Join us on a journey of faith and heresy with Rabbi Dr. Shraga Bar-On through a neglected chapter in the history of Jewish mysticism, the mysticism of the great sages of the Mishna and the Talmud. In a rich culture of dispute, rabbinic voices debate the mystical. Shraga gives us a first-hand creative rereading of one of the most mystical rabbinic passages, the famed ‘Four Who Entered the Orchard’ shedding light on its secret history and transformation from a forbidding tale of three, to a cautionary tale of four. Join us as we venture into the orchard, discover its pitfalls, promises, presences and pleasures, and whatever you do, don’t say ‘water, water.’

Rabbi Dr. Shraga Bar-On is the Director of the Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought and the David Hartman Center for Intellectual Excellence, and a lecturer of Talmud and Jewish Thought at Shalem College.

Shraga lives in Beit Horon, is married to Vered, and is the father of Peleg, Sinai, and Gefen.

Source: https://www.hartman.org.il/person/shraga-bar-on/

00:48 Mysticism among the Rabbis

11:50 A Culture of Dispute

26:41 Normal Mysticism – Akiva

30:21 Four Who Entered

44:39 Battling Schools

52:53 Encountering Two Gods

59:45 Relevance Today

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