Brill, 2021).
David Silber is the founder and dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education in New York and Israel. Rabbi Silber received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He is a recipient of the Covenant Award, for excellence in innovative Jewish education, and is the author of A Passover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn (Jewish Publication Society 2011), For Such a Time as This: Biblical Reflections in the Book of Esther (Koren Publishers 2017), and Malkhut Adam: Iyunim Bsefer Shmuel (Maggid 2021). He is also a nationally acclaimed lecturer on the Bible. Rabbi Silber is married to Dr. Devora Steinmetz. They have eight children and live in New York City.
Click here to access other recorded classes by David Silber.
Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern serves as the senior advisor to the provost as well as the deputy director and chief strategy officer of the Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. He has lectured across the US, Europe, Israel and Australia and is the editor of nineteen books, including the newly released Jewish Roots of American Liberty, as well as The Promise of Liberty: A Passover Haggada, Esther in America and Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land: The Hebrew Bible in the United States. His award-winning writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, Newsweek, the American Bible Society, Tablet, Jewish Review of Books, Tradition, First Things, The Washington Free Beacon, Sapir, City Journal, ARC, The Jewish Journal, JTA, and The Jerusalem Post.