Due to current events in the Middle East, Temple Isaiah of Great Neck has re-scheduled its thought-provoking three-part series entitled “Science and Religion” presented by Rabbi Geoffrey A. Mitelman.
The first session entitled “Has Science Replaced G-d?” will be on Monday, Oct. 30 at 7:30 P.M. The second session entitled “Intelligence, Consciousness or a Soul? – Some Jewish Views on AI” will be held on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 P.M.
Temple Isaiah of Great Neck is located at One Chelsea Place in Great Neck. The program will be held in person or on Zoom.
In the first session, Rabbi Mitelman explains that for centuries, religion provided answers for our ancestors to all of life’s questions. But in the modern day, we usually look to science to tell us where we came from, who we are, or even how we should act. He poses the question – How should we look at, think about and talk about the relationship between science and religion in today’s world?
During the second session, Rabbi Mitelman will discuss such issues as how we define “intelligence” and how do we define “artificial”; Does AI have consciousness or a soul; while traditional Jewish texts would not know about ChatGPT, what analogies can we draw from Biblical, Rabbinic and later Jewish texts.\
Rabbi Mitelman is the Founding Director of Sinai and Synapses, an organization that bridges the scientific and religious worlds and is being incubated at Clal – The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.
He was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion where he received the Cora Kahn Prize from the Cincinnati faculty for the most outstanding sermon delivery and oratory.
An alumnus of Princeton University, he received multiple prizes for outstanding scholarship in Biblical and Judaic studies.
He was selected to be a member of the first cohort of Clal’s prestigious Rabbis Without Borders fellowship, a national program that seeks to position rabbis as American religious leaders and spiritual innovators who contribute Jewish wisdom to the American spiritual landscape.
Additionally, he was chosen to be in the first group of the Balfour Brickner Rabbinic Fellowship, a joint program with Clal and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism that aims to integrate Jewish textual tradition with modern social and political issues.
His writings about the intersection of religion and science have been published in the books Seven Days, Many Voices, A Life of Meaning and These Truths We Hold, as well as on the Huffington Post, Nautilus, Orbiter, Science and Religion Today, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and My Jewish Learning.
He has been an adjunct professor at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion and the Academy for Jewish Religion and is an internationally sought-out teacher, presenter and scholar-in-residence.
Participation is in person or on Zoom. To participate via Zoom, please R.S.V.P. to (516)487-5373 or isaiahgn@yahoo.com for ID and Password.
For further questions or information about this enriching program please contact Temple Isaiah. Temple Isaiah is located at One Chelsea Place in Great Neck.
The fee is $10 each session and light refreshments will be served.
