Did Abraham begin to practice Judaism as a toddler or as an adult? How could he have done so before the Torah was given at Mount Sinai? This midrash (interpretive story) raises a profound question: how is it possible to observe a tradition that hadn’t yet been formally revealed? Using midrash as our anchor, we’ll explore what this suggests about what makes Judaism meaningful—and how we might find God in our own lives. We’ll ask whether religious practice is intuitive, or if it requires slow, deliberate reasoning to shape how we live and believe.

Samson Goldberg has taught Jewish texts in a wide variety of settings, including the Prozdor High School at JTS, the Genesis Precollege Program at Brandeis University, and Reform and Orthodox synagogues in his hometown of Albany, New York. He has studied at the yeshiva at the Hadar Institute in New York City and Yeshivat Ma'ale Gilboa in northern Israel. Samson has a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Law, with minors in History and Religious Studies, from Binghamton University.