Until recently, historians looked at the evolution of Judaism and Jewish culture in the modern era as a battle between “tradition” and “modernity.” In the last generation, however, scholars have challenged this simple binary and argued that since the Middle Ages Jews have been actively creating their own passage into modernity, not only holding on to a static tradition or abandoning it in part or in whole for life in modern society. It may be surprising to know that people branded as heretics have played an outsized role in this process. In this course we will learn about some of these figures: Maimonides; the early Kabbalists; the Marranos of Spain, including one particular product, Baruch Spinoza; the “false messiahs” Shabbetai Tzvi and Jacob Frank; the Hasidim, with a focus on Nachman of Bratslav; and Rav Kook. We will read the writings by these change-makers as well as historical studies about them, and discuss how their “heresies” have shaped and continue to shape Jewish thought, practice, and identity.
Suggested contribution of $72
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About Rabbi Jeff
RABBI JEFF AMSHALEM has been in Jewish education for over twenty years in a variety of roles, and has done much of his learning and teaching in pluralistic environments such as Pardes and Beit Midrash Elul in Jerusalem and Hebrew College. For the past several years he was a Senior Educator at Ayeka Soulful Education, mentoring teachers in making their classrooms spaces for personal reflection and spiritual transformation, and taught in the Religion Department at Tufts University; he now teaches at the Hebrew College Rabbinical School. He earned his PhD in Jewish Thought from Ben-Gurion University and has orthodox rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes and Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Goldberg of Jerusalem. He currently lives in Sharon, MA, with his wife and four children, a big dog, and thirteen chickens.
Texts and recordings provided to all registrants!