- This event has passed.
What’s God Playing At? Law as Performance
Tuesday, February 25, 2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Event Navigation
In late antiquity, some Jews began to think of the Torah as a natural law — absolute, immutable, and transcending historical time. Other ancient Jews, particularly the Talmudic rabbis, resisted this new way of thinking and elaborated a conception of divine law as a contingent and dynamic phenomenon unfolding in historical time. This lecture applies insights from performance studies, as well as theories of humor and play, to illuminate the rabbis’ counter-cultural construction of a historically embedded divine law.
Christine Hayes, Sterling Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, Yale University
This distinguished annual lecture is a partnership between the Helen Diller Institute and the Robbins Collection and Research Center at Berkeley Law. Cosponsored with the Center for Jewish Studies at UC Berkeley, the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, and the Department of Middle East Languages and Cultures. A light reception will be provided to all registrants.
These events are open only to UC Berkeley Law students, faculty, and staff, unless otherwise noted.
Events are wheelchair accessible. For disability-related accommodations, contact the organizer of the event. Advance notice is kindly requested..
If you have any photos or video from your event that you’d like to share with Berkeley Law for possible use in our digital and print marketing, please email communications@law.berkeley.edu.
Interested in receiving a weekly email digest of Berkeley Law events? Subscribe here.