Judaism in January

THURSDAY EVENINGS FROM 7:30- 8:30 p.m.

Join us as Dr. Michael Weiss teaches a fascinating 6 week mini-course. “Canon and Can Not: Probing the Boundaries of Sacred Scripture.”

"Canon and Can Not: Probing the Boundaries of Sacred Scripture".  The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) as we know it did not come into existence all at once.  Rather, it developed gradually, over centuries, into its current canonical form.  This process was not without controversy; some books that have been regarded as canonical for nearly two thousand years were, at one time, the source of much dispute.  At the same time, certain books that were once widely regarded as canonical have dropped out of the canon.  In this set of classes we will explore the question, "What is the Bible?" by examining six test cases -- close calls and near-misses in the formation of our sacred scripture.



CLASS TOPICS:

Week 1 (January 19):  There's something about Esther:  What's a nice girl like you doing in a canon like this?
Week 2 (January 26):  Maccabees:  Non-canonical book, canonical festival
Week 3 (February 2):  Ecclesiastes:  Fatality, fatalism, and futility
Week 4 (February 9):  Ecclesiasticus (Ben Sira):  Jesus Who?
Week 5 (February 16):  Song of Songs:  No one under 18 admitted without a parent or guardian
Week 6 (February 23):  The Book of Enoch:  Secrets within Mysteries

COST:
$120- JCC Members
$150- Non-members

Registration and payment due by Monday, January 16th.

For more information or to register, please contact Karen Freedland at karenfreedland@jccfed.org or 971-0990.