5780 — Beshalach: Poets with Mud on Their Shoes: The Song of the Sea and its Aftermath

Posted by Judy Klitsner on February 3, 2020
Topics: Pardes from Jerusalem, Torah, Shemot (Exodus), Beshalach

When faced with their miraculous salvation at the sea, the Israelites respond as poets. Yet throughout the surrounding narrative, their reactions to events–a litany of virtually relentless complaints–demonstrates the very opposite of a poetic mindset. In this podcast, Judy Klitsner is in conversation with her colleague Zvi Hirschfield. They explore the tension between a poetic sensibility and its opposite: situations in which (in the words of the poet Rilke) one is “not poet enough to call forth life’s riches”.

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Credits
Judy Klitsner – Faculty Host for Pardes from Jerusalem
Larry Kluger – Creative Consultant
Arlene Harel – Production Coordinator
Adam Titcher – Executive Producer and Director of Digital Media

About Judy Klitsner

Judy Klitsner is a senior lecturer in Bible at Pardes, where she has educated a generation of students, many of whom now serve as educators and heads of school in locations throughout the Jewish world. A student of the great Bible teacher Nechama Leibowitz, Judy weaves together traditional exegesis, modern scholarship and her own original interpretations that are informed by close readings of the text. Judy is a popular international speaker whose teaching style is accessible, interactive and text-based, and she is particularly fond of uncovering the “vibrant conversation” that takes place between the Bible’s parallel stories. Judy has taught Bible to Christian and Muslim religious leaders and she is a regular visiting lecturer at the London School of Jewish Studies. In addition, she is the Bible teacher for the Jewish Theological Seminary’s rabbinical students during their year in Israel. Judy is the author of Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories Mine and Undermine Each Other, which received a National Jewish book award. The book has recently been released in Hebrew. Judy is founding board chair of Sacred Spaces, an organization that seeks systemically to address abuses of power in Jewish institutions. Click here to read more. You can find books written by Judy by clicking here

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