Scholars-in-Residence

The Rabbi Jeremiah Wohlberg Institute for Adult Jewish Studies invites you to attend a Special Scholar-In-Residence Shabbat On Friday Evening, November 14th and Saturday, November 15, 2008 featuring Jonathan and Sarit Gribetz, Ph.d. Candidates in History and Religion at Columbia and Princeton Universities. These lectures are in memory of their grandparents, Pearl and Louis Marks, OB'M, founders of our Synagogue.

• Friday Evening - 7:30 PM - preceded by dinner (click here for more information on the dinner)
• Saturday Morning - 10:30 AM

FRIDAY EVENING: NOVEMBER 14, 2008
In a World of Nations, What are the Jews? A Brief Journey from Paris to Pittsburgh to Palestine
Modern Jewish history has been defined by the Jews' struggle to find their place in a newly national world. In this talk, we will consider several key texts from the modern Jewish experience-from Napoleon's Sanhedrin to an American rabbinical conference to the Zionist confrontation with the Palestinians-each of which exposes the problem of defining the Jews from a unique perspective. The implications of whether the Jews do indeed constitute a nation are wide-ranging and remain relevant today, both in Israel and throughout the Diaspora.

Jonathan Gribetz, a PhD candidate in History at Columbia University, has focused his studies on the intellectual history of Zionism and the peoples of the Land of Israel. He completed his BA at Harvard University summa cum laude and a Masters with distinction at Oxford University in Modern Jewish Studies. In 2006-2007, Jonathan conducted research in Jerusalem as a Visiting Research Fellow of the Hebrew University. His dissertation, tentatively titled "Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the 'Arab-Zionist' Encounter: A Study of Mutual Perceptions in Late Ottoman Palestine," considers the role religion played in informing how Zionists and their neighbors understood one another in pre-Mandate Palestine.

SATURDAY MORNING: NOVEMBER 15, 2008
When God Tests Us: The Theological Problem of Akedat Yizhak
Akedat Yizhak, the binding of Isaac, poses many difficult questions about God and God's relationship with humanity. In this talk, we will explore the biblical text (from this week's Torah portion) and its earliest translations and interpretations in antiquity. From the first-century Jewish historian Josephus and his contemporary Philo of Alexandria to the talmudic rabbis and ancient synagogue mosaics, Jews sought to understand why God commanded Abraham to bring his son to the altar.

Sarit Kattan Gribetz is a PhD candidate in the Department of Religion at Princeton University, focusing on religions of late antiquity. She received her BA from Princeton University summa cum laude and was a Fulbright scholar in Israel, where she studied rabbinic literature and archaeology at the Hebrew University. Sarit is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and she is teaching rabbinic literature for Hebrew College's Me'ah adult education program this spring.