Jewish Ideas to Change the World
Religion & Spirituality:Judaism
A virtual, five-part series presented by Professor Eitan P. Fishbane
About the event:
In what would become the legendary kabbalistic hilltop town of Tzfat in the 1500s—the birthplace of such timeless texts as Lekha Dodi and Yedid Nefesh; a location whose larger-than-life figures included such luminaries as Rabbi Yosef Karo, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (the ARI), and many others— there unfolded one of the most remarkable chapters in the entire history of Judaism, and Jewish mysticism in particular. Through a variety of concerns, ideas, and genres of writing, the mystics of this time and place expressed a pronounced focus on the nature of the human self and spiritual psychology: its essence and character, its fundamental state of relationship to Divinity. In the sessions of this course, we will explore a range of these issues and modes of creativity as they appeared in sixteenth-century Tzfat. We will explore such major topics as Soul, Body, and Reincarnation (Gilgul); The Ethics and Piety of Self-Transformation (Kabbalistic Musar); Mystical Autobiography; Emotion, Feeling, and Mind. Please join us as we dive deeply into this fascinating and inspiring landscape of ideas, feelings, and spirituality!
About the Speaker:
Dr. Eitan Fishbane is a Professor of Jewish Thought at The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), where he has taught for 17 years. A 2015-2016 JTS Chancellor’s Fellow, Fishbane has served on the JTS Faculty Executive Committee; as a B.A. and M.A. Advisor in Jewish Thought; and on The Rabbinical School Council. He is a former Division Chair for Jewish Mysticism at the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS); current Chair of the Oxford Interfaith Forum on Mysticism; and Book Review Editor for Jewish Mysticism at The Marginalia Review of Books. He is the recipient of grants from The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), as well as the Charles A. Ryskamp Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Among Professor Fishbane’s published books are: The Art of Mystical Narrative: A Poetics of the Zohar (Oxford University Press, 2018); As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist (Stanford University Press, 2009); and, most recently, Embers of Pilgrimage (Panui Poetry Series, 2021). He is currently at work on several book projects, among them Shabbat in Ḥasidic Thought: Sacred Time and Mystical Consciousness; Self & Identity in Sixteenth-Century Kabbalah; and The Zohar as Mystical Poetry. In addition to these academic projects, Fishbane is working on a spiritual-theological commentary on the Torah cycle and the Jewish holidays, tentatively entitled, Written on the Heart: Meditations & Readings; and he is completing his second volume of original poetry, entitled, Soul Fragments. Fishbane received his Ph.D. and B.A., summa cum laude, from Brandeis University. Visit him at www.eitanfishbane.com.
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Laurie Zoloth - Levinas, Medical Ethics, & Technological Innovations to Save Lives!
Garth Silberstein - The Mitzvah of Tokhecha (Reproof) and the Ethics of Protest
Arik Ascherman - Spiritual Activism for Human Rights in Israel
Alan Brill - Teaching Judaism in Indonesia
Shmuly Yanklowitz - Are Jewish Law & Jewish Values Separate Philosophical Systems?
Arthur Waskow - Half a Century of Activism!
Goldie Milgram - Wisdom from Reb Zalman: Embracing the Jewish Spirit
Shmuly Yanklowitz & Eddie Chavez Calderon - Immigrant Rights in the Bible & Talmud
John Fung - The Many Dimensions of Kidney Donation
Repairing the World: The Journey of "Tikkun Olam" throughout Jewish Intellectual History!
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Micha Odenheimer - Reflections on the Conflict, Anti-Zionism, and American Jews
Micha Odenheimer - Shabbos in Somalia: Reflections on Judaism and the Global South
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The Building of Open Orthodoxy – Rabbi Avi Weiss
Race & Social Change: Our Inner Work as White Allies – Dr. Max Klau
Alleviating Suffering in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict – Dr. Micah Goodman
Justice for Restaurant Workers!
Understanding Human Suffering: Theological, Moral, & Spiritual Explorations – Shmuly Yanklowitz
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