Scholar James L. Kugel to inaugurate Bible Study Project, February 4-8

James L. Kugel, a scholar of the Hebrew Bible, will be the initial speaker in a two-year state-wide Bible study project, “Reading the Bible: Encounters and Dialogues.” Professor Kugel was formerly of Harvard University and now teaches at Bar Ilan University in Israel.

Kugel will be in Wisconsin Thursday, Feb. 4, through Monday, Feb. 8. See his schedule of appearances.

In Kugel's most recent book, “How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture Then and Now,” he states that he is both an Orthodox Jew – “a believer in the divine inspiration of Scripture and … a keeper of the Jewish Sabbath, dietary laws, and all the other traditional practices of Orthodox Judaism” – and “someone who has spent most of his life studying and teaching modern biblical scholarship.”

That distinctive situation “puts me right in the middle of the dilemma to which this book is devoted,” seeking to “go about honestly confronting modern scholarship and yet not lose sacred Scripture in the process,” Kugel wrote.

That situation also makes Kugel an appropriate person to inaugurate the study project, according Daniel Weber, who co-chairs the planning committee with Sherry Blumberg.

“So many Jews today find themselves in the same dilemma as Dr. Kugel, being a believer who is also a questioner, that it is particularly useful to have him come to Wisconsin to help our community become engaged in a dialogue about how each of us reads, interprets, and applies the biblical stories,” Weber said.

Deena Aranoff, Ph.D., professor of Jewish studies at the University of California, Berkeley, is scheduled to speak in Wisconsin in March, and other speakers will appear in the spring and autumn.

The second stage of this project will convene study groups throughout the state to examine and discuss the Bible from a variety of perspectives. The project organizers also plan to show films based directly or indirectly on Bible stories.

This project was conceived by the Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning, and is being planned in cooperation with the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, and the Coalition for Jewish Learning, the education program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.

See James Kugel's schedule of events that are open to the public.