JTS Scholar-in-Residence Shabbat with Dr. Marjorie Lehman

JTS Scholar-in-Residence Shabbat with Dr. Marjorie Lehman, Associate Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics

May 17-18, 2019

Congregation Brith Sholom
1190 West Macada Road
Bethlehem, PA
www.brithsholom.net
(610) 866-8009

Friday, May 17

6:00 p.m. service, followed by dinner and learning:

“The Ethical Quandaries Facing Rav Nachman in a Court of Law: What Do Flying Geese Have to Teach Us?”
This Talmudic text from the Babylonian Talmud, Shevuot 30a, addresses the legal procedures involved when a woman brings a case before Rav Nachman in a court of law. Rav Nachman is not only burdened by how women should be treated, but also concerned about subverting the societal and institutional frameworks of which he is a part.

Saturday, May 18

Shabbat morning D’var Torah:

The Justice of Speaking Out: The Justice of Remaining Silent
Looking at Parashat Emor through the lens of a passage in the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 23a) will focus on the extent to which those of us outside of the structures of power are often forced into silence. Do we remain silent to support our institutions or do we speak out, despite the risks involved? What were the challenges of rabbinic authority as the rabbis took over from the priests? What were the stakes? What are the lessons for us today?

Shabbat afternoon learning:

Dressing and Undressing the Priests: The Mothers of Priests and the Mothers of Rabbis
This session will focus on the way in which the rabbis depict the mothers of priests as compared to the way they depict their own mothers. Together we will consider why the rabbis describe mothers as they do and what it is that we can learn from them about navigating all types of interpersonal relationships.