Tanakh: Agency, Determinism, and Free Will in the Bible and Jewish Thought
Are our lives shaped by destiny, by our own choices, or by some mixture of the two? What does Tanakh say about human and animal agency, divine and astrological influence, and moral responsibility? Beginning with biblical texts and then turning to later Jewish thinkers, we will explore the range of ways Jewish tradition has answered these questions.
Upcoming classes
Dates: 28 Apr 2026 – 23 Jun 2026
Total of 9 sessions
About the facilitator
Idan Dorshav Dershowitz
Facilitator
Idan Dorshav Dershowitz joined the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University in 2024. He was previously Director of the School of Jewish Theology and Chair of Hebrew Bible at the University of Potsdam. His research interests include the evolution of biblical religion and the methods of ancient biblical editors, as well as the development of AI tools to trace the origins of ancient texts. He is the author of The Dismembered Bible: Cutting and Pasting Scripture in Antiquity and The Valediction of Moses: A Proto-Biblical Book. He is currently working on a children’s book on the origins of the alphabet.
