RECORDING 'Rosh Hashana and the Urgency of Time' with Dr Elliott Malamet

Rosh Hashana and the Urgency of Time (Recording)

Going through the Yamim Noraim in the age of Covid-19 offers an unexpected opportunity to be able to better focus on the key themes of the High Holidays. In this session, Dr. Elliott Malamet will examine the question of time passing in our lives, as reflected in the core prayer of Unetaneh Tokef (“Who will live and who will die?”). How does Rosh Hashana navigate between urging people to wake up and recognize that life is finite and the end point unknown, without sending a negative or depressing message? Can religious rituals like repentance, prayer, and charity magically change one’s fate, or is there a much deeper meaning to the prayer’s concluding line? How does Judaism as a whole, communicate about our mortality in the hope of creating more mindful Jews who appreciate each moment of existence?

NB: Please note that, due to a technical glitch, the recording starts when Elliott has been speaking for about a minute, introducing a key theme of the Rosh Hashana prayers -- human mortality.