Traveling to Babylon—For Good

Date: Aug 23, 2021 - Aug 23, 2021

Time: 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Sponsor: Online Learning

Location: Online

Category: Online Learning


Traveling to Babylon—For Good

Part of our summer learning series, “A Wandering People: Jewish Journeys, Real and Imagined”

August 23, 2021, 2:00–3:30 p.m. ET

The first time Jews traveled to Babylon, it was part of a great exile. But when the rabbis returned to Babylon many centuries later, joining a now “native” Jewish community there, they found themselves very much at home. Some did indeed claim Babylon as home, while others traveled back and forth between Babylon and Palestine as rabbinic messengers to ensure that the teachings of each were available to the other. Two confident centers of Jewish life developed, not unlike modern New York and Jerusalem. In this session with Dr. David Kraemer, we will explore the legacy of those rabbis and how their work continues to impact Jewish life today.

If you have previously registered for another session in this series, your registration admits you to all sessions in the series, and you may attend as many as you’d like. 

Register for the Series

About the Series

As the pandemic surged and forced us into our homes, many of us dreamed with new intensity of being elsewhere. For Jews throughout the ages, the promises and perils of travel have been central to shaping the individual and collective experience. Notions of home and homeland have been redefined by Jewish wandering. Drawing on literary, spiritual, and historical sources and responses, JTS scholars will explore what happens when Jews—whether by force or voluntarily, whether in reality or in the imagination—travel from one place to another. View all sessions in the series

Note: The Zoom link for this session will be in the confirmation email that you will receive after you register.