Why is the Second Temple ultimately destroyed? And how can we prevent further national disasters? In this week's Shiur, we focused on the story describing the Roman siege of Jerusalem and the city's ultimate destruction. Despite the usual suspects who hold responsibility for the tragedy - the Romans, Bar Kamtza or the Jewish zealots who burned down the storehouses as Jerusalem was under siege - Rabbi Yochanan chooses to pin the blame on one of the Rabbis – Zecharia Ben Avkulus and his 'anvetanut', generally translated as 'meekness'.
Through studying the story in the Gemara in context, as well as looking at some recent articles on Zecharia Ben Avkulus, its possible to suggest an understanding of what 'anvetanut' could mean and its contemporary relevance for us today.
Following on from last week's look at what Torah Min Hashamayim could mean, this week's shiur focused on certain problems regarding the Maximalist understanding of Torah Min Hashamayim (that all of the Torah was dictated by God to Moshe), and looked at other sources that suggest viewing the concept of Torah from Heaven in a different way.
The concept of Torah Min Hashamayim, that the Torah is from Heaven, is a central component of Jewish thought and constitutes one of the theological differences between different denominations in Judaism.
Despite this, there are serious disagreements as to what the concept actually means.
This week, we studied sources that suggest different meanings for what the concept could mean, as well as the discussion over what one needs to believe (or not deny) in order to be considered within the boundaries of legitimate Jewish thought.
At the beginning of June, I travelled from London to York University on behalf of the Reut Institute to give a talk about the Israeli-Palestinian political process.
Click here for the talk followed by a question and answer session.
What happens the moment before God speaks to Avraham for the first time?
What is it that Avraham sees or does that convinces God to enter into dialogue with him, to create a covenant between them?
Does it provide us with any clues as to how we can encounter the divine in our own lives?
This week we studied a Midrash about Avraham that suggests different ways in which people can hear God's voice. The Shiur included guest appearances from Jewish philosopher Maimonides, English poet Wordsworth, Talmudic heretic Elisha Ben Abuya and author of ‘The God gene’.
Rabbi Yochanan explains that the Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people exiled due to what he terms the Anvetanut or Rabbi Zecahria Ben Avkulus.
Why is the Second Temple ultimately destroyed? And how can we prevent further national disasters?
Following on from last week's look at what Torah Min Hashamayim could mean, this week's shiur focused on certain problems regarding the Maximalist understanding of Torah Min Hashamayim (that all of the Torah was dictated by God to Moshe), and looked at other sources that suggest viewing the concept of Torah from Heaven in a different way.
The concept of Torah Min Hashamayim, that the Torah is from Heaven, is a central component of Jewish thought and constitutes one of the theological differences between different denominations in Judaism. 
What do the Torah, Talmud & modern Jewish thought have to tell us about the question of evil?
At the beginning of June, I travelled from London to York University on behalf of the Reut Institute to give a talk about the Israeli-Palestinian political process.
What happens the moment before God speaks to Avraham for the first time? 
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