Women’s Initiative for Jewish Studies (WIJS) at Young Israel of New Rochelle will present Dr. Christine Hayes on Tuesday, April 1 at 8:15 pm (ET) on Zoom.

Dr. Hayes’s lecture is entitled, “Humor and Play in Rabbinic Literature: Can We Laugh at God?” In many legends and stories, the Talmudic rabbis depict God in shockingly human terms: The Divine being wears tefillin and prays, studies Torah, weeps, makes mistakes and suffers correction by humans. This lecture considers the ancient rabbis’ use of humor and play to explore and express the “seriously” distinctive character of Israel’s God.

Christine Hayes, Sterling Professor Emerita of Religious Studies in Classical Judaica, Yale University, specializes in Talmudic-midrashic studies. Hayes is a Senior Research Fellow with the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, and recently served as the president of the Association for Jewish Studies.

All WIJS programming is open to women and men. Please visit https://www.yinr.org/wijs.html  to view the complete WIJS 2024-25 schedule. For more information, to be added to the WIJS email list or for Zoom information, please call 914-636-2215 or email: wijs@yinr.org. Individuals on the WIJS mailing list will automatically receive the Zoom information.