The Bible Doesn’t Say That – Yom Limmud Sydney speaker reveals all
Presenter Joel Hoffman specialises in bringing the Bible to life with fresh insights and interpretations for the 21st century..and will be a featured presenter at Yom Limmud.
Joel Hoffman
Chief translator for the popular 10-volume series, My People’s Prayer Book (winner of the National Jewish Book Award), Hoffman holds a PhD in linguistics and has served on the faculties of Brandeis University and Hebrew Union College.
Grass and Shavuot: What do they have in common?
With the recent festival of Shavuot coinciding with the northern spring, Hoffman sees us as being like grass.
“Pave over a field and an amazing thing happens each spring: grass grows through the blacktop. Somehow, even the industrial strength of the pavement, powerful enough to support the tonnage of trucks, can’t stop a single, fragile, nascent blade of grass yearning for light…
“Instead of blacktop, we have to overcome petty rivalry, jealousy, hatred, and ego, just to name a few. These are often harder than pavement.
“Grass apparently contains chemicals called auxins… which give the grass no choice but to grow upward. We in contrast have free choice, so we should ask ourselves at this time of year: are we growing in the right direction… are we growing consistent with our values and traditions?”
Hoffman’s only appearance in Sydney will be at Yom Limmud Sydney, expounding from his compelling book The Bible Doesn’t Say That – register here and hear him peel back 2,000 years of revisionism, taking a look at the Bible as it originally was.
Yom Limmud Sydney is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based event supported by The Shalom Institute.
Featuring fascinating international and local speakers, Yom Limmud Sydney is a day program of Jewish learning and creativity being held on July 3rd.
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