RECORDING of 'What is the Sound of Revelation?' with Dr Elliott Malamet (May 2022)

In this shiur, we will explore the meaning of the well-known phrase that the Jewish people "saw the sounds" of the shofar and other audio events at Sinai [Exodus 20]. What does this idea imply for the reception of Torah? How is it connected to the notion that revelation is an ongoing and never finished process? We will also examine the idea that the Torah relies upon every person's contribution to its meaning, throughout history, without end. How does one balance the concept that God gave the Torah at Sinai, and it is "this Torah" that we follow, with the premise that the Torah is open-ended and waiting to be not only replenished but to be changed by the thoughts and insights of each generation? And is there a "sound of revelation" today? How does one hear it? Has it become more difficult to "hear God" in modern life, and how might one try to overcome that challenge?

Speaker bio: Dr. Elliott Malamet is the co-director of Living Jewishly, a non-denominational organization that creates inspiring conversations and ideas for meaningful Jewish living. Dr. Malamet lives in Jerusalem where he teaches literature at the Hebrew University as well as Jewish philosophy at a number of Israeli institutions. He blogs regularly on the Living Jewishly website.

Image courtesy of The Met

Title: Moses receiving the tablets of the law on Mount Sinai, after Raphael's Stanza di Eliodoro, from a series of 15 plates, depicting Raphael's works for the Vatican stanze and the Sistine Chapel tapestries
Series/Portfolio: Series of 15 plates depicting Raphael's works for the Vatican stanze and the Sistine Chapel tapestries
Artist: Pietro Santi Bartoli (Italian, Perugia 1615–1700 Rome)
Artist: After Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) (Italian, Urbino 1483–1520 Rome)