The Origins of Halakhah as an Evolving System
Date: Jul 14, 2020 - Jul 14, 2020
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Sponsor: Online Learning
Location: Online
Category: Online Learning
An online mini-course with JTS
Four Tuesdays
July 14, 21, 28, August 4
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET
Many contemporary Jews, most paradigmatically (though not uniquely) in the Conservative Movement, understand Jewish law as evolving to meet the needs of each generation. This approach has its roots not in the last few centuries, nor even in the classical rabbinic period when the Talmud and Midrash were authored, but within the Torah itself. The various legal passages within the Torah are often in conversation with each other as they put forward differing understandings of what laws Israel must follow. Focusing on four cases, we will examine how later legal passages revise earlier ones and discover how biblical law displays the flexibility that we usually associate with much more recent interpretations of Jewish law.
With Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages.
Cost: $80
Recordings will be available for those unable to attend live. Registration required.