Sabbatai Zevi and the Feast of Tisha B'Av 1666
GGS 01/08/17
Chametz, Erev Pesach and Transformational Authority
To be delivered at GGS after Minchah, Shabbat HaGadol, 5777
Primary Sources:
Devarim 17:8-13Selections from Pesachim 6a; 87a
Selections from Yad, Hilchot Mamrim 1:1-2; 3:4; 4:1 (with commentaries of Kesef Mishneh & Ribdaz)
Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvot Shoresh 1, with Hasagot HaRamban
Kuntres Divrey Sofrim 1:32-33; 41-42
Meshech Chochmah to Devarim 17:11
The Life and Works of Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner
LSJS Feb - Apr 2017
From LSJS Website
Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner (1854-1924) came from rabbinic aristocracy and was rabbi of Klausenberg in Romania. Remarkably, he was also a friend of Rav Kook, a fierce champion of independent Torah creativity and a charedi Zionist who saw in the return to the Land an opportunity to reinvent the Oral Law.
In this course we will study his influential essay on the future of Jewish Law, Dor Revi’i, as well as evaluating his views on rabbinic authority and his influence on thinkers such as Rabbi Professor Eliezer Berkovits and Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo.
Session 1: Rabbi Glasner: Charedi Zionist, Rabbinic Critic
Changing Interpretations of the Akeidah
LSJS Nov - Dec 2016
From LSJS Website
This course will explore one of the most well-known and widely interpreted biblical episodes – the Binding (Akedah) of Isaac. Using classical Jewish sources, revisionist Hasidic ideas, Islamic and Christian texts, song lyrics and more, we will build a broader picture of this beloved but deeply troubling story.
Session 1: The Akeidah Story as Read by the Sages
Session 2: A Mediaeval Shift - It's all About PotentialSession 3: Later Interpreters and Early Chassidic Approaches Session 4: Kierkegaard and 19th-Century Chassidic Revisionism
Session 5: The Akeidahs of Yishmael, Music, Art and Drama Session 6: Was Avraham Right? Rav Kook and the 20th Century
As the Gates Close: The Timing and Purpose of Ne'ilah
To be delivered at GGS after Minchah, Shabbat Shuvah 5777
Primary Sources:
Ta'anit 26a
Yerushalmi Brachot 4:1
Yoma 87b with Rashi, Rosh, Ran, Ba'al HaMa'or and Me'iri ad loc.
Selections from Yad Hilchot Tefillah U'Nesi'at Kapayim Chapters 1, 3 & 14
Tur OC Siman 623 with Bet Yosef and Bach ad loc.
Shulchan Aruch OC Siman 623:2 with Magen Avraham and Taz ad loc.
In the City of Slaughter: The Kishinev Pogrom of 1903
GGS 14/08/16
A Song in Two Parts: Hallel at the Seder
To be delivered at GGS after Minchah, Shabbat HaGadol 5776
Primary Sources:
Selections from Mishnah Pesachim: 9:2; 10-5-7Selections from Bavli Pesachim: 85b; 109a; 117a; 118a (with commentary of Ran)
Tosefta Pesachim 10:9
Tosefot Yom Tov to Pesach 10:6
Yerushalmi Megillah 2:1
Teshuvot HaGaonim Sha'arey Teshuvah 120
Yad Hilchot Chanukah 3:6 with notes of Ra'avad and Magid Mishneh
Chiddushey Griz HaLevi ad loc.
Tosefot Rid Pesachim 116b
Responding to Bible Criticism in an Age of Reason
October - December 2015
From the LSJS Website
In this course, Rabbi Belovski will explore some of the thorniest challenges to traditional Judaism of the past 200 years since the rise of Biblical Criticism. Issues considered will include: Divine authorship of the Torah. The Documentary Hypothesis (Higher Bible Criticism) as well as Lower Bible Criticism and Textual Integrity. This course will involve the study of Maimonides, Ibn Ezra and other commentators to understand responses to these challenges.
Session 1: Introduction
Session 2: Alternative Approaches to the Rambam Session 3: Selected Bases for the Documentary Hypothesis
Session 4: Responses from Classical Sources
Session 5: Responses from Later Sources (1): Cassuto and Hertz
Session 6: Responses from Later Sources (2): Breuer and Bazak
Session 7: Responses from Later Sources (3): Weiss Halivni, Berman, Sarna and Katz
The Case of the Empty Tefillin: Lo Titgodedu in Action
To be delivered at GGS after Minchah, Shabbat Shuvah 5776
Ta"cht VeTa"t: The Chmielnicki Massacres of 1648-9
GGS 26/07/15