The Mitzvah of Sukkah: A Rabbinic Critique of Slavery?

Posted by Rahel Berkovits on October 16, 2016
Topics: Pardes from Jerusalem, Sukkot

In this podcast, recorded for Sukkot, Rabbi Rahel Berkovits discusses how the ritual of sitting in the sukkah is a remembrance of leaving Egypt. She will examine the second chapter of Tractate Sukkah which opens with a story about Rabban Gamliel’s slave and closes with a story about us, the Jewish people, serving as slaves. Through an analysis of the themes embedded within the text we will try to unpack and understand the rabbinic ideas presented in the text which tie the issue of slavery to the mitzvah of sukkah.

About Rahel Berkovits

Rahel Berkovits is a senior faculty member at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, where she has been teaching Mishnah, Talmud and halakha for over twenty years. Rahel lectures widely in both Israel and abroad especially on topics concerning women and Jewish law and a Jewish sexual ethic. She is the Halakhic Editor and a writer for Hilkhot Nashim the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance’s Halakhic Source-guide Series, recently published by Koren Publishing. Rahel is a founding member of Congregation Shirah Hadasha, a halakhic partnership Synagogue, and serves on their halakha committee. In June 2015, Rahel received Rabbinic Ordination from Rabbis Herzl Hefter and Daniel Sperber. Click here to read more. You can find books written by Rahel by clicking here

Keep Learning