Moses:  Provocations from a Disabled Prophet”

May 5, 2024 – Join us on Zoom for a Presentation and Torah Study which will be led by Rabbi Julia Watts Belser –  “Moses:  Provocations from a Disabled Prophet”

When God sends Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery, the prophet famously says no.  Why?  Moses describes himself as “slow of speech and slow of tongue”—in other words, as a man with a speech disability.  While some commentators treat Moses’ disability as a spiritual impediment, this talk and text study brings Moses’ story into conversation with the life experiences and activism of contemporary disability communities.  We’ll grapple with spiritual and political questions about access and equity, invisibility and silence, as well as practices for transforming social inequality and shame to illuminate the provocative power of spiritual leadership that centers disability wisdom.

Rabbi Julia Watts Belser (she/her) is a scholar, spiritual teacher, and longtime activist for disability, LGBTQ, and gender justice. She is a professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University and core faculty in Georgetown’s Disability Studies Program. She’s also an avid wheelchair hiker, a devoted gardener, and a lover of wild places.  Her latest book is Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole.