Stories from the Talmud: Reading Rabbinic Narratives

Each week, we will enter the world of the Talmud through one story at a time. Our first guide will be Jeffrey Rubenstein’s wonderful book How to Read a Talmudic Story, which is recommended for students to buy but not required. Afterward, we will continue with other contemporary scholars who use literary criticism and Jewish scholarship to help us uncover the messages, tensions, humor, pain and wisdom that our sages wanted to transmit to their audiences nearly 1,800 years ago.