The Tent of Meeting: Central or Marginal?

Date: Feb 13, 2023

Time: 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

Sponsor: Online Learning | Public Lectures and Events

Location: Online

Category: Online Learning Public Lectures & Events

The Tent of Meeting: Central or Marginal?

Part of our spring learning series, The Space In Between: Thresholds and Borders in Jewish Life and Thought 

This session is generously sponsored by Yale Asbell, JTS Trustee.

Monday, February 13, 2023
1:00–2:30 p.m. ET
Online

With Dr. Benjamin Sommer, professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, JTS 

The Tent of Meeting is described at great length in the Torah as the elaborate sacred tent located in the center of the Israelite encampment that traveled through the wilderness for 40 years. But several passages in the Torah describe the Tent of Meeting differently, as a tiny structure located outside the Israelite camp. Why does the Torah include both historical memories of this structure? How does each structure reflect a particular religious worldview, and what does the presence of both in the Torah tell us about Judaism?   

If you have previously registered for another session in this series, your registration admits you to all sessions in the series, and you may attend as many as you’d like. 

Note: The Zoom link for this session will be in the confirmation email that you will receive after you register. 

ABOUT THE SERIES 

The Space In Between: Thresholds and Borders in Jewish Life and Thought  

We are living in an undefined time: our daily existence is no longer dominated by the pandemic, yet neither have we settled into a new normal. This sense of being in transition—neither here nor there—can feel destabilizing; but is the time in between really temporary, or are we always living in between moments, identities, and phases of life?  

In this series, JTS scholars will delve into the idea of liminality—the time or space in between—which we encounter often in Jewish ritual, identity, law, and life. Join us to consider what these many manifestations of “in-between-ness” can teach us about ourselves and about Judaism, and to explore how we might find strength and meaning in an orientation not of “either/or” but of “both/and.”