A Matter of Life: Roots of the Jewish and Christian Divergence on Abortion

Examining the biblical verses whose conflicting interpretations led to the splitting of paths between these traditions.
Dr. Tomer Persico is a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a Rubinstein Fellow at Reichman University and a Senior Research Scholar at the UC Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies. His fields of expertise include contemporary spirituality, Jewish modern identity, Jewish renewal, and forms of secularization and religiosity in Israel. His first book, The Jewish Meditative Tradition (Hebrew) was published by Tel Aviv University Press in 2016, and his second book, In God’s Image:

Jewish and Christian attitudes towards abortion diverged in the 2nd century, and hinge upon a different understanding of the relation between body and soul, and thus of the fetus.

In this session, Tomer Persico and Shoshana Cohen examine the biblical verses whose conflicting interpretations led to the splitting of paths between these traditions, helping us to understand the roots of this profound disagreement, as well as its contemporary consequences.

This series is part of Ideas for Today, our offering of  curated courses led by leading scholars addressing the compelling contemporary Jewish issues of the day.

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