929 English presents a night of laughter

in partnership with Stand Up NY Comedy Club

We believe that laughter is a uniting force and one of the greatest pleasures of being together and in person. Through this long quarantine we’ve missed being with all of you, our community.

Join us as we reemerge with an amazing line up of stand up comedians to celebrate, laugh, cry, and share some nosh.

Light refreshments will be served. Further details with location will be provided after donation is made. Our team will be in touch with you after registration.

Sunday, May 23rd at 11:30am.

Facilitated by Professor Shai Secunda.

Cynthia Ozick's much anticipated Antiquities returns to her favorite themes of envy, drive, and...idolatry. Join us as we plumb the deep depths of Antiquities and put it in conversation with resonant biblical stories.

Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud’s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.

Free of Charge, Suggested donation $15.

Sunday, March 7th at 11am.

Facilitated by Professor Shai Secunda

In his second novel, Homeland Elegies, playwright and novelist Ayad Akhtar offers us a sweeping, paradoxically fictive memoir about America, immigrant families, and the possibilities and impossibilities of finding oneself in a big story. For the next installment of 929’s Book Salon & Beit Midrash, Akhtar’s novel invites us to revisit our own textual tradition and explore the movements of individuals in and out of the incredible, impossible, Jewish story.

Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud’s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.

Free of Charge, Suggested donation $15.

Study Psalm 104 with Rabbi Shai Held and Shira Hecht-Koller to mark the 929 Project learning the first 100 chapters of Psalms.

Psalm 104 is an impassioned celebration of both God and the world-- and of the world as God's gift to all creatures. Strikingly, the psalmist declares that all creatures, both human and non-human, share a profound dependence on God. Studying the psalm raises a series of fascinating questions, not least about the respective roles of human beings and the rest of creation. Together we will closely read and analyze the psalm, and then discuss different entry points for reflection and examination based on the model and writings of the 929 community.

Sunday, January 17th at 11am.

Facilitated by Professor Shai Secunda.

“A brilliant short novel that serves as a brave, sharp-toothed brief against letting the past devour the present” (New York Times Book Review), Yishai Sarid’s recently published Memory Monster invites us to consider the dangers of the sacred obligation to remember, while reminding us of the existential need to forget. In particular, Memory Monster encourages us to revisit the book of Deuteronomy’s exhortation to “remember what Amalek did to you,” and its paradoxical obligation to “blot out the memory of Amalek.”

Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud’s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.

Free of Charge, Suggested donation $15.

Sunday December 6th, 11:00 AM EST via Zoom

Facilitated by Professor Shai Secunda

Co-sponsored by 929 English and IDRA

In her newest collection, Nicole Krauss considers the bewildering matter of gender, and particularly the becoming and undoing of manhood. With her unflinching gaze and finely-tuned writing, Krauss invites to reconsider foundational biblical stories, from the creation of Adam and Eve to Amnon’s rape of Tamar.

Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud’s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.

Free of Charge, Suggested donation $15.

Sunday October 18th, 11:00 AM EST via Zoom

Facilitated by Professor Shai Secunda

Co-sponsored by 929 English and IDRA

Suddenly, Love is a late novel about a late encounter between memory, kindness, and the power of the written word - even when the possibility of language seems lost. This marvelous novel by the great Israeli novelist, Aahron Appelfeld, encourages us to conceive of the power of Jewish learning and tradition even - especially - at this late hour.

Free of Charge, Suggested donation $15.

Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud’s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.

The Narrative of Sefer Tehillim

with Rabbi Dr. Beni Gesundheit

A 30 part series, Tuesdays, beginning September 22 at 12:15 Eastern time 
Each shiur will be 50 minutes long

As the 929 project begins sefer Tehillim, Torah in Motion and 929 are thrilled to present a 30-part series 

Topic #1: September 22, 12:15pm Eastern Time
Location, Location, Location: The Power of Contextual Interpretation

Many commentaries have been used to understand each of the 150 songs of Tehillim; few relate to the meaning of their order and placement in the book. Contextual interpretation is an amazing tool that helps deepen our understanding of Tehillim based on this systematic method of analysis. The building blocks for the series are introduced in this lecture.  

Rabbi Dr. Gesundheit completed a residency in pediatrics at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada and received his Ph.D. in bioethics from the University of Toronto. For the past eight years Rabbi Gesundheit has been working on a new Hebrew commentary on the Book Tehilim according to the contextual interpretation. The Hebrew & English website www.tehillim.org.il presents this approach with lectures, articles and source sheets.

Presented by Aaron Koller, Professor of Near Eastern Studies; Chair, Robert M. Beren Department of Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University.

Is the Sacrifice of Isaac a forerunner of the martyrdom of Jesus, or a symbol of the guarantee of God’s devotion to the Jews? Is Ishmael the hero of the story, or a foil to the main character? The story of the Akedah, the Binding, of Genesis 22 is endowed with cosmic significance in both rabbinic literature and the New Testament, and is told in the Qur’an, as well. This lecture will explore the different ways the story was understood and developed within the three Abrahamic traditions, and how those understandings impacted each other, as well. We will see that it is not just the details that differed, but that the very meaning of the story differs from tradition to tradition and from faith to faith.

