Four Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:15 pm Eastern time: August 29; September 5, 12, 19
Come join the growing A TREE WITH ROOTS community as embark on spiritual preparation for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
The Akedat Yitzchak—the “Binding of Isaac” in Genesis 22—remains one of the most harrowing and enigmatic passages of the entire Torah. For centuries, it has also been indelibly linked with the liturgy of the Days of Awe, as the Torah reading for the Second Day of Rosh HaShanah and lingering in the prayers of the Machzor. But why? The connection between this story and the New Year is far from obvious.
In this four-week course, we’ll explore the Akedah from a variety of angles: its interpretation in classical Midrash; a comparison with Christian and Islamic understandings; and the place of the Akedah in modern Israeli life and literature. All along, we’ll mine these interpretations for fresh meanings for our own spiritual context, as part of our preparations to deepen the power of Rosh HaShanah 5784.
There is no charge for this event, but if you’d like to support our work and growth, we’d welcome it: