Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz
SESSION 1
Em, Bat, Eshet—Mother, Daughter, Wife: The Nameless Women of the Bible The Bible is full of nameless women, from Noah’s wife to Pharaoh’s daughter and Sisera’s mother. We’ll explore five stories about them, meeting two wise women, an unlucky concubine, and a strong-minded woman of means, and consider what they tell us about the biblical view of women. Bring a Bible/Tanakh if possible.
SESSION 2
Suffering Servants! How to Deal with the Missionary at the Door For centuries certain texts in the book of Isaiah have been used by (some) Christians to try to convert Jews. What are these texts and what is the Jewish perspective on them? We’ll look at the texts themselves, classic Jewish commentaries, and Christian commentaries, and develop some skills that might prove useful next time your doorbell rings …
SESSION 3
Two Kaddishes and a Ghost Story Many people feel passionately committed to saying Mourners’ Kaddish---but how did the practice start? We’ll look at the origin of Kaddish and how it became associated with mourners, using texts and a mediaeval ghost story to investigate the prayer’s surprising history.
SESSION 4
Unity and Diversity: A Closer Look at the Tower of Babel We will use midrash, mediaeval commentators, and modern thinkers to explore the meaning of the Tower of Babel story from the Torah. Is it about languages, divine punishment, or perhaps something much more relevant to what is going on in the world today?