On Shabbat, May 24, 2014, Cong. Rinat Yisrael, 389 W. Englewood Ave., Teaneck, NJ, will host Prof. Aaron Koller, Associate Professor of Bible and Assistant Dean, Yeshiva College addressing “Submissiveness vs. Assertiveness in the Jewish Tradition.”

Times: Friday evening before Maariv, Introductory Talk

Shabbat 9 a.m. minyan, “On the Economics of Shemitta and Yovel”

Shabbat 6:40 p.m.: “Bar Kokhba in Rabbinic Thought”

Shabbat after 7:40 p.m. Mincha: “The Aqeda: Submission or Assertiveness?”

Aaron Koller is an Associate Professor of Near Eastern and Jewish Studies and Assistant Dean at Yeshiva College, where he studies the ancient world of the Bible and rabbinic literature, especially material culture, language, and intellectual history. He earned his Ph.D. at the Revel Graduate School and his BA from Yeshiva College. Professor Koller received a multiyear research fellowship at Hebrew University and was previously a Wexner Graduate Fellow. His most recent book is Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

Prof. Koller also teaches Talmud and Biblical interpretation at the Drisha Institute.