Wo/andering, Words and the Wilderness: The Journey of Sefer Bamidbar

Bamidbar – the wilderness, the words and the wandering. How a book that was never meant to be – came to be. Through the prism of the Biblical text, traditional commentators, ancient and modern philosophers, contemporary psychologists and social commentators, this course will take us on an unforgettable journey through the wilderness together with the people of Israel. The course will invite a thematic study of the book of Numbers, uncovering the relevance of the ancient text for our individual and national lives in modern times. We will explore amongst other ideas the challenge of leadership, the vicissitudes of nation building, the complexity of freedom, the danger and necessity of language and the impact of trauma on the individual and collective narrative.