Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Programming Note: Joel Hoffman, Scholar in residence

Mark your calendars now, because we've got a fantastic Scholar-In-Residence coming to join us March 26-28!

Dr. Joel Hoffman is a scholar of Hebrew, translation, the Passover Haggadah, and much, much more. He's one of those teachers who manages to take topics which sound boring, but make them utterly fascinating. He's got a real talent for taking assumptions that we all make about the world around us, and revealing them to be flawed. Whenever I've heard him speak (and, since he was a Professor at my Rabbinical School while I was there, I've heard him speak often) it was a real joy - informative, challenging and entertaining.

Dr. Hoffman is coming down here in part to promote his new book, And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible's Original Meaning. In it, he examines how mis-translations of the Bible have obscured our understanding and appreciation of this sacred text. I'll admit that I'm biased by both the topic and the author, but I can't wait to read it, or to hear him talking about it.

Dr. Hoffman will be delivering the sermon on Friday night, leading us in Torah study Saturday morning, and giving his book talk on Saturday night. He'll also be joining us for our Pesach program in the Religious School on Sunday. There are lots more details on their way, so keep your eyes on the Bulletin and our weekly e-mail!

No comments: