On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Michael Marmur discusses his book, Living the Letters: An Alphabet of Emerging Jewish Thought, which explores contemporary Jewish thought through the lens of the Hebrew alphabet. He delves into themes of anxiety as a catalyst for creativity, the tension between autonomy and covenant in modern Judaism, and the challenges of maintaining Jewish identity in a rapidly changing world. Marmur emphasizes the importance of hope amidst uncertainty and the need for a renewed commitment to Jewish practices that resonate with today’s realities.

In this work, Michael Marmur employs the structure of the Hebrew alphabet to set out elements of an emerging Jewish theology, presenting a case for the urgent relevance of Jewish life at a time of deepening rupture and accelerating change. He presents core components of a theory and practice of contemporary Judaism.

The Hebrew alphabet has long beguiled and preoccupied Biblical authors and liturgical poets, rationalists and mystics, conservatives and radicals. It has served as a locus of theological speculation, an engine of creativity and a recurrent motif throughout the cycle of life, from childhood instruction to graveside recitation. For each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Marmur proposes a concept, gleaned from theology, philosophy, ritual, politics, community and other fields. Readers are invited to combine and deploy them in imagining a Judaism of tomorrow.

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Michael Marmur is Associate Professor of Jewish Theology at Hebrew Union College/Jerusalem. Until July 2018 he served as the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost at Hebrew Union College, having previously been Dean of the Jerusalem campus. After some 20 years in administrative capacities, he now concentrates his energies on teaching and writing. 

Born and raised in England, Rabbi Marmur completed a B.A. Degree in Modern History at the University of Oxford before moving to Israel in 1984. While studying for an M.A. in Ancient Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he completed his studies in the Israel Rabbinic Program of Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, and was ordained in 1992. For six years following his ordination, he worked as rabbi and teacher at the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa. He has been an employee of HUC-JIR since 1997. 

Michael Marmur served for three years as Chair of the Board of Rabbis for Human Rights and is still a member of its Board. He has lectured and taught courses in several countries around the world.  

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