Live & Learn with Gideon Amir Featuring Gender Based Laws in the Bible

13 May @ 10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Gender Based Laws in the Bible on May 13, 20, and 27 with Gideon Amir

In this course we will look at a special group of Torah laws that are clearly gender based. It is  clear that the Bible has a bias towards men and women are “second class”. Therefore, most of the laws we will discuss relate to what a man can do or cannot.  We will look at family laws: marriage, levirate marriage, divorce, inheritance, and polygamy. We will also look at laws dealing with whom a man may or may not have sexual relations (and marry).  Although the main aspect of the class is to review these laws, as time will allow, we will also talk about later rabbinic efforts to make Judaism more egalitarian.

Gideon Amir was born in Holland to Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel in 1947.  He grew up in Jerusalem and served in the IDF as a Paratrooper. Gideon received his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rechovot. In 1980, he moved to the United States, where he worked as a manager in several companies including Sperry Univac, British Telecom, and Cisco Systems. In 1999, he pursued his interest in Judaic Studies and enrolled in a full-time graduate program at Baltimore Hebrew University, where, in May 2001, he received his Master’s degree with honors. Redirecting his passion for teaching from computer science to Jewish and Bible studies, he became an adult Jewish educator for several education programs, including Temple Beth Ami, where he’s been a “regular” presenter as part of our Live & Learn program for many years.