The assertion that humanity is made in the image of God has long been a linchpin of Jewish ethical thought, grounding contemporary commitments to human rights, racial justice, gender equity, disability affirmation, and more. But "divine image" traditions rest on a troubling intellectual history, one that traffics in human exceptionalism, anthropocentrism, and intense ableism. This talk critically examines that complex history and imagines richer alternatives, showing how queer, feminist, and ecologically-informed disability wisdom can catalyze a radical recognition of the sacred among human, animal, and earthy kin.

About Julia:

Julia Watts Belser (she/her) is professor of Jewish Studies at Georgetown University and core faculty in Georgetown’s Disability Studies program, as well as a rabbi and longtime activist for disability and gender justice. Her research centers on gender, sexuality, and disability in rabbinic literature; she also brings classical Jewish texts into conversation with disability studies, feminist and queer theory, and environmental justice. She is the author of several scholarly books, including Rabbinic Tales of Destruction: Gender, Sex, and Disability in the Ruins of Jerusalem (Oxford University Press, 2018). Her latest book is Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole (Beacon Press, 2023).

Join us person in 2022 Thayer or online here: https://myumi.ch/m7MeD