Annual Judaic Studies Lecture Series
Revelation and Reason: Reading and Understanding Holy Writ
In the view of the Rabbinic Sages (ḤaZaL), the written Torah of Moses is eternal. The Oral Torah is the application of the written Torah to forever changing historical situations, continuing to uncover new levels of depth and meaning, thus making new facets of Judaism visible and vibrant.
Dr. Zev Garber, Professor Emeritus and Chair of Jewish Studies at Los Angeles Valley College, is an observant Jew who discusses his teaching of the Holy Scriptures critically, while hand in hand accepting the existential position that God’s teaching was shared at Sinai/Ḥoreb, “face into face” (Deut 5:4) with all of Israel, present and future. The reverberating Torah rallying cry, Na`aseh ve-Nishma`, “We shall do (belief) and we shall hear (reason)” [Exod 24:7] will demonstrate how and why.
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