It Takes Two to Torah
Overwhelmed by the thought of reading all 79,976 words in the Torah or decoding its 5,844 often complex passages? In It Takes Two to Torah, an Orthodox rabbi and a Reform journalist embark on that daunting journey and debate their way through the Five Books of Moses with candor, humor, and deep scholarship. Abigail Pogrebin and Rabbi Dov Linzer will be in conversation with AJU’s Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson as they bring their lively discussions on the Torah’s teachings on love, survival, and humanity’s relationship with God to this AJU Open webinar. Buy the book here.
Abigail Pogrebin is the author of the National Jewish Book Award finalist My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew and Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish. She’s written for The Atlantic, the Forward, and Tablet, and moderates public conversations for The Streicker Center and the Jewish Broadcasting Service.
Rabbi Dov Linzer is the President and Rosh HaYeshiva (Rabbinic Head) of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, an Orthodox rabbinical school and Torah center, which promotes a more open and inclusive Orthodoxy. He has written for the Forward, Tablet, and The New York Times, and hosted highly popular Torah podcasts.
Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson (www.bradartson.com) holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Rabbi Artson has long been a passionate advocate for social justice, human dignity, diversity and inclusion. He wrote a book on Jewish teachings on war, peace and nuclear annihilation in the late 80s, became a leading voice advocating for GLBT marriage and ordination in the 90s, and has published and spoken widely on environmental ethics, special needs inclusion, racial and economic justice, cultural and religious dialogue and cooperation, and working for a just and secure peace for Israel and the Middle East. A member of the Philosophy Department, he is particularly interested in theology, ethics, and the integration of science and religion. He mentors Camp Ramah in California in Ojai and Ramah of Northern California in the Bay Area. He is also dean of the Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam, Germany, ordaining Conservative rabbis for Europe. A frequent contributor for the Huffington Post, the Times of Israel, and a Contributing Writer for the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, he has a public figure Facebook page with over 70,000 likes. Rabbi Artson is the author of 12 books and over 250 articles, most recently Renewing the Process of Creation: A Jewish Integration of Science and Spirit. Married to Elana Artson, they are the proud parents of twins, Jacob and Shira.