(Holiday Weekend Study Retreats)

Speaker: Dr. Leora Batnitzky, Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion at Princeton University, where she also directs Princeton’s Tikvah Project on Jewish Thought.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Revelation as Ethics: Emil Fackenheim, Emmanuel Levinas, and Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Leora Batnitzky, Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion at Princeton University, where she also directs Princeton’s Tikvah Project on Jewish Thought.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Revelation as Reason: Hermann Cohen, Joseph Soloveitchik, and Yeshayahu Leibowitz.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Leora Batnitzky, Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion at Princeton University, where she also directs Princeton’s Tikvah Project on Jewish Thought.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Revelation as Law: Baruch Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn, and the Birth of the Jewish Religion.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Avivah Zornberg, is the author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, and The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

The Pit and the Rope: Joseph and Judah, Continued.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Avivah Zornberg, is the author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, and The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

The Pit and the Rope: Joseph and Judah.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Avivah Zornberg, is the author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, and The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Letter From an Unknown Woman: Joseph's Dream, Continued.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Avivah Zornberg, is the author of Genesis: The Beginning of Desire, for which she won the National Jewish Book Award, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, and The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious.

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Letter From an Unknown Woman: Joseph's Dream.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony Between Science and Spirituality.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

Raising the Sparks: Finding God in the Material World.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

Shekhinah: The Feminine Half of God.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

Discussion on Dr. Matt's current project.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Daniel C. Matt, translator and annotator of the Pritzker edition of the Zohar

Location: Capital Camps and Retreat Center; Waynesboro, PA

The Zohar: Masterpiece of Kabbalah.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

God's Body and Our Own Judaism: Part four will utilize selected New Testament texts, kabbalistic texts, the Anim Zemirot, and the Yigdal.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Just One! Just One! Part three will examine The Shem and the Kavod: the Shema, Solomon’s Prayer, other deuteronomic texts, Exodus 39-40, and Ezekiel 8-10.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

How Many Bodies Does God Have? Part two will utilize selected Babylonian and Canaanite texts and selections from Genesis, Exodus, and Hosea to explore this question.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Yesh Lo Demut Ha-Guf? Does the Bible’s God Have a Body? Can a human see God? Part one will utilize texts from Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1-3, Exodus 33-34, Jeremiah 1, Genesis 1, Genesis 3, Exodus 24, and Amos 9 to explore these questions.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Lewiant Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Love and interpersonal relations were central to Eastern European Hasidism. According to one Hasidic teacher, Reb Arele Roth, individuals are encouraged to associate with others who can help "wake" them up spiritually. The teachings of R. Avraham Kalisker, who wrote about “cleaving to our fellows” when we are in need of personal inspiration, will also be discussed.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Lewiant Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

In the seventeenth century, a kabbalistic community developed in Jerusalem, known as Bet El. Inspired by Lurianic mysticism, the Bet El community fashioned an intimate group of individuals who believed that they should love one another as if they were a single organism.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Lewiant Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

The small village of Safed was the site of a great renaissance of kabbalistic life in the sixteenth century. What was the nature of the several kabbalistic fellowships (havurot) that flourished there?

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Dr. Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Lewiant Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Mount Holyoke College

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

The Zohar, the great kabbalistic literature of thirteenth-century Spain, depicts Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his circle of disciples/companions travelling the Land of Israel and engaging in mystical discourse. Why does Shimon bar Yochai insist on their loving one another? In what sense is the well being of the world, indeed the cosmos, dependent upon their loving relations?

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four discusses how Nebuchadnezzar and the Neo-Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem not once but twice, burned the Temple of Solomon to the ground, and exiled the leading citizens of Jerusalem and Judah to the far-away city of Babylon. It also provides an in-depth look at Jewish history during the Babylonian period.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses how the expansionist ambitions of the Neo-Assyrians from Mesopotamia in the eighth century BCE spelled an end to the kingdom of Israel and gave rise to the tradition of the Ten Lost Tribes. The question of where the exiled members of these tribes ended up continues to be debated.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two discusses David and Solomon. Both kings have been the subject of controversies and debates. A reference to the "House of David" was found in 1993 on an inscription in the north of Israel — the first extra-biblical mention of David yet discovered — allowing us to reconsider the evidence for David and Solomon.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Eric H. Cline, Chair of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one discusses the account of the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four discusses how pluralism can be found - even within the texts of Judaism.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses how Spinoza's life and beliefs were interpreted by Moses Mendelssohn.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two discusses the life of Baruch Spinoza, who is known as the first person to voluntarily live outside any religious fold.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Raphael Jospe, Philosophy Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one sets the stage for the life of Baruch Spinoza by discussing the controversies over philosophy in the middle ages.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Charles Butterworth, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four returns to the topic of the Quran and discusses its teachings in greater detail.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Charles Butterworth, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses why, from the perspective of Islam, a new revelation was needed to supersede those provided by Judaism and Christianity.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Charles Butterworth, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two discusses how certain Quranic dictums might be problematic today and how the Quran should be understood.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Charles Butterworth, Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one discusses the origins of Islam and the history of its development.

The Lenell G. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Ed Kaplan, Department of Romance Studies, Brandeis University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part four dicusses Israel, the Holocaust, and spiritual radicalism in relation to how modern faith faces despair.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Ed Kaplan, Department of Romance Studies, Brandeis University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three dicusses prayer, reverence, and social responsibility in relation to Heschel's involvement in and views on civil rights, Soviet Jewry, the Vietnam War.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Ed Kaplan, Department of Romance Studies, Brandeis University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one dicusses Heschel’s life and how his belief in sacred humanism resulted in his religious response to world events.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Professor Ed Kaplan, Department of Romance Studies, Brandeis University

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two dicusses the Bible as holiness in words and how it can be an experience of G-d for today’s seekers.

The Josephine F. and H. Max Ammerman Study Retreat

Speaker: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, DHL, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, Rabbi Emeritus of Washington Hebrew Congregation

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Delivered in what would have been the 130th year of Buber's life, part four is a critical appraisal of his impact on today’s Judaism.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, DHL, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, Rabbi Emeritus of Washington Hebrew Congregation

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part three discusses how Buber discovered Hasidism and why he felt an attraction to that way of life.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, DHL, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, Rabbi Emeritus of Washington Hebrew Congregation

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part two describes Buber's struggle to come to terms with biblical beliefs in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat

Speaker: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman, DHL, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Jewish Studies, Rabbi Emeritus of Washington Hebrew Congregation

Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center; Reisterstown, MD

Part one discusses how Buber was able to encounter God after the Holocaust.

The Dr. Harvey H. Ammerman Memorial Study Retreat