Diaspora, Gender, and Politics in the Book of Esther
Dr. Aaron Koller / February 2, 2019
The book of Esther is the biblical book most about diaspora life. How does the book explore this topic, so jarring in biblical history but so central to our own lives as American Jews? What is the relationship between "homeland" and diaspora envisioned? How do the lives of the main characters help build an ideology, and how do their genders contribute to their different existences and different aspects of Jewish life?
Join Aaron Koller, author of Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought, for a four-week class jointly hosted by Drisha and Darkhei Noam exploring these issues, culminating a week before Purim.
Audio
Session 1 - 02/02/2019
Session 2 - 02/13/2019
Session 3 - 03/13/2019
Dr. Aaron Koller
Aaron Koller is associate professor of Near Eastern and Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University, where he is chair of the Robert M. Beren Department of Jewish Studies, and also Core Faculty and Coordinator of Adult Educational Programming at Drisha. His most recent book was Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2014), and his next book, Unbinding Isaac, on the ‘aḳedah in religious philosophy, is forthcoming, but he usually works on Semitic languages and linguistics. Aaron has served as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and held research fellowships at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and the Hartman Institute. He lives in Queens with his wife, Shira Hecht-Koller, and their children.
