The Terror of Night: Rabbinic Liturgy After Sunset

From the biblical age through medieval Rabbinics and into the world of Kabbalah, Jewish texts return again and again to an ancient Jewish preoccupation: the fear of the dark. As the days grow shorter and the solstice approaches, we will turn our attention to how the Rabbis understood the dangers of night and, through daily liturgy, crafted a theology of comfort that might guide Jews safely through darkness and back into light.

Sarah Zemelman is a student at Harvard Divinity School, pursuing a Master of Theological Studies degree with a focus in Judaism. Her undergraduate thesis, “Living and Dying Beyond Death: The Animacy of the Rabbinic Dead,” earned Highest Honors at Swarthmore College. Sarah has worked as a Jewish educator and community builder in a variety of roles, including Social Chair of Bryn Mawr College’s Hillel Chapter, Hebrew school teacher, and fellow with San Francisco Jewish Family & Children’s Services’ Next Chapter Program. She is excited to join Lehrhaus as a class host and lecturer.

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