Jewish Learning Institute Winter 2008 Course
Beyond Belief: Reflections on Jewish Faith, Reason, and Experience
How did the world get here? If the Universe has a Creator, does He run the world, or has He stepped into the background and left things up to physical and human nature? How does G‑d communicate with us? What is a prophet? Who wrote the Torah?What is the Jewish concept of a Messiah? Is there an afterlife?
Maimonides, the pre-eminent Jewish thinker, systematically identified thirteen key beliefs that touch on all of the questions above, and that serve as the foundation of Judaism to this day. Taken together, they are a set of necessary and sufficient building blocks that allow us to construct a deep and nuanced understanding of what it means to live as a Jew.
Like all JLI courses, Beyond Belief presents the fundamentals of Judaism in a way that is both challenging yet accessible. Students will have the opportunity to encounter classic primary texts and engage in thoughtful, open discussion.
Six Thursdays beginning February 7, 2008.
