The Great Jewish Thinkers: Big Ideas That Changed Jewish Life

Overview

What can Judaism’s greatest thinkers teach us about being alive today? 

Join Rabbi David Ingber for a semester-long journey through some of the most daring, influential, and spiritually provocative minds in Jewish history. Rather than approaching these figures simply as subjects to be studied, each week we will encounter a great Jewish thinker through a question that remains urgently our own: What do we mean by God? Can we live with doubt? Where do we find meaning? What makes a life holy? What do we owe one another? How does a tradition change without losing itself? 

Fall Semester: The Jewish Encounter with Modernity 

What happens to Judaism when the old certainties begin to break down? From Spinoza and Mendelssohn to Buber, Rosenzweig, Heschel, Soloveitchik, Kaplan, Levinas and other groundbreaking modern Jewish voices, we will explore the thinkers who confronted modernity and fundamentally changed the possibilities of Jewish thought and life. 

Each semester stands on its own; participants are welcome to take either semester or the entire year. No previous background in Jewish philosophy or thought is required.