2023 Boulder Jewish Festival June 4

“Kabbalah and the Big Bang” with Kabbalah Scholar Daniel Matt

Vanessa Frye February 13, 2019 Jewish Life Comments Off on “Kabbalah and the Big Bang” with Kabbalah Scholar Daniel Matt

Kabbalah and the Big Bang

Scholar in Residence Weekend

with Kabbalah Scholar Daniel Matt

March 14-16, 2019

Professor Daniel Matt

Congregation Har HaShem, Congregation Bonai Shalom, Scientists in Synagogues, and the University of Colorado’s Program in Jewish Studies and Department of Religious Studies welcome Professor Daniel Matt, renowned Kabbalah scholar and translator, for a series of talks in Boulder. Professor Matt’s Scholar in Residence Weekend, “From Kabbalah to the Big Bang: Ancient Wisdom and Contemporary Spirituality,” will take place March 14-16, 2019.

Congregation Har HaShem will host a Kabbalah Reading Group in preparation for Professor Matt’s visit to Boulder. Registration is $36 and includes the costs of books. This reading group is open to the public. The Kabbalah Reading Group will meet from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm on January 16, January 23, February 13, February 20, and March 13. Please contact Wayne Zirkin, waynezirkin@yahoo.com, if you are interested in participating.

Daniel Matt is now teaching Zohar online. Learn more here:
https://www.sup.org/zohar/class/

God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony between Science and Religion

University of Colorado Boulder Public Lecture

Thursday, March 14, 2019 | 7:00 PM
Benson Earth Sciences, Room 180, 2200 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO 80309
Free and open to the public
The theory of the Big Bang serves as the scientific creation myth of our culture. What does it have to do with God? How can it help us discover a spiritual dimension in our lives and recover a sense of wonder? In this talk, Daniel Matt will explore these questions, drawing on the insights of the Kabbalah as well as contemporary cosmology. He suggests several parallels between these two schools of thought, e.g., between what physicists call “broken symmetry” and what Kabbalah calls “the breaking of the vessels,” but his purpose is not to demonstrate that medieval kabbalists knew what scientists now know about the universe. Rather, he will show how we can appreciate each approach in light of the other and deepen our understanding of both.

Full Schedule of Events

The Feminine Hand of God
Friday, March 15, 2019 | 6:00 pm
Congregation Har HaShem, 3950 Baseline Road, Boulder 30075

Professor Matt will give a brief talk during services. Services are free and open to the public. After services, he will give a larger presentation during dinner. Registration for dinner is $25 per person, RSVP on Congregation Har HaShem’s website.

One of the boldest contributions of Kabbalah is the idea that God is equally female and male. Daniel Matt will briefly trace the development of Kabbalah and then focus on the concept of Shekhinah (the feminine aspect of God) from its rabbinic origins to its full flowering in the Zohar, where Shekhinah is identified with the Sabbath Bride.
The Mystical Meaning of Torah
Saturday, March 16, 2019 | 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Congregation Har HaShem, 3950 Baseline Road, Boulder 30075

Free and open to the public.

How does the mystical approach to Torah differ from a literal approach? From a midrashic approach? How can a mystical approach enrich our lives today? Daniel Matt will explore these questions with us by teaching several passages from his award-winning translation, The Zohar: Pritzker Edition.
The Zohar: Masterpiece of Kabbalah
Saturday, March 16, 2019 | 11:30 am and 1:00 pm (During services)
Congregation Bonai Shalom, 1527 Cherryvale Road, Boulder 80303

Professor Matt will give a d’var Torah during both services which are free and open to the public. After services, he will give a larger presentation during the kiddush lunch. For non-members, $10 (per person) donations for lunch are requested. RSVP to info@bonaishalom.org.

The Zohar emerged in 13th-century Spain. How exactly did it originate and what is its significance for us today? How does this mystical masterpiece interpret and reimagine the Torah? Scholar-in-residence Daniel Matt will explore these questions with participants by teaching several passages from his award-winning translation, The Zohar: Pritzker Edition.
Raising the Sparks: Finding God in the Material World
Saturday, March 16, 2019 | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Congregation Har HaShem, 3950 Baseline Road, Boulder 30075

Free and open to the public. Limited seating, RSVP on Congregation Har HaShem’s website.

How can God be encountered in our daily life? Daniel Matt will explore this question with participants by teaching passages from Kabbalah and Hasidism on the nature of God, the act of Creation, and the challenge of discovering God in the material world.
Daniel Matt’s scholar in residence weekend is hosted by Congregation Har HaShem, Congregation Bonai Shalom, Scientists in Synagogues, and CU Boulder’s Program in Jewish Studies and Department of Religious Studies.

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About Vanessa Frye

Vanessa is the Communication & Outreach Administrator with the Program in Jewish Studies at CU Boulder.

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