STRANGE DAYS INDEED

A New Education Series

With Rabbi Siemers

All Classes Conducted Over Zoom
Wednesday Evenings at 8pm
Zoom Link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87076466513

November 9th

It’s Not the Apocalypse, It’s the Humidity

While in better times considered to be Prophecy’s less respectable little brother, recent events bring home the enduring importance of the Apocalyptic to Jewish and religious life. This course will review the biblical roots of the Apocalyptic, its influence on Judaism and Christianity, and the proposed accounts of its social origins as well as why (though it is obvious) the Apocalyptic is the most relevant biblical voice in 2022.

November 16th

We Want Moshiach Later

Until relatively recently, the expression of Messianic hopes was taboo in Judaism.  This is despite unambiguous biblical references and a nearly 1500 year tradition of calculating the Messiah’s arrival!  We will explore those traditions and explain why the doctrine of the messiah was suppressed for most of modernity.  We will also gingerly deal with what happened when the doctrine was “unsuppressed”.

November 30th

Heaven Gehinnom, I’m in Heaven Gehinnom

We all hope to be reunited with loved ones as we join up for the family circle at the throne.  But life doesn’t always run according to plan, and in the event things go pear-shaped it would be good to have some idea what to expect.  This class will explore some of the more popular Jewish visions of Hell, from the rabbis through the Middle Ages.

December 7th

The Virgin and the “Not-Virgin”

We will finish our Walk on the Wild Side with a consideration of some of the problematic uses of feminine imagery in Judaism.  From God’s muse Sophia to the Virgin Mary substitute of the Shekinah, and on to the demonic Lilith, we will review the use of masculine projections of femininity in the world of the bible, the rabbis and the mystics. We will also consider the modern efforts of feminists to reclaim these projections.   All are welcome.