Fall 2023 Learning Series 

“Two Are Better Than One:” Friendship in Jewish Text, Thought, and Life

Eight Mondays, October 23–December 11, 2023  
1:00–2:30 p.m. ET  

Friendship is a critical component of our daily lives, our mental health, and our Jewish communal experiences. Ecclesiastes (4:9) posits, “Two are better than one,” underscoring the significance of companionship and partnership in Jewish tradition and the role they play in a life well lived.  

In this series, JTS scholars will explore the concept of friendship through Jewish texts, history, and thought. They will examine a range of paradigms for friendship and consider what values emerge from each.  Together, we will reflect on friendship in times of joy and times of crisis, both with those in our inner circles and with our neighbors and fellow citizens more broadly.   

Note: Each Monday series has its own Zoom link. Please register for “Two Are Better Than One” to receive the correct Zoom link for the fall 2023 series.    

Session Topics and Faculty 

October 23 

Friendship in the Ghetto, the Forest, and Beyond: A Story of Two Yiddish Poets

With Dr. David Fishman, Professor of Jewish History, JTS   

October 30 

Across the Atlantic: Lifesaving Friendships During the Holocaust

With Dr. Edna Friedberg, JTS Fellow and Senior Curator, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum  

November 6 

Be My Galentine? Female Friendship in the Hebrew Bible

With Dr. Yael Landman, Assistant Professor of Bible, JTS  

November 13 

Friendship and Interfaith Engagement  

With Dr. Benedicte Sere, Visiting Professor, JTS, and Associate Professor of Medieval History, University of Paris Nanterre 

November 20 

Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors? A Talmudic Teaching

With Dr. Aaron Koller, Adjunct Professor, JTS, and Professor of Near East Studies, Yeshiva University 

November 27 

Friendship During Crisis: Learning From the Book of Job

With Rabbi Mychal Springer, Adjunct Professor, JTS, and Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education, New York-Presbyterian Hospital  

December 4 

Paradigms of Friendship: What Philosophers and Rabbis Can Teach Us

With Rabbi Eliezer Diamond, PhD, Rabbi Judah Nadich Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, JTS 

December 11 

Friendship in the City: Community, Political Theory, and Jewish Thought

With Dr. Shira Billet, Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Ethics, JTS  

Note: Each Monday series has its own Zoom link. Please register for “Two Are Better Than One” to receive the correct Zoom link for the fall 2023 series.