Dean’s Letter

At one of my favorite events of the year, Dining with the Barnard Deans, a student asked me what the Torah had to say to the moment we are living through as Americans, as Jews, and as academics working in higher education. 

If someone had asked me this question in any other setting, I probably would have dodged it. But when a List College student asks this question, I feel compelled and obliged to answer it. As someone who believes to the core of my being that the Torah we teach and study at List College should be and is relevant, I must be able to answer my student’s question as a Bible scholar, a Jew, and as the Dean of List College. 

There are ideas and values central to the Torah that I draw from that help me navigate this challenging moment. 

The first is the Torah’s unique perception that the human being is both an earthling, a creature of dust, and created in God’s image. This blend of dust and divinity elevates and empowers us while reminding us that our power is limited. As the prophet Micah writes, God seeks three things from humans—To do justice, to love goodness and to walk humbly with God (Mic 6:9).

Another is the Torah’s innate commitment to and consistent compassion for those who live on the margins of society. The Torah commands us to love the stranger as ourselves because we were once strangers in the land of Egypt (Lev 19:34). 

I am guided also by the Torah’s clear charge that when faced with a choice between life and death, we should always choose life and stand on the side of the living and with that which enhances, enriches and sustains life (Deut 30:19). 

And finally, I take great sustenance from the Torah’s embrace of joy. As we sing in Hallel, the songs of praise:  This is the day that God has made, let us rejoice and delight in it (Ps 118:24). 

The idea that humans are a blend of dust and divinity, the values of modesty and compassion, and the privileging of life and joy that are the bedrock of the Torah and of Jewish life, help me navigate our challenging world. 

I do not doubt the Torah’s relevance as a resource that can guide us through and forward in this unsettling time. I know this to be true personally, but also professionally. 

At List College, our students orient their lives and their learning towards discovering ideas and embodying values from our foundational sources that will guide them, and through them, all of us, towards meaningful, compassionate, and joyful lives. 

I could not be more pleased to answer my student’s question, but I am even more pleased that she asked it.