January 2026
Bet Aviv Lunch and Learn
Epilogue to the Oven of Akhnai Years after the tale of the Oven of Akhnai, R. Eliezer, now an outcast, is on his deathbed. His students, despite the ban on socializing with him, come to pay their respects. How will the students, torn between their loyalty to their teacher and to their community, navigate this space? How will R. Eliezer receive them?
Find out more »February 2026
Bet Aviv Lunch and Learn
Jewish Law and the Politics of Disagreement: Hillel and Shammai Revisited Of all the contributions of Talmudic culture to the Jewish world, the most central is the positive power of dispute, or machloket. Not all types of dispute, mind you, but rather disputes for the sake of heaven. These questions were explored first and foremost through the stories and disputes of Hillel and Shammai and their students, perhaps the first dispute within Judaism that did not lead to a schism,…
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