JTS at the 2022 Jewish University for a Day

Date: Mar 27, 2022

Sponsor: JTS Learning in Your Community | Online Learning

Location: Online

Category: Livestream Online Learning

Learn with JTS faculty at This Year’s Jewish University for a Day

A Program of Stony Brook University Hillel

Sunday, March 27, 2022
Online

Jewish University for a Day brings together leading authors, academics, rabbis, public figures, journalists, and others in a daylong series of minicourses and presentations centered around Jewish themes. The event, sponsored by Stony Brook Hillel, is now entering its 11th year. JTS professors Dr. David Fishman, Dr. Robert A. Harris, and Dr. David Kraemer will be participating.

Dr. David Fishman, Professor of Jewish History and Director of JTS’s Project Judaica in Kyiv

The Jewish Community of Ukraine and the Current Crisis

There are between 50,000 to 100,000 Jews in Ukraine, and together they make up a vibrant, multifaceted community. Now with the Russian invasion, that community is in crisis. Dr. David Fishman, an expert on Ukrainian Jewry, will analyze the state of the community as it deals with unfolding events. Dr. Fishman directs JTS’s Project Judaica, which runs an academic program in Jewish Studies in Kyiv.

Dr. Robert A. Harris, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, JTS

“The Cow That Laid an Egg: The Seder and Conflict Resolution”

The history of how we understand Passover is replete with conflicting views: within the Torah itself, in the Mishnah, and between early Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity. The Seder emerges as a locus of resolutions to this series of opposing perspectives and invites us to ask how we can emulate its example in our own divided times.

Dr. David KraemerJoseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, JTS

“Who’s Afraid of Impossible Pork: Everything You Need to Know—and Probably Don’t—About Kashrut”

What is the purpose of kashrut and how does it actually work? Is it only a mysterious set of divine commands, or does it have a more prosaic purpose—say, to prevent abuse of animals, limit our impact on the world, or keep Jews apart from non-Jews? By exploring these questions in connection to biblical and rabbinic sources, we will learn how kashrut can be applied to the dilemmas of today, from humane production of meat to the status of plant-based meat or meat grown in “the lab” and not on the body of an animal.