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Modern Jewish Thought
Standing Before God: Prayer and the Spiritual Life in Four Modern Jewish Thinkers What happens when I pray-- to me? to God? What outcomes (if any) do I hope for? How does prayer relate to spiritual life more broadly, and how does my theology interact with my experience of prayer? In this series, we'll explore the ways in which four modern Jewish thinkers understand the meaning of prayer, and how their interpretation of prayer relates to their broader religious worldviews-- and to our own contemporary religious questions. Throughout, we'll move between understanding these thinkers on their own terms and asking whether and how their approaches to prayer and theology might challenge, inform, and enrich our own. 11/8/10 Revelation at Sinai: An Ancient Modern Appraoch Prof. Benjamin Sommer  Listen here
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Benjamin D. Sommer joined the JTS faculty as professor of Bible in July 2008. Previously, he served as director of the Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies at Northwestern University, where he had taught since 1994. Dr. Sommer's research focuses on the history of Israelite religion, literary analysis of the Bible, and biblical theology. An overarching concern of his scholarship involves the close and manifold relationships between biblical thought and later Jewish theology or, to use the Hebrew phrasing, between Torah shebikhtav and Torah shebe'al peh. 7/30/10 "Haham Adif mi-Navi" Rav Kook on the Meaning of Prophecy and Halakhah Shiur Klali (Integrated Communal Learning) Rabbi Shai Held
Through a close reading of a beautiful essay by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, we'll discuss the relationship between broad vision (that is, Prophecy) on the one hand, and attention to detail (that is, Halakhah), on the other--in life in general, and in Jewish life in particular.
 Download Audio Recording 1 hour, 51 minutes; 31.8 MB  Download Source Sheet 284.6 KB
7/14/10 Why Theology Matters: Lessons from Heschel, Fishbane, and the Wicked Son Taught by Rabbi Gordon Tucker  Listen here
7/12/10 Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity: The Religious Worldviews of Rabbis Heschel and Soloveitchik by Rabbi Shai Held In this class, we will explore the theological worldviews of Rabbis Abraham Joshua Heschel and Joseph Soloveitchik. We'll begin with Heschel, and discuss:
a) the meaning of wonder and radical amazement, and their connection to a sense of commandedness;
b) Heschel's belief in a personal God and his idea that God is "in search of man";
c) the meaning of prophecy, and how prophets can serve as role models for our own religious lives;
d) the problem of evil and how it affected Heschel's relationship with God; and
e) the life of prayer, and our attempt to overcome self-centeredness.
Then we'll turn to Soloveitchik and focus especially on the idea of the human being as creator, and on how that plays out in a variety of Soloveitchik's writings. The class aims both to introduce Heschel and Soloveitchik on their own terms, and to provide students with a vocabulary for thinking about their own religious commitments and obligations.  Download Session 1 (June 15, 2010)
Download Session 2, Part 1 (June 18, 2010)
Download Session 2, Part 2
Download Session 3 (June 22, 2010)
Download Session 4 (June 25, 2010)
Download Session 5 (July 2, 2010)
Download Session 6 (July 6, 2010)
Download Session 7 (July 9, 2010)
Download Session 8 (July 13, 2010)
Download Session 9 (July 16, 2010)
Download Session 10 (July 21, 2010)
Download Session 11 (July 27, 2010)
Download Session 12 (July 30, 2010)
Download Session 13 (August 3, 2010)
6/23/10 Mindfulness in Jewish Sources - Piaseczner 3 Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels  Download Audio Recording
4/25/10 Mindfulness in Jewish Sources - Piaseczner 2 Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels Download Audio Recording 4/19/10 Is God the only thing that counts? 11 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #11 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 10.1 MB 7/18/08 Is God the only thing that counts? 10 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #10 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 21.4 MB 7/17/08 Is God the only thing that counts? 9 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #9 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 17.2 MB 7/11/08 Is God the only thing that counts? 8 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #8 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 24.9 MB 7/10/08 Is God the only thing that counts? 6 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #6 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 20.7 MB 6/20/08 Is God the only thing that counts? 5 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #5 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 17.0 MB 6/19/08 Is God the only thing that counts? 4 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #4 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 29.2 MB 6/13/08 Is God the only thing that counts? 3 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #3 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 19.6 MB 6/12/08 Is God the only thing that counts? 2 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #2 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 22.8 MB 6/6/08 Is God the only thing that counts? 1 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Is God the only thing that counts?, Session #1 Nina Redl Download Audio Recording ; 23.3 MB 6/5/08 Soloveitchik (Majesty and Humility) Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #13 Rabbi Shai Held Download Source Sheet 1.1 MB 7/19/07 Soloveitchik (Sh'lihut) Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #12 Rabbi Shai Held Download Source Sheet 542.5 KB 7/17/07 Soloveitchik (Halakhic Man, Reflections of the Rav, and Sh'lihut) Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #11 Rabbi Shai Held Download Source Sheet 2.1 MB 7/12/07 Soloveitchik (Halakhic Man) Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #10 Rabbi Shai Held Download Source Sheet 1.1 MB 7/10/07 Heschel (Between God and Man) - Halakhah Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #9 Rabbi Shai Held. Texts can be found in Between God and Man. Download Audio Recording 1 hour, 15 minutes; 21.5 MB 7/5/07 Heschel (God in Search of Man) - Revelation at Sinai Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #8 Rabbi Shai Held Download Source Sheet 1.8 MB 6/28/07 Heschel (Between God and Man) - Revelation Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #7 Rabbi Shai Held. Texts can be found in Between God and Man. Download Audio Recording 1 hour, 6 minutes; 18.8 MB 6/26/07 Heschel (Man is Not Alone) - Theodicy Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #6 Rabbi Shai Held Download Source Sheet 598.9 KB 6/21/07 Heschel (Between God and Man) - Divine Pathos 2 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #5 Rabbi Shai Held. Texts can be found in Between God and Man. Download Audio Recording 1 hour, 8 minutes; 19.6 MB 6/19/07 Heschel (Between God and Man) - Divine Pathos Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #4 Rabbi Shai Held. Texts can be found in Between God and Man. Download Audio Recording 1 hour, 9 minutes; 19.9 MB 6/14/07 Heschel (Between God and Man) - Wonder 2 Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #2 Rabbi Shai Held Download Source Sheet 1.0 MB 6/7/07 Heschel (Between God and Man) - Wonder Mahshavah (Jewish Thought): Wonder, Prophecy, and Creativity, Session #1 Rabbi Shai Held Download Source Sheet 1.0 MB 6/5/07 |
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