Shabbat, August 22, after services (roughly noon) – Harvard Hillel and Zoom
After hearing our Biblical forebears’ stories year after year, we Jews may start relating to our Matriarchs and Patriarchs like members of our family. In this session, we’ll first review Rachel’s story in the Torah —with its romance, drama and pathos. Then we will explore two remarkable offshoots that have animated and transformed her legacy: 1) Jeremiah’s dramatic prophesy about Rachel weeping for her lost children—which has a prominent place in the Rosh Hashana service; and 2) Rachel’s tomb—a place where women of different religions have gathered to seek Rachel’s intercession with God. By exploring Jeremiah’s prophecy and Rachel’s tomb, we will deepen our appreciation of their special power and grapple with challenging questions that they raise.
Jim Leffert is a licensed psychologist and long-time member and gabbai with the Worship and Study Minyan. Jim has a B.A. in Religious Studies from Dartmouth College, and his Jewish learning has also included courses at the Hebrew University, Brown University, and Hebrew College in Boston. Jim has written and presented 15 Purim Shpiels for the Worship and Study Minyan and many can be viewed at Purim24-7.com.