A six-week course at LSJS: London School of Jewish Studies in which deep Jewish wisdom is applied to real social action.

The modern world bombards us with complex global ethical questions never imagined by previous generations. How can our ancient Jewish sources guide us in acting good before the meta issues of third world poverty, climate change, and trade injustice?

Can we discern a unique Jewish voice that speaks to the ethics of modernity?

Our sages tell us that the world stands on three things: Study (Torah), Prayer (Avodah) and Acts of Kindness (G’milut chasadim).  Led by Rabbi Natan Levy, this course will examine this pivotal third pillar of Judaism, and ask if is still strong enough to hold up an increasing fragile world.

In this course you will study Jewish Responsibility with key rabbis and educators including Dr Raphael Zarum, and learn from Jewish and non-Jewish activists who are making a difference on the front lines of social action. Their stories will serve as the crucible for building a more nuanced perspective on the difficult challenges of tikkun olam.

This course is supported by Project Chesed, an LSJS-United Synagogue partnership initiative to learn about and encourage more acts of kindness to our community and beyond. The course is open to all, and all texts will be translated.  The educators will include Jewish thinkers such as Clive Lawton, Rabbi David Mason, and Dr. Raphael Zarum, as well as practitioners in the field, including Dan Berelowitz from Tzedek, Candice Woolfson from Project Chesed, and Nigel Varndell from ChristianAid.

8:00pm to 10:00pm

Six Tuesday evenings

2 June to 7 July 2009
Course fee: £6

To book on-line, click here.

LSJS Jewish Responsibility Unit

The new LSJS Jewish Responsibility Unit bridges the gap between Jewish wisdom and Jewish action by inspiring those in the field with a deeper Jewish understanding of their work, teaching our community the Jewish ethics of responsibility, and enabling them to get more involved in social change.

The Unit has Leonie Lewis as its Director and Rabbi Natan Levy as its Rabbinic Expert. See the LSJS website for more details. Thanks to The Pears Foundation and The Schimmel Family Foundation for their support.