FREE AND OPEN TO ALL. REGISTRATION REQUIRED.

A Zoom link will be sent upon registration and again prior to the lecture.

Book Salon & Beit Midrash - And The Bride Closed The Door by Ronit Matalon

Facilitated by Professor Shai Secunda

Co-sponsored by 929 English and IDRA

When one door closes another one opens. And sometimes, the closed door is the open one. In the next session of the 929/Idra Book Salon and Beit Midrash we will discuss the late Ronit Matalon’s And The Bride Closed The Door a short, masterful novella about a bride who refuses to come out of her room on her wedding day. Together, we will learn classical Jewish sources about brides, expectations, and what happens when those expectations are subverted.

Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud’s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.

Free of charge, suggested donation $15.

Book Salon & Beit Midrash - Muck: A Novel

Facilitated by Professor Shai Secunda

Co-sponsored by 929 English and IDRA

We are living through extraordinary times, where disorienting disturbances come at us fast, where talking-heads and pontificators preach their frightening predictions, and where stories and other literary forms still retain great power, even while taking on new forms.

In his novel Muck, award-winning Israeli novelist, Dror Burstein, vividly retells the Jeremiah story in a tale for the ages - though especially for today. Join us as we discuss Muck and put it in dialogue with the classical Jewish texts (especially the book of Jeremiah) that inspired it and which it inspires us to reread.

Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud’s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.

Free of Charge, Suggested donation $15

The Role of the Daughter of Pharaoh in the story of Yetziat Mizraim

Co-sponsored by 929 English and Aleph Beta

Thursday June 25th 1-2 pm

Register to join below

Rabbi Forhman lectures internationally on Biblical themes. In recent years, Rabbi Fohrman has developed Aleph Beta, an online startup that makes use of his particular methodology in looking at Biblical texts, and develops animated video content on that basis. Aleph Beta has produced hundreds of hours of video. Thousands of individual subscribers, as well as hundreds of schools, worldwide, make use of its material.

Rabbi Adam Mintz is the Director of 929 English, an online Bible platform that provides rich written and video content on a daily chapter of the Jewish Bible. In addition, 929 English has created a wide range of videos and podcasts on themes related to the study of the Jewish Bible. Thousands of people worldwide have taken advantage of this diverse and creative approach to the study of the Jewish Bible.

Create your own playful family portrait with everyday objects in a live art-workshop with award-winning Israeli artist Hanoch Piven. You will have an opportunity to look at your home with fresh eyes and reflect on what makes your family special as you learn Piven’s unique method of making collages with objects you have in your home. Ideal for families with children ages 4+.

This workshop will draw inspiration from the book of Ruth, read on the holiday of Shavuot. We will explore the idea of gleaning and making do with what you find as a way of building resilience.

Upon registration, participants will receive an introductory video from Hanoch Piven and information about collecting materials for your collage.

This workshop will include live captions.

If we can make this program more accessible to your family, please let us know by emailing engagement@pjlibrary.org.

Hanoch Piven’s colorful and witty collages have appeared throughout the last 25 years in most major American magazines and newspapers such as Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone. In Israel, Piven’s name has become a synonym of Creativity. Piven has had a long-running column of his illustrations in the daily Haaretz, created TV programs for Israel’s Educational TV, and developed a method of art-creation implemented around the world.

Shira and Hanoch will begin the workshop with a conversation about their forthcoming PJ Library book about the lives and stories of Biblical characters and how they embody values like curiosity, trusting oneself, kindness, imagination, and more. To provide entry points to these stories, Piven is creating the faces of 12 Biblical characters with everyday objects, providing engaging visual clues to diverse Biblical moments.

A Pre-Shavuot Night of Learning for High School Seniors and Gap Year Students

Featured presenters include: 

Noam Goldberg-Kellman, SAR High School 2020
Batya Sarna, SAR High School 2020
Davi Frank, SAR High School 2020
Marc Fishkind, The Frisch School 2020
Clara Sandler, Shalhevet High School 2019, Midreshet Lindenbaum 2020
Ephraim Helfgot Torah Academy of Bergen County 2020
Medad Lytton, AJA 2019, Yeshivat Maale Gilboa 2020
Zoe Korelitz, Farber Hebrew Day School 2019, Nishmat 2020  
Tiferet Mondrow, Maayanot Yeshiva HS 2020

Students should feel free to join for all or part of the time. 
We look forward to learning together with you.

Ruth burst into Jewish history by ignoring the conventions of her time and insisting to shape her own reality. In doing so, she joined the long line of convention-defying Biblical figures that populate King David’s genealogy. How does Ruth fit into this larger narrative? How does David live up to his family legacy? And why do we still need David’s iconoclastic brand of leadership today?

Join us for this special live Zoom class with educator and writer Rachel Sharansky Danziger.

Rooted in ancient Persia and echoing through modern times, the story of Esther is one of the central narratives in Jewish life and culture. We will start our tour with the material background of the biblical text, looking at the reality of the Persian court and what the “scrolls” looked like, then see how the book of Esther developed as a physical object through the Middle Ages, and how the story was represented visually by Jews and Christians in early modern Europe.

We will meet at 10:45 on the Ground floor at the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education. Enter through plaza entrance (wheelchair accessible) at 81st street.

Space on the tour is very limited. We will maintain an active waiting list once registration has closed.

Signed copies of Dr. Koller's book, Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2014), are available for purchase [list price $37]: $25

*Just click "tickets" then "add-on" to make a book purchase.

Dr. Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, where he is chair of Beren Department of Jewish Studies. His last book was Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press), and his next is Unbinding Isaac: The Akedah in Jewish Thought (forthcoming from JPS/University of Nebraska Press in 2020).

Erica Brown in discussion with Aaron Koller.

In celebration of the publication of The Book of Esther: Power, Fate and Fragility in Exile (Maggid/OU Press).

Dr. Erica Brown is the director of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership at The George Washington University and the author of twelve books.

Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, where he is chair Beren Department of Jewish Studies. His last book was Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press), and his next is Unbinding Isaac: The Akedah in Jewish Thought (forthcoming from JPS/University of Nebraska Press in 2020).

*This event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by The Jewish Center, 929 English and by Ardell Borodach and Rachel Wolf & Andrew Borodach, Kira and Julia in commemoration of the second yarzheit of Dr. Gerold Borodach, Yaakov Nissan ben Avraham ve’Hessie.

Please join us for an evening to celebrate the publication of Dr. Michal Bar-Asher Siegal’s new book - Jewish-Christian Dialogues on Scripture in Late Antiquity: Heretic Narratives of the Babylonian Talmud (Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Lecture will be followed by a reception with light refreshments and wine. This event is free and open to the public, and is co-sponsored by 929 English and Sixth Street Community Synagogue.

Stories portraying heretics ('minim') in rabbinic literature are a central site of rabbinic engagement with the 'other'. These stories typically involve a conflict over the interpretation of a biblical verse in which the rabbinic figure emerges victorious in the face of a challenge presented by the heretic. In this book, Michal Bar-Asher Siegal focuses on heretic narratives of the Babylonian Talmud that share a common literary structure, strong polemical language and the formula, 'Fool, look to the end of the verse'. She marshals previously untapped Christian materials to arrive at new interpretations of familiar texts and illuminate the complex relationship between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity. Bar-Asher Siegal argues that these Talmudic literary creations must be seen as part of a boundary-creating discourse that clearly distinguishes the rabbinic position from that of contemporaneous Christians and adds to a growing understanding of the rabbinic authors' familiarity with Christian traditions.

Michal Bar-Asher Siegal is a scholar of rabbinic Judaism. Her work focuses on aspects of Jewish-Christian interactions in the ancient world, and compares between Early Christian and rabbinic sources. Her book, Early Christian Monastic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud (Cambridge University Press, 2013, winner of the 2014 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award) compared between Christian monastic and rabbinic sources. Her upcoming book Jewish – Christian Dialogues on Scripture in Late Antiquity: Heretics Narratives of the Babylonian Talmud, will focus on heretics stories in the Babylonian Talmud. She is an elected member of the Israel Young Academy of Sciences and holds the Rosen Family Career Development Chair in Judaic Studies at The Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Judaism and Christianity, sister religions which grew up side-by-side in the Roman Empire, often had to define themselves as opposed to the other. They shared the Bible as a basic text, and shared some religious practices, traditions, and even stories – but diverged over so much else.

Join Dr. Michael Bar-Asher Siegal, author of two books on the subject, including the brand-new Jewish-Christian Dialogues on Scripture, as we use the rich collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art to explore this relationship. We will look at how women, the body, and wine are used and portrayed in ancient works of art, and how these relate to Jewish texts and practices as well.

Fee: $35 - Includes admission, tour and multimedia files and materials.

We will meet at 10:45 on the Ground floor at the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education. Enter through plaza entrance (wheelchair accessible) at 81st street.

Space on the tour is very limited. We will maintain an active waiting list once registration has closed.

Michal Bar-Asher Siegal is a scholar of rabbinic Judaism. Her work focuses on aspects of Jewish-Christian interactions in the ancient world, and compares between Early Christian and rabbinic sources. Her first book, Early Christian Monastic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud (Cambridge University Press, 2013, winner of the 2014 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award) compared between Christian monastic and rabbinic sources. Her latest book Jewish – Christian Dialogues on Scripture in Late Antiquity: Heretics Narratives of the Babylonian Talmud focuses on heretics stories in the Babylonian Talmud. She is an elected member of the Israel Young Academy of Sciences and holds the Rosen Family Career Development Chair in Judaic Studies at The Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.