Anyone can be a sinner, but it takes both knowledge and integrity to be a heretic. 

Join us for an exploration of two of Judaism’s most important heretics - Alisha ben Abuya and Baruch Spinoza. 

Alisha ben Abuya, known also as Acher, or Other, was a Talmudic sage who left the fold when he could no longer reconcile the tradition he received with the reality he experienced.  Although he was “excommunicated” from Judaism, he remains a character in the Talmud, asking difficult questions which need to be asked. We’ll encounter him primarily through the novelistic retelling of his life in As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg. 

Spinoza was a Jewish-Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Sephardi origin. One of the early thinkers of the Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy. We’ll learn more about his thought, and what it means today from Rebecca Goldstein’s book, Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity.

Logged in BHA members receive 50% off the student pricing.

On principle, BHA does not turn people away for financial reasons; at the same time, we can only continue to operate because of the funds received from our members and supporters. 

To try and balance these needs, we have instituted an Open Gates fee option - on the honor system, if you are facing financial difficulties, please select the Open Gates Fee Option for reduced fees. If you are a member of BHA, please be sure to log into the website first, as all fees - Standard and Open Gate - are lower for members. 

This class will be held online on Zoom, but if you are a BHA Member and are interested in limited gahtering for teaching in Beacon, please let us know in the Note box below.