Rabbi Elliot Dorff: Jewish Ethics for a Meaningful Life, Part 1- War
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Join our engaging three-part series exploring Rabbi Elliot Dorff’s new book Ethics at the Center: Jewish Theory and Practice for Living a Moral Life. We will explore Judaism’s understanding of God and humanity and discuss how Jewish traditions guide us in moral decision-making. By the end of this series, you will have a comprehensive understanding of Jewish moral foundations and ethical practices. Enroll in 1, 2 or all 3 sessions.
For an enhanced experience and deeper insights into this series, please consider purchasing Rabbi Elliot Dorff’s book Ethics at the Center here. Suggested reading: Chapters 1-3 and 16.
War has unfortunately been a feature of human life from time immemorial; indeed, ethical norms governing war already appear in the Torah. A full-blown ethic of what justifies going to war and how to conduct it has been developed by Catholic thinkers and later by secular, Western thinkers over the last 800 years. During that time, Jews participated in their nations’ wars but were not in charge of deciding on the basis of the Jewish tradition when to go to war and how. Now that the State of Israel exists, Jews are unfortunately often confronted with both of those questions. This session will outline Jewish understandings of God and human beings, including their propensity to go to war, and the Jewish ethic of war that emerges from those conceptions.
Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff is a past President of the Academy for Judaic, Christian, and Islamic Studies (2015 – 2017) and a prominent interfaith leader in the Jewish community. Dr. Dorff is the Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at American Jewish University where he has been directing the rabbinical and Masters programs since 1971. He was ordained to the Rabbinate by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University. He also serves as the Chair of the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. In addition, Dr. Dorff has served on many boards and commissions related to medical ethics, including the Ethics committee at UCLA Medical Center, the Ethics Advisory Committee for the State of California on stem cell research, and the broader Social Impacts Committee for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural Science. Dr. Dorff has published over 200 articles on Jewish thought, law, and ethics, as well as 14 books and another 14 that he edited or co-edited.
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