There was a time in ancient Jewish history when non-Jews were considered “impure,” says Rabbi Elizabeth Goldstein, although this belief died out before the first century CE.

“Today the boundary between Jew and non-Jew is pretty clearly defined, even as we love our non-Jewish neighbours,” she says. “Yet new issues constantly emerge that challenge the careful balance we strive to create.”

Dr. Goldstein is an associate professor of religious studies at Gonzaga University, specializing in Hebrew Bible and Jewish women’s studies. She draws on biblical teaching in her presentation “From Purity and Impurity to Us and Them” at Congregation Beth El on Saturday, May 27.

“What can the Torah’s ancient system teach us about the contemporary categories of ‘us’ and ‘them’?” says Goldstein. “How should we use this wisdom to achieve what is just and right?”

The “Shavuot Study with the Scholar” event, sponsored by the Stephen Jarislowsky Chair in Religion and Conflict at Assumption University, the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of Windsor, and Congregation Beth El, begins at 1:30 p.m.

Congregation Beth El is located at 2525 Mark Ave. Attendance via the Zoom videoconference platform is available to registrants. Click here to register online.