 A celebration of adult Jewish learning featuring outstanding faculty and fellows
from The Jewish Theological Seminary.
How do we live a “good life?” In a world of competing values, it is not always easy to determine the right path. How can the teachings of our tradition inform our decision making in the many facets of our lives? Together we will explore a range of Jewish sources and consider what they suggest about how to live as individuals and as members of Jewish and global communities. JTS scholars will address some of the moral choices that we confront regularly—from what we eat, to how to what values we transmit to our children—and discuss the broader role of ethics, values, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.
FACULTY:
Rabbi David Hoffman
Vice Chancellor and Chief Advancement Officer, JTS Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, JTS
Dr. Michal Raucher
JTS Fellow and Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies, University of Cincinnati Dr. Stefanie Siegmund
Women’s League Professor of Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies, JTS Sunday, October 25, 2015
12:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Lunch will be served.
Perelman Jewish Day School
49 Haverford Road
Wynnewood, PA 19096
$25 / adult with advance registration
$18 / JTS alumni For more information, contact Tani Schwartz-Herman of JTS at [email protected] or (212) 678-8996
or Shira Wohlberg of Perelman Jewish Day School at [email protected] or (610) 658-2518 ext. 218.
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PROGRAM SCHEDULE
12:00 – 12:30 pm Registration and Lunch
12:30 – 12:40 pm Opening/Welcome
12:40 – 1:30 pm Keynote Presentation and Roundtable Discussions Dr. David Kraemer
1:40 – 2:40 pm Study Session I
2:50 – 3:20 pm Musical Mincha
3:20 – 4:20 pm Study Session II
4:30 - 5:00 pm Closing Session Rabbi David HoffmanPROGRAM SESSIONS
Keynote Address
How Do We Determine the Right Path?
Dr. David Kraemer Religious traditions—indeed all wisdom traditions—offer guidance for choosing the right path to the good life. In fact the notion that there is a path to be followed is often implicit in the vocabulary of the tradition (Judaism: halakah/Jewish law; Islam: sharia/Islamic law). But there are always multiple possible paths, emerging from competitive traditions within any religious community. How are the competitive voices of Judaism to be evaluated, and how does one choose the right path, not just for him or her, but for the community as a whole?
Study Sessions
Does Religious Observance Lead Us to the Good Life?
Rabbi David Hoffman What do traditional Jewish sources have to say about whether observance of the mitzvot (commandments) will lead one to achieve the good life? Examining Talmudic and medieval rabbinic texts, we will investigate the limits and possibilities of a life of mitzvot in helping to bring about meaning, joy, and betterment of the world.
Eating Ethically: Jewish Food Values in the Age of Factory Farming Dr. David Kraemer
In our age, food is a problem in a way it never was before. To provide food for our tables, we pollute the environment and mistreat animals in ways that are unprecedented. What does Judaism have to say about the practices that make our consumption possible? What changes would be suggested by the ethical teachings of Jewish tradition?
“Extraordinary Dignity, Unlimited Responsibility”: Modern Jewish Thoughts on the Good Life
Dr. Michal Raucher
The question of “what is a good life” is often considered from an individual’s standpoint, but Jewish thought and ethics tend to convey answers to this question that reflect a more communal perspective. This session examines a selection of Jewish ethical texts that consider the good life to be one devoted to others and the community. We will evaluate these sources in light of our American individualistic framework.
Gifts of Wisdom: The Historical Traditions and Values of the ‘Ethical Will’
Dr. Stefanie Siegmund
Spurred by our age, or encounter with serious illness, the loss of loved ones, or simply because we have brought children into our lives -- at these moments when we are thinking about death we go to lawyers to write or revise our wills. The writing of the will is an opportunity to think deeply about what we value while we plan to distribute our estates to the people, organizations, and causes that we care about. What if you also tried to write a letter that would be read at your funeral, or by your descendants, about your values? What would you say? How does Judaism inform these values? In this session we will study testaments left by a medieval Jewish man and a late Renaissance (early modern) Jewish woman, to explore their values and their gifts, and to begin to think about reclaiming a tradition.  |