Every year, Congregation B’nei Jeshurun is holding the largest community-wide event of the year, an all-night biblical text study in honor of Shavuot, the Jewish holiday marking the receiving of the Torah. The event features rabbis, scholars, cantors, ethics experts, Jewish educators and many others, providing dozens of one-hour presentations to a very diverse audience.

For the sixth year, Professor Doron Kalir presented at the event. In a presentation entitled “The Tree of Knowledge: Facts vs. Values,” Professor Kalir addressed the differences between Chapter A and B of The Book of Genesis. kalir also addressed the differences between knowing (or understanding) a fact and assessing it morally – the act passing value-judgement. The latter, Kalir argued, is what makes us unique, as we are the only creatures in nature to do so.