Jewish Quest

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Professor Berel Dov Lerner considers the commentary of Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk on the breaking of the Tablets. 

Berel Dov Lerner is currently an associate professor of philosophy at the Western Galilee College in Akko. He is the author of many articles in philosophy and Jewish studies and of the book Rules, Magic, and Instrumental Reason (Routledge 2002). His latest book is Human-Divine Interactions in Hebrew Scriptures Covenants and Cross-Purposes (Routledge 2024).

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Professor Kenneth Seeskin asks just what was heard by the people, if anything, during the revelation at Sinai?

Professor Seeskin is Professor of Philosophy and Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor of Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University. He received his Ph.D in Philosophy from Yale University in 1972 and has been at Northwestern ever since. He specializes in the rationalist tradition in Jewish philosophy with an emphasis on Maimonides. Publications include Maimonides on the Origin of the World (CUP, 2005), Jewish Messianic Thoughts in an Age of Despair (CUP, 2012), Thinking about the Torah: A Philosopher Reads the Bible (JPS, 2016) and Maimonides: A Guide for Today's Perplexed (Behrman House). 

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Rabbi Daniel Zucker discusses the influence of Egyptian belief for understanding repeated references to Pharaoh’s heavy heart.

Rabbi Zucker, D.D. is the Rabbi of Temple Israel of the Poconos, in Stroudsburg, PA, and President and CEO of Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East. He holds an M.A. in Hebrew Letters, a Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa) from JTS, and rabbinic ordination from HUC-JIR. A sampling of Zucker’s many articles on the Middle-East can be found on his blog, and he is the author of “He Said: ‘It’s an Event not Pure, for it’s not Pure!’ (I Sam. 20:26b) A Political Analysis,” published in JBQ (2016).

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Professor Edward Greenstein shares how the Moses story both conforms and deviates from fugitive hero narratives of the Ancient Near East?

Professor Greenstein is Professor Emeritus of Bible at Bar-Ilan University. He received the EMET Prize (“Israel’s Nobel”) in Humanities-Biblical Studies for 2020, and his book, Job: A New Translation (Yale University Press, 2019), won the acclaim of the American Library Association, the Association for Jewish Studies, and many others.  He is writing a commentary on Lamentations for the Jewish Publication Society. He has also spoken on Jewish Quest on Shemini and also Noach.

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Rabbi Rachel Ain discusses the significance of the way Jacob blesses his sons and his legacy as Patriarch. 

Rabbi Rachel Ain is the Rabbi of Sutton Place Synagogue, a Conservative Synagogue in Midtown Manhattan. 

Before joining SPS, Rabbi Ain was the Senior Director for National Young Leadership at the Jewish Federations of North America, where she worked closely with lay leaders and professionals to engage the next generation of leaders for the Jewish community. 

She sits on the Chancellor’s Rabbinic Cabinet of JTS, is a co-chair of the NYC Partnership of Faith Roundtable of Faith Leaders in NYC, is on the Executive Board of the NY Board of Rabbis, and the Board of Directors of UJA Federation of NY. 

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Rabbi Ariel Abel explores how Joseph delicately balances his 
identity as an Egyptian leader with his Hebrew roots during the reunion 
with his brothers.

Rabbi Abel lives with his wife 
Shulamit and two children together in Liverpool He is a rabbinic 
graduate of Midrash Sepharadi in Jerusalem, is a practising solicitor 
and a Sandhurst graduated chaplain in the British Army.

Rabbi Abel encourages cooperation, discussion and debate across the 
spectrum of the Jewish community.

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Professor Gary Rendsburg invites us to understand the Joseph story as ancient literary art at its very best.

Prof. Rendsburg serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. His Ph.D. and M.A. are from N.Y.U. Rendsburg is the author of seven books and about 200 articles; his most recent book is How the Bible Is Written.

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Dr Dov Berel Lerner considers what Joseph's dreams symbolise and their importance within the wider themes of Genesis. 

Dr Lerner is currently an associate professor of philosophy at the Western Galilee College in Akko and also teaches at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. He is the author of many articles in philosophy and Jewish studies and of the book Rules, Magic, and Instrumental Reason (Routledge 2002). His latest book is Human-Divine Interactions in Hebrew Scriptures Covenants and Cross-Purposes (Routledge 2024).

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Dr Alison Joseph asks just who is the victim of the Dinah Story?

Dr. Alison Joseph is the Director of Digital Scholarship and Associate Professor of Bible at Gratz College, Assistant Managing Editor of The Posen Library for Jewish Culture and Civilization and an adjunct assistant professor of Bible and its Interpretation at JTS. She holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in Jewish Studies from Emory University. Her first book Portrait of the Kings: The Davidic Prototype in Deuteronomistic Poetics received the 2016 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise.

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Rabbi Dr Elliot Cosgrove discusses his timely new book:-

For Such A Time As This: On Being Jewish Today

Elliot Cosgrove is a leading voice of American Jewry and a preeminent spiritual guide and thought leader. The rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue since 2008, he was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1999 and earned his PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He sits on the Chancellor’s Cabinet of Jewish Theological Seminary and on the editorial board of Masorti: The New Journal of Conservative Judaism. An officer of the New York Board of Rabbis, he serves on the boards of UJA-Federation of New York, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the Hillel of University of Michigan and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Rabbi Cosgrove was honored to represent the Jewish community at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum during the visit of Pope Francis to New York. A frequent contributor to Jewish journals and periodicals, he is the author of fifteen volumes of sermons and the editor of Jewish Theology in Our Time.