JUDAISM. In the program, host Michael Hallundbaek welcomes one of the great scholars and teachers of Judaism and Jewish prayer of our time, Rabbi and Professor Reuven Kimelman. Rabbi Kimelman is a professor of Classical Judaica at Brandeis University. Previously, he was the Joseph Shier Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto, and Five College Professor of Judaic Studies at Amherst College. He has also taught at Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Trinity and Williams Colleges as well as the Jewish Seminary of America, Yeshiva University, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Professor Kimelman holds a PH. D. from Yale University in Religious Studies, and has been published widely in journals of scholarly and popular interest in the Bible, Ethics, Liturgy and Current Affairs. He is the author of the Hebrew work, 'The Mystical Meaning of Lekhah Dodi' and 'Kabbalat/Shabbat,' published by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
In this highly informative hour, Rabbi Kimelman shares on various topics of Judaism, including: the history and development of the Jewish religion; Abraham as the first Jew and his role as the biological and/or spiritual
source of Judaism, Islam and Christianity; the wide variety of expression of Judaism (Orthodox, Reformed, Reconstructionist, Hasidic) and their underlying bond; The Torah, or Hebrew Bible, as God's instructions on how
to live a good life; God as the center of Jewish life; the concept of holiness and the 'sanctity of time' before sanctity of space; the remains of the Temple in Jerusalem as the holiest place for Jews; daily Jewish prayer and blessings; how he personally finds meaning through his faith.
For more information, email Rabbi Kimelman at kimelman@brandeis.edu or visit http://www.our-learning.com/JewishPrayerbook/