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Alumni HC Alumnus Rabbi Josh Breindel, “Sci-Fi Rabbi”

By Adam Zemel
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Hebrew College Rabbinical School alumnus Rabbi Josh Breindel ’09 was featured this week at JewishBoston.com for his blending of speculative fiction and Jewish study:

“Jews are sometimes known as ‘the people of the book’—but sometimes that book can be a science fiction or fantasy novel that’s just as worthy of discussion as a religious text. Just ask Rabbi Josh Breindel.

Breindel, who has been with Congregation Beth El in Sudbury since 2018, leads the Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction Book Club as well as ongoing classes on Jewish science fiction at Lehrhaus in Somerville. He’s also appearing on Nov. 13 at Porter Square Books for ‘Beyond the Final Frontier: Jewish Speculative Fiction’ (click here for more information).

…’Sometimes there are direct references to Jewish life and culture; other times it’s more guarded or implicit,” he says. “But I began to sense that sci-fi in some ways is a modern form of midrash—a Jewish creative impulse that explores that ancient question: What does it mean to be human, and what changes because of our situation and what remains universal?'”

Read the whole story: Fantasy, Science Fiction and Judaism — Discuss!

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