Friday-Night Program: Jewish Heretics

Bennett has been a regular speaker at our Sunday morning programs for many years and at other Jewish organizations in the area. He was the Adult Education Director for the Jewish Cultural School and Society and is the author of four books on Jewish folklore, biography, Yiddish literature, and Jews in the American labor movement. He has written for several Jewish magazines, including Jewish Currents, Outlook, Humanistic Judaism, and the NJ Jewish News.

Heresy in Jewish life, meaning questioning the authority of the Jewish Scriptures, Jewish law, and the rabbinate, is a time-honored tradition. Beginning with the Hebrew Bible itself, our speaker will take listeners on a journey through Jewish history, especially the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, that gave birth to Jewish socialism, Zionism, and secular humanism. The work of so many of the greatest Jewish writers and activists speaks to heresy as an indispensable part of Jewish tradition.

Open to the public; Members – Free; Non-Members – $5