Session Three:
Reason and Ritual: On the Significance and Meaning of Jewish Observances
In medieval times, a despotic ruler once agreed to release a Jew from jail for one day each year to practice religion. The Jew was now in a quandary. Should that day be Yom Kippur? Passover? Rosh Hashanah? Some other day?
How to choose?
What would you choose?
This leads into a broader discussion about Jewish rituals, which often seem foreign and archaic. In what ways can we find meaning and value in some of these observances?