Jews in Space: The Importance of Space and Place in Rabbinic Judaism and Beyond

Speaker: Dr. David C. Kraemer, Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics

Program Series: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman Distinguished Scholar Series

Location: Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County, Bethesda

Date: November 3, 2016

Jewish History following the destruction of the Second Temple by Rome has been represented as a history of wandering and homelessness, in which place could not matter because the sacred Jewish place had been left behind.  Besides, as Abraham Joshua Heschel argued, Jews build sanctuaries in time, not in space.  However, building on his new book Rabbinic Judaism: Space and Place, Dr. Kraemer argues that space and place remained central to Judaism even during its exile.  He demonstrates that the "homes" of Judaism were central to Jewish practice throughout the centuries, even before Zionism returned the focus of Judaism to its ancient home.