Conceptualizing, Organizing, and Using Time: Lessons from Ancient Jewish Texts
The Babylonian Talmud asks a seemingly strange question: what does God do all day long? It answers with a detailed daily schedule, in which God spends three hours studying Torah, three hours feeding the world’s creatures, three hours sitting in judgment, and three hours hanging out with the Leviathan.
Rabbinic texts discuss all sorts of topics related to human uses of time, too: the proper times for daily prayers, weekly rituals, and annual festivals; instructions for constructing communal calendars; warnings about lucky and dangerous times; rules about paying workers in a timely fashion and about how accurate witnesses need to be when they testify about the time of a crime.
Together, these texts provide a fascinating lens into how an ancient community conceptualized its relationship to time and used time to build bonds between individuals and with God. In this talk, we will explore what it means to study the ancient history of time and timekeeping, and what we learn about the past, about Judaism, and about ourselves and our communities when we pay attention to how we conceive, organize, and use our time.
This talk is the opening of a *new* three-part online course for YJAA members taught by Prof. Gribetz. The classes, to be held on a Tuesday night in January, February and March, will explore different themes related to time and Judaism, and will allows us to do a deep-dive into rabbinic texts in an accessible and engaging way. There will be a nominal $18 fee to register for the 3-part course.
If you’d like to start studying in preparation for this talk and the classes, please review our Proposed Chavruta Program information and sign-up form. You can also purchase Prof. Gribetz’s book Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism.
Righteous Heroes with Richard Hurowitz '95
Join us for a book talk by Richard Hurowitz ‘95 on his bestselling book, In In the Garden of the Righteous: The Heroes Who Risked Their Lives to Save Jews During the Holocaust. Richard will talk about the ten extraordinary stories he chronicles in the book, those of courage, compassion, and defiance during one of history’s darkest eras. While millions turned a blind eye or collaborated, a rare few—fewer than one in 20,000—risked everything to shelter and rescue Jewish lives. This powerful work explores not only these individual acts of heroism and the unique circumstances that led entire communities like Denmark to protect their neighbors, but also compelling moral lessons on empathy and civic duty that remain deeply relevant today. Learn about what we can all do to create more of such heroes, particularly during times of high antisemitism.
REGISTER HERE
The Untold Stories of Jewish Immigrant Bankers with Rebecca Kobrin '94
What if the story of Jews and American banking wasn’t about Wall Street titans—but about immigrant families who built commercial banking businesses that helped others thrive? Indeed, many are familiar with the names of famous early-twentieth-century German Jewish bankers such as Jacob Schiff or Felix Warburg, but far fewer have ever heard of men like Sender Jarmulowsky, Max Kobre, or Saul Singer. These East European Jewish immigrants helped millions of migrants with a few dollars and a dream save money, borrow money, buy ship tickets, and send small sums overseas. Millions saw their financial lives shaped by these men whose stories are now in the dustbin of history. This talk shares their stories and how they reshaped not only banking but the business of mass migration and real estate development in America.
Antizionism on Campus
Discussion about antizionism on campus and the growing Scholars Circle Lectures.
Israel on Trial
Join the YJAA for a dynamic conversation between Judge Roy Altman and Justice David Wecht inspired by Judge Altman’s new book: ISRAEL ON TRIAL. "In an era shaped by viral slogans and curated outrage, Judge Altman offers a disciplined method for discerning truth from propaganda. Through historical records, archaeological evidence, genetic data, and international law, Israel on Trial shows what it means to demand proof--and what's at stake when we stop asking for it." This conversation will focus on evidence for the truth about Israel, touching on law, history and heritage. You will leave this discussion both inspired and educated!