Join us for a panel discussion of the biblical book Qohelet, an arresting work of philosophy. Its generalized, universalized presentation of Israel’s god—without Israel’s revelation, law, and history—its ruthless assessment of anyone’s knowledge of God or of how he manages the world, and its dire implications for how to live life have drawn the attention of commentators and thinkers for thousands of years.

In their new work on Qohelet, Menachem Fisch, a philosopher at Tel Aviv University, provides a discursive commentary on the book, and Debra Band, a published artist and illustrator of biblical and other works, provides illustrations and brief commentary. The book aims to bring Qohelet to the wider public, by offering a novel interpretation of the book that is neither esoteric nor marginal to the point of self-negating, but comprehensible to the public and meant for them.

This discussion is part of "Reflections on Judaism and Jewish Life," a three-part public program that the Marty Center co-created with the University of Chicago Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies. The series aims to enrich and expand conversations about Judaism and the traditions of thought and practice that surround it.