Darwin, Evolution and the Judaic Response

Guest speaker: Dr. Joseph Gilbert

Charles Darwin’s 1859 publication ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’ created an urgent need for Jewish thought to respond. Many responses from Rabbis and the Jewish intelligentsia followed. The relationship/dispute between science and religion has not abated since the 19th Century. This is a topic of considerable breadth and depth. In this 21st Century, new scientific techniques have advanced our knowledge about our human development and further stimulated how we think about ourselves and our faith. The first week, Darwin’s idea will be explained. How Jewish thinkers approached Natural Selection and its meaning for theology will be briefly discussed. In the second lecture, new techniques of paleo archeology will be described. Who are we? What should we believe? Can Judaism and science live side by side?

Join us in-person at the Miles Nadal JCC or virtually!

Dr. Joseph Gilbert is a retired physician, researcher, research administrator and hospital executive. As a lifelong fan of classical music, Dr. Gilbert has in recent years concentrated on studying the interface of Judaism and Jewish subjects with opera, music and history. He has lectured on these subjects in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Florida, in addition to his hometown of London, Ontario. Some of his lecture topics include The Music and Legacy of Felix Mendelssohn; French Opera and Anti-Semitism; The Dybbuk and The Golem, The Portrayal of Jews in Opera, Shostakovich, Stalin and Russian Jews, recently presented at Jewish Music Week Toronto 2022. For the Miles Nadal JCC, Dr. Gilbert has spoken about Jewish Folk Tales that Have Become Operas, Entartete Musik – Degenerate Music and presented the virtual lectures Salamone Rossi and Jewish Music in the Italian Renaissance; The Shtetl: The Real, The Fictitious and the Nostalgic – Parts I and II and last year’s The Story of Jud Süss, Oppenheimer, and the Film that Fueled the Holocaust. We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Gilbert back to our building this fall! For more information, visit https://www.josephgilbertmusic.com/about