Jewish Quest

Dr Rachel Havrelock uncovers the difference between the Priestly vision and the Deuteronomistic vision for the map of the land of Canaan. 

Dr. Rachel Havrelock is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Rachel’s book, River Jordan: The Mythology of a Dividing Line combines biblical studies, literary and political theory, and the politics of interpretation. Rachel’s current book project, The Joshua Generation: Politics and the Promised Land, focuses on the structure and meaning of the book of Joshua and its interpretation. Her co-authored book, Women on the Biblical Road, was the beginning of her work on gender and the Bible.

Rabbi Eliyahu Jian discusses the inner meaning behind Pinchas' act of zealotry.

Rabbi Eliyahu Jian is a global thought leader, transformational life and business coach, spiritual coach, relationship coach, author and motivational speaker. He has been transforming thousands of lives around the globe for decades, including some of the world’s most famous and influential people, such as Madonna, Demi Moore, Blake Mallen, Eva Cavalli, Elie Tahari, Marla Maples, and Guy Ritchie.

Professor Everett Fox uncovers the unusual features of the Balaam narrative. 

Professor Everett Fox is the Allen M. Glick professor of Judaic and Biblical Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. Fox is the translator of The Five Books of Moses (Schocken Books, 1995), and The Early Prophets (Schocken Books, 2014).

Dr Ely Levine discusses the significance of the Red Heifer and the symbolic meaning behind the serpent of bronze. 

Dr. Ely Levine holds a PhD in biblical studies and archaeology from Harvard University. He has taught at Villanova University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Luther College. He has participated in archaeological excavations in Italy and Israel, and is a member of the staff of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavation Project. Currently, Dr. Levine is Scholar-in-Residence and Ritual Coordinator at Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania.

Professor Naomi Graetz discusses the connection between Samuel and Korach and the parsha’s pertinence for today. 

Naomi Graetz taught English at Ben Gurion University of the Negev for 35 years. She is the author of Unlocking the Garden: A Feminist Jewish Look at the Bible, Midrash and God; The Rabbi’s Wife Plays at Murder ; S/He Created Them: Feminist Retellings of Biblical Stories (Professional Press, 1993; second edition Gorgias Press, 2003), Silence is Deadly: Judaism Confronts Wifebeating and Forty Years of Being a Feminist Jew. Since Covid began, she has been teaching Bible and Modern Midrash from a feminist perspective on zoom. She began her weekly blog for TOI in June 2022. Her book on Wifebeating has been translated into Hebrew and is forthcoming with Carmel Press in 2025

Professor Jacob Wright discusses the origins of the spy story.

Professor Jacob Wright is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and the Director of Graduate Studies in Emory’s Tam Institute of Jewish Studies. His doctorate is from Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen. He is the author of Rebuilding Identity: The Nehemiah Memoir and its Earliest Readers (which won a Templeton prize) and David, King of Israel, and Caleb in Biblical Memory.

Rabbi Adam Zagoria-Moffat discusses radical models of leadership. 

Audio of Session held on Tuesday 21st May 2024 with Simon Eder. 

Rabbi Nelly Altenburger shares how we might read some deeply troubling lines of the parsha. 

Rabbi Nelly Altenburger became the new spiritual leader of Congregation Adath Israel in Middletown in the summer of 2020. Rabbi Altenburger was born and raised in Brazil and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Hebrew Language and Literature from the University of Sao Paulo. She received a Master of Arts in Rabbinic Studies in 2004 from the Zeigler School of Rabbinic studies and was ordained in 2006. Previous to joining Adath Israel, she was the Rabbi and Religious School Director at Congregation B’nai Israel in Danbury, CT for fourteen years. 

Professor John Collins discusses the meaning of ''Love your neighbour as yourself!''
and how the Golden Rule emerged. 
 
Professor John Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale University. He received his Ph. D. from Harvard (1972) and holds honorary degrees from the University College Dublin and the University of Zurich. Collins' most recent books are The Invention of Judaism. Torah and Jewish Identity from Deuteronomy to Paul (University of California, 2017), and What Are Biblical Values? (Yale, 2019). He serves as general editor of the Anchor Yale Bible and Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library and has received the Burkitt medal for biblical scholarship from the British Academy.