Limmud Bay Area Experience 2015

One of my favorite books as a teenager was Twisted Tales from Shakespeare (Richard Armour) in which the classic texts were filled with humorous 20th century additions, edits and storyline revisions. Similarly, our Jewish texts are filled with stories of heroes/heroines, who, depending on the narrator, challenge us to either "advocate" on their behalf, or legitimize  "hugging and wrestling." Parashat Chukat is exemplary in its demonstration of the Torah’s fickleness in its portrayal of who is Jewish hero. We will look at a number of images from our texts and history where "the spin" serves agendas of both authors, interpreters and recipients.