The Triumph of Life
Learning With Your Own Havruta
Course Details
The arc of history runs from primordial creation to ultimate redemption—and the Torah’s goal is to guide us through the time in between. What is the purpose of creation? What does God require of us in order to create the final perfected world? What wisdom is there in the Jewish tradition that might direct our steps to get there? Join one of the most influential and sophisticated Jewish thinkers of the 20th century and beyond, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, on a journey with your havruta to think about these questions.
Through passages from traditional Jewish texts and excerpts from Rabbi Greenberg’s book, The Triumph of Life, we will explore the purpose of creation, the purpose of Torah, and the purpose of our own selves—as individuals and as a people—in bringing God’s vision to life.
Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg is a preeminent Jewish thinker, theologian, activist, president of the J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life, and Senior Scholar in Residence at the Hadar Institute. Together with Elie Wiesel, he founded CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and served as its president until 1997. From 1997 to 2008, he served as founding president of Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation. Rabbi Greenberg was one of the founders of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry and a pioneer in the development of Holocaust education and commemoration, serving as the Executive Director of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust in 1975 and as chair of the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum in 2000-2002. He is the author of five books, including The Triumph of Life: A Narrative Theology of Judaism (JPS, 2024).
