Well Known but Rarely Read: The Book of Job in Jewish Life and Thought

Dr. Jason Kalman, Professor of Classical Hebrew Literature and Interpretation; Gottschalk-Slade Chair in Jewish Intellectual History, HUC/Cincinnati

Dr. Jason Kalman will explore how despite its absence from Jewish Liturgy and synagogue practice, the Book of Job permeated Jewish culture in the Rabbinic Period and the Middle Ages. Dozens of medieval commentators sought to make sense of the book and its depiction of a righteous sufferer allowed to be harmed with the permission of an ostensibly just God. How they resolved this difficulty is only one part of the story because the book of Job also shaped Jewish poetry and historical narrative, fantasy literature, drama, and scientific works. Join us on a tour of this map of Jewish thought and creativity.