What do we owe each other as a Jewish community?
ONLINE
WEDNESDAY, 10-11:30am (ET), Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28; Nov. 4, 11, 18; Dec 2
"In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible."
-- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Course Description:
What do we owe one another, just because we belong to the same people? This eight-session seminar from the Shalom Hartman Institute's Foundations for a Thoughtful Judaism takes that question seriously, treating belonging as a set of obligations rather than a warm feeling. The classical and modern sources we'll read don't let us off easy. When are you responsible for someone you disagree with, and how do you push back on your own community without leaving it? These are the arguments splitting Jewish life right now, and this is a place to have them honestly.
Course Outline
1. Multiple Entrances / Multiple Belongings
2. The Jewish People as a Tribal Family
3. Navigating Divisive Communities
4. What Members of a People Owe Each Other
5. The Bystander Effect
6. Ethics of Rebuke
7. Ethics of Sacrifice
8. Building Community

