All that the Lord has Spoken We Will Do: Philosophy and Jewish Law

Amidst worries about assimilation and inter-marriage, there are signs of a wider and deeper engagement with Jewish texts, including those legal sources that were once seen as inaccessible and/or irrelevant to most Jews. In January of 2020, over 90,000 Jews gathered in New Jersey’s MetLife stadium to celebrate the completion of Daf Yomi, a cyclical reading of the entire Talmud, the central text of Jewish law and Rabbinic traditions. Simultaneously, these texts are more accessible than ever, as learning opportunities and translations become ever more widely available. As Jews worldwide continue to dive deeper into the debates surrounding Jewish law, we will offer our members the chance to look at the philosophical ideas that underlying Jewish ritual and legal codes.

In this three-session sequence, we will begin by analyzing  the laws of Kashrut and the teaching implicit in these laws of the human place in the whole of nature. We will then reflect on the laws that define Shabbat. and the positive teaching about ethics, politics, and metaphysics that is contained therein. Finally we will consider the universalist implications of circumcision and its ancient origins.

 

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Rabbi Gamliel Shmalo

Rabbi Gamliel Shmalo has taught Jewish philosophy and law at Yeshiva University. He holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Jewish Philosophy. He has also studied at Machon Shlomo, Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, Heichal HaTorah B’Tzion, and Beit Ariel Jerusalem. He has published widely on Jewish themes, and he lectures internationally. He was the Director of Education for Meor NYU, and before returning to the U.S. he was on the faculty of Michlalah Jerusalem College and Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalyim for ten years. His book Learning to Grow is published by Kodesh Press. 

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