What is the origin of the Oral Law? When did it cease to be primarily oral? And why was there a need for an Oral Law to begin with? These are questions that were discussed for many centuries, but they received special attention in modern Jewish thought where they had great impact on the shaping of modern Jewish Identity and on the formation of competing religious camps. This mini-series will study the range of modern responses to these and other questions about the nature of the Oral Law.

In this four-part series we will study texts pertaining the weekly Torah portion and the holiday cycle. Drawing on midrashic, Talmudic, and literary sources, we will explore the themes of fidelity, trust, forgetfulness, and humility, while also thinking about what it means to live our lives against the backdrop of the very same texts read, that week, by Jews the world over.

Through a deep dive into the Gemara’s presentation of these fundamental conditions for living in the land, we’ll examine questions of how we relate to land, property ownership, and displacement, and how we can best achieve collective flourishing.