Judy Klitsner is a senior educator at the  Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. A disciple of the great Torah teacher Nechama Leibowitz, Judy has had a profound impact on a generation of students, of whom many now serve as teachers and heads of Jewish studies programs in the US, the UK and Israel. Judy’s teaching style is lively, accessible, interactive and text-based, and she is particularly fond of uncovering the “vibrant conversation” that takes place between the Bible’s parallel stories. She lectures internationally at synagogues, campuses and adult education programs that span the denominational spectrum and she is a regular visiting lecturer at the London School of Jewish Studies. Judy Klitsner is the author of Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories Mine and Undermine Each Other. The book, which received a National Jewish book award, is now in its third printing, as part of the Maggid Tanakh Companion series, and has recently been released in Hebrew by Rubin Mass Publishers. Judy is founding board chair of Sacred Spaces, an organization that works to systemically address abuses of power in Jewish institutions.
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Friday night Session:
Noah and Jonah: How Similar Stories Say Opposite Things about Human Resilience 
Especially now, in our post October 7 reality, is it possible for human beings to rebound and rebuild after a traumatic event?  To reveal the Bible's complex treatment of this question, we will explore the narratives of Noah and Jonah: two stories that share a remarkable number of themes, words and details, yet at the same time present opposing views on the notion of resilience and renewal. 

Shabbat morning dvar Torah:  
Your Brother’s Blood is Crying: Biblical Origins of our Fractured Society
For its first human beings, the Bible presents a strife-ridden nuclear family; for its first murder, a fratricide. As we examine several sibling-centered stories in the book of Genesis, we will draw a line from these narratives to the Jewish people today, noting the endurance of “sibling” divisiveness. In our explorations, we will seek signs of hope for repair. 

Saturday afternoon session:
From Echo Chamber to Authentic Inner Voice:The Tower of Babel and the Heroic
Midwives of Egypt
Two seemingly disparate stories, the Tower of Babel and the enslavement in Egypt, share many surprising similarities. Upon close inspection, we will note that both have much to say about conformist cultures, heroism and the anti-Semitism that is plaguing us today.