Wednesday evening Advent learning series hosted by Good Samaritan Episcopal Church, Corvallis 

You are cordially invited to join us for our annual Advent learning series in early December. This year we are delighted to welcome Rabbi Maurice Harris as our guest presenter. Rabbi Maurice is familiar with Good Sam, as he taught a series on Jewish Midrash biblical interpretation here a few years ago. This Advent he will be joining us for a two week class from Philadelphia via Zoom.
Wednesday, December 1st and 8th at 7.00 p.m. Pacific Time:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82089929182?pwd=bTlMRG42NU0wUm9sMHdSQnJ1Rk44UT09
Meeting ID: 820 8992 9182
Passcode: 908232

Reasonable Defiance and Disturbing Obedience in Genesis:
The Fall, Original Sin and the Mind of God
In these two sessions, we’ll explore Jewish teachings and interpretations of two of the most foundational stories in Genesis: the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), and Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son, Isaac, upon an altar (Genesis 22). Using online slides, Rabbi Maurice will present several examples of rabbinic midrash that have shaped traditional Jewish understandings of these stories, and he will introduce some of the interpretive methods that characterize midrash in the process. During discussion, he will ask about and seek to understand classical Christian interpretations of these texts, in the spirit of mutual spiritual appreciation and inquiry.

Rabbi Maurice Harris works at Reconstructing Judaism, the central organization of the Reconstructionist movement of Judaism, in Wyncote, PA.
Previously, Maurice served as Associate Rabbi and Head of School at Temple Beth Israel in Eugene, Oregon.
Maurice is the author of three books: Moses: A Stranger among Us (2012); Leviticus: You Have No Idea (2013); and The Forgotten Sage: Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah and the Birth of Judaism as We Know It (2019), all from Cascade Books.