ZOOM LINK

Exploring the challenges to Traditional Judaism

Lecture 1: The Moral Challenge

Western culture has in many ways diverged from the basic values of Jewish tradition. Borrowing a bit from Jonathan Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind, I’ll outline the underlying differences in approach and suggest some responses to the challenge.

Lecture 2: The Charge of Irrelevancy

It is often claimed by critics of Jewish tradition that it is outdated and that there are now more effective means of responding to the issues that tradition is meant to solve. Using an analogy to language (and borrowing from the economist FA Hayek), I’ll explain how traditional norms evolve and adapt.

Lecture 3: The Possible Challenge of AI

Artificial Intelligence is advancing at an astonishing pace. I’ll explain how it works and why it might pose particular challenges to Jewish tradition.

Lecture 4: The Challenge of Jewish Statehood

For 2000 years, Jewish tradition evolved as a counter-culture. Can it adapt to Jewish statehood where it might soon become a mainstream culture?

Moshe Koppel is a member of the department of Computer Science at Bar-Ilan University and serves as chairman of the Kohelet Policy Forum. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Courant Institute and did post-doctoral work in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Dr. Koppel has also published two books and many articles on Rabbinic literature, with special emphasis on logic and probability.  Dr. Koppel’s political activity includes co-drafting two proposed constitutions for Israel, including a joint proposal with Michael Eitan, formerly chairman of the Knesset’s Constitution and Law committee. Several laws that Dr. Koppel drafted have been passed by the Knesset.