The spring semester of the JTS “Beyond Dispute” course will debut on Sunday, March 27. All classes are held on Sundays, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Zoom. Congregants and friends not previously registered are invited to audit any session.

Part III: Disputing the Essence of Judaism

“This series fits nicely with the spring holiday of Passover,” says Rabbi Gadi Capela, facilitator of the “Beyond Dispute” course. “Each class relates to topics we should contemplate before the holiday that celebrates the birth of the Jewish people.”

  • March 27: What Defines Our Relationship with God? A Tale of two Covenants
  • April 3: Does the Torah Contain Everything We Need to Know? The Maimonidean Controversy
  • April 10: Is Judaism a Religion of the Heart or the Mind? Hasidism and its Opponents

Part IV: Disputing the Jewish Future

This session will begin on the Sunday following the second Passover seder.

  • April 24: How Much Should Tragedy Define Us? The Holocaust in Contemporary Jewish Life. (Five days before Yom HaShoah)
  • May 1: Can Commitment and Critique Coexist? Teaching Israel in the 21st Century. Israel Internal Relations/Part 1 (Four days before Yom Hazikaron and five days before Yom Ha’atzmaut)
  • May 8: Can Commitment and Critique Coexist? Teaching Israel in the 21st Century. Israel External Relations/Part 2 (Four days after Yom Ha’atzmaut)
  • May 15: What Do We Mean by Jewish Continuity? The Legacy of ‘Be Fruitful and Multiply.’ (Five days before Lag Ba’omer, which commemorates the end of a plague and the return to life.)