Fri, Jan 25, 2019
6:30pm Kabbalat Shabbat Service
7:30pm Dinner (free), Dr. Rendsburg will Speak
Sat, Jan 26, 2019
8:30am-1pm, Torah Study, d’Var Torah at Services, Speak at Kiddush (Q&A)
4:00pm, Teaching at Minch/Maariv/Havdalah
Congregation Shomrei Emunah
67 Park St. Montclair, NJ 07042
(973) 746-5031
(map & directions)
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the discovery and publication of the first Dead Sea Scrolls. After seven decades of analysis and scholarship, the documents continue to enthrall. The net result is nothing less than a total rewriting of the history of early Judaism and the origins of Christianity.
The Ten Commandments: This week’s Parashat Yitro includes the reading of the Ten Commandments, a foundational text of the Torah. What makes these verses so special? Why did these commandments become so central to Jewish religion? Why do they continue to speak to so many people at a distance of three-thousand-plus years? Join us as we explore these and other questions.
Dr. Gary A. Rendsburg holds the Blanche and Irving Laurie Chair in Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University, where he also holds an appointment in the History Department. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Hebrew Studies from New York University and taught at Canisius College and Cornell University-the latter for 18 years-before joining the Rutgers faculty in 2004.
The author of six books and more than 120 scholarly articles, Prof. Rendsburg takes a special interest in literary approaches to the Bible, the history of the Hebrew language, the history of ancient Israel, and the development of Judaism in the post-biblical period. His works include The Bible and the Ancient Near East (1997), a general survey of the biblical world co-authored with the late Cyrus H. Gordon, and, most recently, Solomon’s Vineyard: Literary and Linguistic Studies in the Song of Songs (2009), coauthored with Scott B. Noegel.
Prof. Rendsburg has visited all of the major archaeological sites in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan and has explored Qumran, the site of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, repeatedly for several decades. He has participated in excavations at Tel Dor and Caesarea. His main research interests are the literature of the Bible, the history of ancient Israel, the historical development of the Hebrew language, and the relationship between ancient Egypt and ancient Israel. Prof. Rendsburg has received several fellowships including the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Event Sponsors Sought
In keeping these programs open to the public and free, Shomrei will incur some extra costs. We’re seeking events sponsors to help defray the additional cost
Donate: http://Shomrei.org/ProgramSponsor
Rabbi’s Sabbatical Programs?
While our Rabbi is away on sabbatical, we’ve added a number of programs to our schedule.
Our synagogue is the spiritual home of a warm and inviting community of Jews in and around Montclair, New Jersey. We welcome individuals, couples and families of diverse backgrounds and orientations. We observe an egalitarian, vibrant Judaism, balancing openness and traditional practice.
Open-Door Judaism: members voluntarily set the level of thier dues.
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