July 15 - 19

Tutors: Seth Appelbaum and Claudia Hauer

We read Emmanuel Levinas’s essays on the Talmud, with some selected readings from the Talmud as accompaniment. Levinas offers a radically ethical reading of these fundamental Judaic scriptures. Levinas delivered these essays as commentaries in the 1960s and 1970s in Paris. His readings suggest ways in which ancient Jewish texts can respond to turbulent current events, such as one pressing issue of his time: whether and how to prosecute Nazis for war crimes against Jews. Levinas’s reflections are both timeless and timely, as Israel finds itself once again immersed in conflicts that rouse polarizing passions around the world, and we are called to revisit the ethical and non-political meditations that are the core of Judaism.

Texts:

• Emmanuel Levinas, Nine Talmudic Readings (tr. Annette Aronowicz). Indiana University Press, ISBN 978-0253208767
• The Talmud: Selected Writings. Paulist Press, ISBN 978-0809131143