Judaism is About Love — Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life - Class 5

About this Episode

Recently, a book with this title hit the bookstores. In the book its author, Rabbi Shai Held (a Conservative rabbi) tells us that, for too long, Judaism has been mistakenly characterized as a legalistic, judgmental faith tradition. In response Rav Held proceeds to draw upon a rich compendium of sources representing 3000 years of Jewish learning and living to teach us that, beyond a shadow of doubt, love is the dominant foundational Jewish principle. Judaism is, indeed, about love. We will read the book over the course of ten weeks (it is a substantial tome) and meet weekly to discuss Held’s analysis and study selected primary sources from which he draws his Torah.

The fifth discussion in this series centered on Chapters 8 and 9 of Rabbi Held's book, in particular the question of whether Jewish law requires Jews (especially victims) to love their enemies. It took place via Zoom on July 17, 2024