Jewish Quest

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Rabbi Shimon Felix discusses some of the key themes that we encounter in the Joseph story and shares their relevance for today. 


Rabbi Shimon Felix is the Executive Director Emeritus of the program. He was born in New York, and has lived in Jerusalem since 1973. Rabbi Felix has been associated with The Bronfman Fellowship since 1991. He received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Hamivtar, where he served as educational director. Rabbi Felix has worked in a wide variety of educational programs including Michelelet Bruria, the Israeli school system and Yakar. He headed The Jewish Agency’s Bureau for Cultural Services to Communities and also served as assistant to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. He is the Director of Re: IL Regarding Israel.

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Professor Naomi Graetz discusses the rape of Dinah in light of both favourable and negative views of welcoming outsiders into the tradition. 

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 (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2005), The Rabbi’s Wife Plays at Murder (Beersheva: Shiluv Press, 2004), S/He Created Them: Feminist Retellings of Biblical Stories (Professional Press, 1993; second edition Gorgias Press, 2003), and Silence is Deadly: Judaism Confronts Wifebeating (Jason Aronson, 1998). Her current areas of interest are: teaching Jewish Sources about trafficking and workshops teaching women to study and engage in writing Midrash. She writes a weekly blog at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/naomi-graetz/. 

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Rabbi Samuel Klein discusses the parallels between Jacob's first encounter with Rachel and Marina Abromivic's performance at MOMA in 2010 entitled: ''The Artist is Present''.

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Rabbi Samuel Klein is Director of Jewish Engagement for the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Samuel was Chief Jewish Officer of the Jewish Community Center San Francisco and Executive Director of the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre, Montreal. He holds Masters degrees in Theology from Cambridge University and History of Art from University College London and trained as a teaching artist at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

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Anthony Julius deconstructs the character of Abraham and hints at the unique challenge that he poses to our own Jewish identity today. 

Anthony Julius holds the chair in Law and Arts at UCL and is also the Deputy Chair of Mishcon de Reya. His publications include T. S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism and Literary Form and Trials of the Diaspora A History of Anti-Semitism in England. 

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Reuven Firestone explores Avraham's reconciliation with Ishmael in the Jewish and Muslim traditions. 

Prof. Rabbi Reuven Firestone is the Regenstein Professor in Medieval Judaism and Islam at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he earned his M.A. and his rabbinic ordination, while his Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic studies is from New York University. Firestone is the author of Journeys in Holy Lands: The Evolution of the Abraham Ishmael Legends in Islamic Exegesis (SUNY, 1990), Jihad. The Origin of Holy War in Islam (Oxford, 1999), Children of Abraham: An Introduction to Judaism for Muslims (Ktav, 2001), Trialogue: Jews, Christians, Muslims in Dialogue: A Practical Handbook (Twenty-Third Publications, 2007), Who are the Real Chosen People? The Meaning of Chosenness in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Skylight Paths, 2008), An Introduction to Islam for Jews (JPS, 2008), Learned Ignorance: An Investigation into Humility in Interreligious Dialogue between Christians, Muslims and Jews (Oxford , 2011), Holy War in Judaism: The Fall and Rise of a Controversial Idea (Oxford, 2012).

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Dr Rabbi Tzemah Yoreh asks whether Isaac is really Abraham's son and argues that he was in fact sacrificed. 

Rabbi Dr. Tzemah Yoreh, leader of The City Congregation, is one the intellectual leaders of Jewish humanism. He has been a student of the Bible since his earliest days, winning the Diaspora Division of the International Bible Contest in childhood. He attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he obtained his Ph.D. in biblical criticism in record time. He earned a second Ph.D. in Ancient Wisdom Literature at the University of Toronto for the joy of studying ancient text.

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Professor Christoph Levin argues that the character of Abraham prefigures key elements of the Exodus narrative. 

Professor Christoph Levin is Professor (Emeritus) of Old Testament at the University of Munich. He received his Ph.D. and Dr.habil. from Goettingen university, as well as a honorary degree from Helsinki university. Two of his books have been translated into English, Re-reading the Scriptures: Essays on the Literary History of the Old Testament (2015), The Old Testament: A Brief Introduction (2005). 

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Professor Ronald Hendel explores the multiple meanings of the Tower of Babel story and its relevance for today. 

Professor Ronald Hendel is the Norma and Sam Dabby Professor of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Biblical History and Northwest Semitic Philology and is author of many articles and books, including recently The Book of Genesis: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013). He is the general editor of The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition, a text-critical project sponsored by the Society of Biblical Literature.

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Prof Rav Rachel Adelman compares the blessings of Moses with those of Jacob in Genesis.

Prof. Rav Rachel Adelman is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Boston’s Hebrew College. She holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is the author of The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Pseudepigrapha (Brill 2009) and The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield Phoenix, 2015). Prof Adelman is now working on a new book, Daughters in Danger from the Hebrew Bible to Modern Midrash (forthcoming, Sheffield Phoenix Press)