Lecture by Dr. Nadav S. Berman
When
Judaism, many say, is a religion or culture which predicates on dispute. But what exactly is a dispute? Is it a good thing? Would it be better if we avoid controversies altogether, by recourse to authority (human or divine), forced agreement, technology, or other means? In this talk, we will consider these questions by delving together into several Jewish sources.
We start with the biblical story of Cain and Abel, continue with a text from the Mishnah, and conclude with a modern poem. We will highlight the unique Jewish ‘covenant of the word’ (or brit milah) which believes in the reparative power of communication; we will also suggest that the possibility of a constructive and pluralistic dispute was supported in early Judaism by a belief in a caring personal God, who serves as a moral model by being open to human critique.
On the speaker:
Dr. Nadav Shifman Berman is a scholar of Jewish Thought, especially its philosophical correlations with classical American pragmatism. He is a Research Fellow at the Faculty of Law, University of Haifa. Previously, he was a postdoctoral associate Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and at Yale University. During Fall 2024 he will be a Visiting Scholar at the Jewish Studies program, Arizona State University. Nadav’s scholarly publications can be accessed at https://haifa.academia.edu/NadavSBerman, and his musical compositions are available here.