Engage in a brain-twisting, mind-wrestling, hair-splitting experience as you explore modern situations and the complex dilemmas they give rise to while you seek solutions by examining original Talmudic texts.
Beginning the first week of February, Rabbi Avrohom Stolik of Chabad of Downtown Coral Gables will offer a fascinating new six-session course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) called The Dilemma: Modern Conundrums. Talmudic Debates. Your Solutions.
The course will be offered at two locations: six Wednesdays beginning February 1st at Chabad, 1827 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Coral Gables, and on six Thursdays beginning February 2nd at the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff, 121 Alhambra Plaza, 10th floor, Coral Gables.
In an example of one such conundrum, Tesla Motors is currently programming self-driving cars for instances when death is inevitable. Should they program the cars to swerve and avoid killing more pedestrians, but kill one whose life was previously not endangered? Should it favor the lives of pedestrians over passengers? Should it favor the lives of younger people over those who are older? And should owners be given the ability to determine these settings?
In another example relating to the recently popularized Pokémon Go mobile app: Should the game’s creators be held liable in the hundreds of cases of trespassing and damages that were incurred because of Pokémon characters negligently programmed to be found on private properties?
“In The Dilemma we encounter fascinating, real-life conundrums; situations in which your gut instinctively responds one way, but your brain tells you quite the opposite,” explained Rabbi Zalman Abraham of JLI’s Brooklyn, New York headquarters. “To solve these dilemmas, participants are asked to break into study groups and explore hair-splitting Talmudic arguments that participants then debate and apply to solve the cases using new, interactive polling technology.”
“The Dilemma is a mental expedition in which participants mind-wrestle with situations that force them to choose between two reasonable truths,” said Rabbi Stolik the local JLI Instructor in Coral Gables. “Participants analyze, discuss, and debate original Talmudic texts to solve dilemmas and get an authentic taste of dynamic Talmud study.”
“I find people in the Gables love having the opportunity to engage in social discourse, particularly when it involves fascinating intellectual challenges and hot topics such as Pokémon Go and Tesla’s self-driving cars,” said Rabbi Stolik. “This is by far the most captivating course we’ve ever offered and I encourage everyone to attend.”
The Dilemma is accredited in Florida for continuing legal education credits for attorneys and others in the legal professions. Like all JLI programs, this course is designed to appeal to people at all levels of knowledge, including those without any prior experience or background in Jewish learning. All JLI courses are open to the public, and attendees need not be affiliated with a particular synagogue, temple, or other house of worship.
Interested students may visit www.ChabadGables.com/dilemma or call 305-490-7572 for registration and for other course-related information.
