Department of Religious Studies presents the 13th annual Nate and Ann Levine Endowed Lecture in Jewish Studies

Yoram Hazony will speak on “The Ethics of a Shepherd." The presentation will explore whether the Bible can be read as a work of philosophy in narrative form. Dr. Hazony will argue that Hebrew Scripture addresses pressing moral, political, and theological questions by pitting the lives of a series of shepherds—including Abel, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David—against the worldview represented by the figure of the farmer, beginning with Cain. The event will be accompanied by sale and signing of the speaker’s most recent book.

Dr. Hazony is Founder and Provost of the Shalem Center and a Senior Fellow in the Department of Philosophy, Political Theory, and Religion. His books include The Jewish State: The Struggle for Israel’s Soul (Basic Books, 2000) and The Dawn: Political Teachings of the Book of Esther (Shalem Press, 2000). Dr. Hazony has written articles for The New York Times, The New Republic, Commentary, Azure, and Ha'aretz. His new books are The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and Hume and the Science of Mind. He is also director of Shalem's Jewish Philosophical Theology project and a member of the John Templeton Foundation Board of Advisors. He is author of a regular weblog on philosophy, Judaism, Israel, and higher education called Jerusalem Letters.