Jewish Ideas to Change the World
Religion & Spirituality:Judaism
A virtual, five-part series presented by Professor Eitan P. Fishbane
*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14JGleBQE8nwYtoRTtm2v36G8I4wckb_Y/view
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 various concerns, ideas, and writing genres, the mystics of this time and place focused 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 works on several book projects, including 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.
Rising Anti-Semitism on American Campuses: A Conversation with Dara Horn
Hammerman Family Lecture: In the Haunted Present: Jews in a Non-Jewish World
A Conversation With Former Professional Basketball Player Dan Grunfeld on His Book on the Holocaust
Mistreating Widows and Orphans: Whom Does This Law Address?
The Primacy of Morality Over Ritual in the Prophets
Interview with Rabbi Sharon Brous: Losses of a Parent, Love, and Overall Loss
Sherman Minkoff Memorial Lecture: Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World
Why Should Jews Care About a New Interpretation of the (Christian) “Apostle” Paul?
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz Interviews Rabbi Daniel Askenazi
Standing Out or Blending In? Passing vs Looking Jewish in Texts and Today
Eye for an Eye for an Eye: The Poetics of Jewish Law
On the Divinity of Torah: A Conversation with Rabbi David Kasher
Jews, Judaism, and Anti-Judaism in the Gospel of John
The Ethics of Rescue: True Stories Behind Bergen-Belsen’s Liberation
How Can Qohelet Quell the Curious Mind? An Exploration of a New Translation and Commentaries on the Strangest Book of the Hebrew Bible
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The Healing Power of Storytelling
Introduction to Dreams and Kabbalah
When “The Hands of Esau” Replace “Love the Stranger”: The Corruption of Jewish Power
Radical Jewish Views of God: Maimonides vs Spinoza
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