Blaustein Family Fund Scholar in Residence | November 14-15, 2025
Temple Beth Sholom is extremely grateful to the Blaustein Family Fund for sponsoring our Annual Scholar in Residence. This year we have Rabbi Michael Murmur, Ph.D., who is Professor of Jewish Theology at HUC-JIR/Jerusalem.
Until July 2018 he served as the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost at HUC-JIR, having previously been Dean of the Jerusalem campus. After some 20 years in administrative capacities, he now concentrates his energies on teaching and writing.
Born and raised in England, Rabbi Marmur completed a B.A. Degree in Modern History at the University of Oxford before moving to Israel in 1984. While studying for an M.A. in Ancient Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he completed his studies in the Israel Rabbinic Program of HUC-JIR in Jerusalem, and was ordained in 1992. For six years following his ordination, he worked as rabbi and teacher at the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa. He has been an employee of HUC-JIR since 1997.
Michael Marmur served for three years as Chair of the Board of Rabbis for Human Rights and is still a member of its Board. He has lectured and taught courses in several countries around the world.
His publications include Abraham Joshua Heschel and the Sources of Wonder, American Jewish Thought Since 1934 (edited with the late David Ellenson), and most recently Living the Letters: An Alphabet of Emerging Jewish Thought.
Friday, November 14
6:00 PM | (during Shabbat Services) “Anxiety and Hope: Two Engines of Jewish Creativity”
Drawing on the introduction to Professor Marmur’s New book “Living the Letters” 7:00 PM | Shabbat Dinner RSVP
8:00 PM | Dessert and Salon-Style Discussion “Israel: A Struggle for Decency”
At a dramatic time in Israel’s history, this session offers a framework which may help think through some of the most crucial and the most difficult issues playing out in Israel at the moment. From the perspective of an Israeli Reform Rabbi engaged in the field of human rights, I will suggest a paradigm which may be of interest to people far to the right of me in their politics, as well as to those way to my left. Beyond those categories, Israel faces extreme challenges, and we will try to think through some of them together.
Saturday, November 15
9:30 AM | Torah Study – “Impossible Camels. Unique Words and Absent Patriarchs”: A Reading of Genesis 24
In this session we will look at Genesis 24, part of this week’s Torah portion. Among other points to be discussed, we will ask: how we should understand words which appear only once in the Bible> What is strange about the appearance of camels in the story? And where does Abraham go after the beginning of the chapter?
10:30 AM | Program with JLab Families – “Humor as a Religious Category”
Usually when we talk about Jewish humor we think about famous standups and classic sitcoms. In this session, we will show how Jewish humor has a much longer pedigree, and how it is central to Jewish culture. When humor is more than distraction or entertainment, it has a profound purpose.
12:00 PM Lunch and Learn- “What Binds Me? On Jewish Commitments”
Drawing on two chapters from Living the Letters, we will ask: how should a Reform Jew think about duty and commandment? What binds me? How should my commitments be formed?