02/05/2026 –, (3OG) Bibliothek Idioma: English
Can a novel be Jewish without mentioning Judaism? Using his own dystopian novel as a starting point, Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko opens up the hidden structure of a “crypto-Jewish” narrative shaped by exile, survival, and identity. Along the way, we’ll explore what makes a story Jewish—and why some of the deepest ideas often remain just beneath the surface.
Dystopian fiction often asks what happens when the world falls apart. Jewish tradition has been asking a similar question for thousands of years.
In this session, we will use a contemporary dystopian novel—written by the presenter—as a lens to explore what makes a narrative “crypto-Jewish.” Not only through explicit references, but through the deeper architecture of the story itself. Themes of exile, displacement, moral ambiguity, hidden identity, and the search for meaning in collapse all emerge as part of a long-standing Jewish conversation.
Drawing on selected passages and narrative structure, we will examine how ancient patterns—diaspora, survival, reinterpretation, and hope—reappear in unexpected places, even when stripped of overt religious language.
Along the way, we will ask:
What makes a story Jewish?
Can theology exist without being named?
And why might the most powerful expressions of identity be the ones that remain hidden?
No prior familiarity with the novel is required—this is not a book talk, but an exploration of how stories carry ideas.
Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko spends an inordinate amount of time thinking about things Jews are not supposed to be certain about—like the afterlife, Hell, and occasionally theology itself.
Proudly ordained at the Abraham Geiger Kolleg, he has served communities across Germany, the UK, Switzerland, and the United States, and has a long-standing habit of turning complicated ideas into slightly dangerous shiurim.
He also writes novels, teaches widely, and firmly believes that if a topic makes people a little uncomfortable, it is probably worth studying.