Open Beit Midrash Scholar Limmud with Dr. Shira Billet 
"The Danger of Civic Enmity and the Possibility of Civic Friendship in Jewish Thought and Political Philosophy"

Tuesday, November 19th 7:30 pm Dinner, 8 pm Class

We live in a time of great polarization and mistrust, in American society and in many countries around the world. The Jewish community is also deeply divided. From ancient to modern to contemporary political philosophy, philosophers have recognized the ways in which a healthy social fabric is integral to the possibility of a flourishing and thriving community. Jewish thought also has a robust tradition, from antiquity to modernity, of recognizing the dangers of civic enmity. In this session, we will bring these two traditions to bear on one another, in the aftermath of a divisive and polarizing election season. 

Class will be live streamed. 

About Dr. Shira Billet

Shira Billet is Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Ethics at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she is also the academic director of the Hendel Center for Ethics and Justice, and the BA and MA advisor for the program in Jewish Ethics. Prior to joining the faculty at JTS, Shira completed a PhD in Jewish philosophy at Princeton University, and was a postdoctoral associate in Jewish Studies and Philosophy at Yale University. Shira lectures widely on topics related to Jewish philosophy and thought, and is currently completing a manuscript on the virtues of courage, humility, and truthfulness in the philosophy of the nineteenth-century German-Jewish philosopher Hermann Cohen.