:: Wednesday Morning Study

Weekly In-depth Torah Study & Discussion with the Rabbis

“Telling and Retelling: Bible Stories in Modern Media”

Movies, music, television, art, poetry—the stories of the Hebrew Bible have been adapted and retold in an endless variety of creative and provocative ways.  Some modern tellings try to “update” the Bible to address modern values and situations.  Others shine a spotlight on characters obscure or even absent in the sacred text.  Every adaptation is a modern midrash—imagination applied to ancient stories to find meaning and relevance for our modern lives.

Each week, one of the rabbis will take a “modern retelling” and compare it to its source text in the Bible.  Is it a good thing for Jews to picture Moses as Charlton Heston?  Is The Red Tent’s reading of the story of Dinah a useful model for modern Jewish feminism?  Every retelling creates new questions—and great discussion!

The Wednesday Study Group will meet at Temple at 10:00 a.m. on the following dates: 3/17, 3/24, 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28, 5/5, 5/12.