Philosophy
Everyday Moral Dilemmas
Don't sleep on the small questions. They matter too.
Educator: Rabbi Avi Strausberg
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Course Details
Sessions
4
Recommended for
Everyone
Description
Wrestle with everyday moral dilemmas, the sorts of which we each encounter all of the time in our lives, through the lens of traditional Jewish texts. In this course, we’ll consider questions like: "If and when is it okay to shame someone else for the sake of protecting another," and "Are there instances in which it is not only permissible to lie but in fact necessary?"
We'll pose these everyday moral dilemmas to classic Jewish sources and see what, if any wisdom, they have to offer us when confronted with these questions. In doing so, we'll attempt to not only answer the dilemmas before us but suggest a model for what it might look like to turn to Jewish texts for guidance on pressing questions of our times.
Sample Materials
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Educator
Rabbi Avi Strausberg is the Director of National Learning Initiatives at Hadar, and is based in Washington, DC. Previously, she served as the Director of Congregational Learning of Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, Minnesota. Avi studied at Hadar as a year fellow, and served on our summer faculty in 2014. She received her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College in Boston and is a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She also holds a Masters in Jewish Education. While pursuing her studies, Avi was honored to serve as a rabbinic intern at Kehillath Israel and Temple Sinai. She has taught students of different ages and backgrounds at Kehillath Israel, Temple Sinai, Makor, and Hadar. Additionally, Avi has worked as a chaplain intern at Hebrew Senior Life and organized an anti-trafficking campaign as a rabbinic fellow at T’ruah. Energized by engaging creatively with Jewish text, she has written several theatre pieces inspired by the Torah and maintains a Daf Yomi haiku blog in which she writes daily Talmudic haikus. Avi is most grateful for her wife, Chana, and two children, Ori and Niv.
