The 27th Annual Gates of Chai Lectureship in Contemporary Judaism "The Hebrew Bible and the Afterlife: Misconceptions and Reconsiderations" with Dr. Benjamin D. Sommer will be held on Monday, September 16, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at the Dee J. Kelly Alumni Center on the TCU campus.

The lecture is free to attend, but pre-registration is required. Please CLICK HERE to complete the pre-registration form.

Benjamin Sommer is Professor of Bible at the Jewish Theological Seminary and Senior Fellow at the Kogod Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought of the Shalom Hartman Institute. The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz described Sommer as “a traditionalist but an iconoclast – he shatters idols and prejudices in order to nurture Jewish tradition and its applicability today” and characterized his thought as “a synthesis of intellectual acuity, clarity, deep knowledge of classical Jewish texts along with contemporary Christian theology and ancient Near Eastern literature.” His book, Revelation and Authority: Sinai in Jewish Scripture and Tradition, received the Goldstein-Goren Prize in Jewish thought for 2014–2016 and was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award. Publishers Weekly selected it as a “recommended book” in religion, describing it as a “groundbreaking work . . . clearly written and broad in application.” His earlier books, The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel and A Prophet Reads Scripture: Allusion in Isaiah 40–66, also received multiple awards. Sommer frequently teaches rabbinic and lay groups in the United States and Israel. He and his wife, Jennifer Dugdale, are members of Congregation Beth Sholom in Teaneck, New Jersey. His children, Avraham, Sarah, and Eliana have attended Solomon Schechter Schools and SAR High School.