The Evolution of the Soul in Jewish Tradition

Rabbi Jill Hammer

The Jewish idea of the soul, and of the journey of the soul before birth and after death, has evolved over time. In these three sessions, we'll look at a number of primary sources and learn about biblical, rabbinic, kabbalistic and contemporary views of the soul. We'll journey from the belief in the soul as an ancestral spirit to the idea that the soul is an ever-evolving multiplicity, a complex and composite human identity. We'll consider implications for how to think about the soul, and the journey through life and death, in our own lives.

Time:

Wednesdays, Dec. 3, 10,17

7 -8 PM

Format: Online only

About Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD: author, scholar, ritualist, poet, dream worker and midrashist, is the Director of Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion (www.ajrsem.org), and a co-founder of Beit Kohenet, a house of Jewish, mystical, earth-based, feminist seeking. She is the author of Undertorah: An Earth-Based Kabbalah of Dreaming, Return to the Place: The Magic, Meditation, and Mystery of Sefer Yetzirah, The Hebrew Priestess: Ancient and New Visions of Jewish Women’s Spiritual Leadership (with Taya Shere), The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons, The Omer Calendar of Biblical Women, Sisters at Sinai: New Tales of Biblical Women, and The Book of Earth and Other Mysteries. Her novel is called The Moonstone Covenant. She is the translator of The Romemu Siddur and of Siddur haKohanot: A Hebrew Priestess Prayerbook. She has written a children’s book, The Garden of Time. She lives in Manhattan with her family.