Jewish Intellectual History Series: The Modern Age

Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob synagogue (SVAJ) will hold a unique learning series this summer called “Jewish Thinkers in the Modern Age.”

Led by talented educators and academics from the Chicago area, the series is designed to provide participants with a lifelong foundation for Jewish learning. Last spring SVAJ offered a popular discussion series covering the Biblical, Rabbinic, and Medieval period; this second series will provide an overview of important Jewish figures, events, objects, and ideas focusing on the modern age of Jewish thought.

Each meeting of the series (twelve in all, spanning Sundays from June to September) will focus on a different important figure from modern Jewish intellectual history. The series kicks off on June 2nd with Dr. Ben-Zion Katz on Samuel David Luzzatto ("Shadal") and touches on figures including Martin Buber, Nechama Leibowitz, David Weiss Halivni and more.

Instructors for the series include Dr. Claire Emily Sufrin (Northwestern University), Rabbi Moshe Simkovich, Dr. Devorah Schoenfeld (Loyola University), and Dr. Sam Fleischacker (Director of Jewish Studies at University of Illinois-Chicago).

The series is free and open to all; the synagogue will provide (kosher) refreshments). All
classes are on Sunday evenings. Participants can choose to take any number of classes from one to all -- and no registration is required.

Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob synagogue (SVAJ) is a historic (founded in 1956) Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation in Skokie; their robust adult education program takes on practical, religious, and academic topic. Their mission involves a firm commitment tohalakha (Jewish law), a spirit of inclusion and ahavat achim v’achot (love of fellow person), and strong commitment to intellectual discussion of Torah and other Jewish texts.

This series is sponsored by Edward and Leah Reicin in Memory of Nahum Zalman. Find out more: http://svaj.org