Judaism Is About Love! A Conversation with Rabbi Shai Held and Rev. Dr. Jerome Creach
Judaism Is About Love! A Conversation with Rabbi Shai Held and Rev. Dr. Jerome Creach
Feb. 11, 2025, 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
In-person and Online
A dramatic misinterpretation of the Jewish tradition has shaped the history of the West: Christianity is the religion of love, and Judaism the religion of law. In the face of centuries of this widespread misrepresentation, Rabbi Shai Held recovers the heart of the Jewish tradition in his most recent book, Judaism Is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life. In it he offers the radical and moving argument that love is foundational and constitutive of true Jewish faith, animating the singular Jewish perspective on injustice and protest, grace, family life, responsibilities to our neighbors and even our enemies, and chosenness. Rabbi Held will be joined in conversation with Dr. Jerome Creach, Robert C. Holland Professor of Old Testament at PTS. Rabbi Held and Dr. Creach will share their mutual scholarly interest in the Hebrew Bible, and consider how each of their traditions—Judaism and Christianity—are religions of love rooted in these Scriptures.
Rabbi Held's book will be available for $25 pre-purchase during registration until Jan.31. Orders can be retrieved only in-person at the event.
This event is in partnership with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and the Center for Loving Kindness.
Presenters
Rabbi Shai Held—theologian, educator, author—is president, dean, and chair in Jewish Thought at the Hadar Institute in New York City. He is the author of Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence and The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes. He lives in White Plains, N.Y.
The Rev. Dr. Jerome Creach is the Robert C. Holland Professor of Old Testament at PTS. Before joining the faculty of Pittsburgh Seminary in 2000, he taught at Barton College (1994-2000), the College of William & Mary, Randolph-Macon College, and the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Creach earned his doctorate at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (now Union Presbyterian Seminary). Prior to his study at Union, he earned his M.Div. and Th.M. (in systematic theology) at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Creach is interested in Old Testament theology and the appropriation of the Bible to the life of the Church. Psalms and Prophets are his primary areas of research. His publications include Reading Psalms: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Smyth & Helwys, 2022); Discovering Psalms: Content, Interpretation, Reception (SPCK and Eerdmans, 2020); Violence in Scripture (WJK, 2013); The Destiny of the Righteous in the Psalms (Chalice, 2008); Joshua (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, WJK, 2003); Yahweh as Refuge and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter (Sheffield, 1996). A Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Dr. Creach has served congregations in Virginia and North Carolina and preaches and teaches regularly in churches in the Pittsburgh area. He is married to Page L. D. Creach, also a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). They have two children, Adair and Davis.
Schedule
6:30-7:00 p.m. Gathering and Light Refreshments
7:00-8:30 p.m. Conversation with Rabbi Held and Dr. Creach
Registration
This event is FREE to attend.
Questions
Please contact or call 412-924-1345.