Rabbinic Intern Noah Dor Lind brings their passion for cinema and Scripture together with this two-part adult education offering. Please note this class is only open to those over age 18.

The Book of Job is one of the most powerful and paradoxical stories in our tradition. Through its recitation we hear ancient questions echoing across time: "Why is there suffering? By what process does misfortune fall on one person and not another? Where is Hashem in the midst of tragedy?" These questions are also at the heart of the 2009 film, A Serious Man, which follows Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Midwestern physics professor who turns to his faith to try to understand why his life is falling apart.

This class is a two-parter: The first week we will study excerpts of Job to get an overview of the themes and do a close reading practice to reveal its resonances in our modern context. The second week there will be a screening of A Serious Man, followed by a discussion on the movie and the same close reading practice adapted to fit the medium of film. Dinner will be provided.

Though the Coen brothers have since debunked the rumor that A Serious Man is an adaptation of the book of Job, putting these two Jewish stories of misfortune and absurdity next to each other has rich spiritual lessons for us to uncover.