Me’ah with Rabbi Gordon: Shared Stories: The Afterlife of Biblical Heroes and Heroines in the New Testament and Quran

April 4, 2019, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Temple Emunah
9 Piper Rd
Lexington, MA 02421

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Join us Thursdays in February at Temple Emunah for
Shared Stories: The Afterlife of Biblical Heroes and
Heroines in the New Testament and Quran

With Rabbi Leonard Gordon

February 14 – May 9, 2019 (New dates and location!)

What Rabbi Gordon’s students have said about his Me’ah classes:
“One of the finest teachers I have ever studied with!”
“The readings, the lectures and the discussions opened up new worlds to me, which I will continue
to explore.”
“Please have Rabbi Gordon teach another class that I can join!”

About the class: From Abraham, Sarah and Hagar to Joseph, Moses, Miriam, King David and the Queen of Sheba,
biblical figures loom large in the classic stories of Christians and Muslims. Do these shared stories connect us, divide us,
or both?

Our class will offer an introduction to Early Christian and Islam as we read these fascinating stories. We will address
several critical issues in the history of Judaism, Christianity and Islam:

• How should we understand those places where our stories diverge? Is there a “true” version?
• What do we know about the historical Jesus? To what extent is the New Testament a “Jewish” text?
• What are the pillars of Islam and how do Islamic and Rabbinic law compare?

Rabbi Leonard Gordon is Interim Rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom in Framingham, and the co-Director of Interfaith Partners
for Peace. With rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, he has a BA and M Phil from Columbia
University, and an MA in Religious Studies from Brown University. Gordon has taught comparative religion and
Humanities at Columbia University, Kenyon College, and the Ohio State University; and rabbinic literature, history,
philosophy, and liturgy at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Hebrew College
Rabbinical School, and the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.

• Class meets: Thursdays (new day), 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m., beginning February 14 (new date), 2019 at Temple
  Emunah (Sponsored by the Lexington Collaborative; new location)
• Full class schedule: February 14, 28; March 7, 14, 21, 28; April 4, 11; May 2, 9 (No class February 21, April 18,
  or April 25. Final class and snow/sick days TBD with class, once class begins.)
• Cost: $350. Financial aid is available; please contact meah@hebrewcollege.edu for details.
• Register: chaverweb.net (Please note: when registering via chaverweb, Temple Emunah members may use their login;
  all others may create a guest account. Then go to “events sign-up” and look for “Me’ah Select Winter/Spring.”)