Jeffrey Rubenstein
How to Read a Talmudic Story
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026 - 7:00-8:30pm ET
Wednesday, June 3rd, 7:00-8:30pm ET
How to Read a Talmudic Story
Talmudic stories are sophisticated literary works that emerged from an oral
culture and exhibit an array of narrative techniques — among them carefully constructed
structures, verbal repetition, biblical quotation, irony, wordplay, and symbolic names. The
relationship of each story with its surrounding halakhic or Mishnaic context is also crucial to
understanding its meaning. This conversation will examine these literary features of Talmudic
stories as windows into the values, struggles, concerns and theological commitments of the
Talmudic storytellers.
Jeffrey L. Rubenstein is the Skirball Professor of Talmud and Rabbinic Literature at New York
University. He received his B.A. in Religion from Oberlin College, his M.A. in Talmud from the
Jewish Theological Seminary, where he also received rabbinic ordination, and his Ph.D. from the
Department of Religion of Columbia University. His books include, The History of Sukkot in the
Second Temple and Rabbinic Periods (1995); Talmudic Stories: Narrative Art, Composition and
Culture (1999), Rabbinic Stories (2002), The Culture of the Babylonian Talmud (2003), The
Land of Truth: Talmud Tales, Timeless Teachings (2018) and How to Read a Talmudic Story
(2026). Dr. Rubenstein has written numerous articles on the festival of Sukkot, Talmudic stories,
the development of Jewish law, and topics in Jewish liturgy and ethics.
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