Alan Brill - Rabbi on The Ganges: A Jewish Hindu Encounter

Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill, The Cooperman/Ross Endowed Chair for Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University, presents his lecture "Rabbi on The Ganges: A Jewish Hindu Encounter" before an audience at Temple Kol Ami(www.templekolami.org/) in Scottsdale, AZ. ABOUT THIS LECTURE: Professor Alan Brill recently spent a sabbatical in India teaching about the little-known encounters that Judaism has with Hinduism from within the Brahmin world. He notes that Indian works on religion typically reference Judaism through the lens of the practices of Leviticus, especially with regard to animal sacrifice. Judaism, on the other hand, tends to understand Eastern religions using the Talmudic categories of idolatry. Neither side understands much about the other one and their respective living reality. Exploring the commonalities of ideas on priestly rituals, purity, meditation, and text study, this lecture looks at how what is first seen as completely foreign and different, can be appreciated on its own terms through asking the proper questions and finding an appropriate lens. Thus, space is created for a shared spiritual language of understanding. DONATE: bit.ly/1NmpbsP For more info, please visit: www.facebook.com/valleybeitmidrash/ twitter.com/VBMTorah www.facebook.com/RabbiShmulyYanklowitz/ Music: "Watercolors" by John Deley and the 41 Players, a public domain track from the YouTube Audio Library