Power of the Image: Photographic Thoughts on Torah Values

A virtual event presentation by Shira Hecht-Koller

EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:

ABOUT THE EVENT:

Themes that are central to the rise and impact of the powerful platforms available to us 24 hours a day – power of the image, democratization of experience, deliberate curation – are at once both cutting edge and age-old, and are central to the experience of being human. They are also, in many ways, deeply rooted in our sacred texts. In this lecture and discussion we will explore the intersection between photography, imagery and the values embedded in classical Jewish texts.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Shira Hecht-Koller, is an educator, attorney, and entrepreneur. She is currently Director of Education for 929 English, a cutting-edge educational start-up and global platform for the study of Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. She brings with her over fifteen years of experience teaching Jewish Studies, designing interdisciplinary curricula and curating Jewish experiences in both formal and informal learning environments. She has taught at North Shore Hebrew Academy, SARHS, and at Drisha Institute, where she directed the Dr. Beth Samuels Talmud Fellowship Program, and she has practiced corporate IP law at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Passionate about both the written word and the photographic image, her writing has appeared in Tablet, The Forward, The Lehrhaus, Times of Israel and ejewishphilanthropy as well as in scholarly publications and journals, and her photography illustrates The Jewish Journey Haggadah. Her children’s book written together with artist Hanoch Piven will be published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2022. She was a Paradigm Fellow at the Paideia Institute of Jewish Studies in Stockholm, a Fellow in the Jewish Pedagogies Circle at M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education and is an educator for Moishe House’s Jewish Learning Collaborative. She sits on the advisory boards of Shazur/Interwoven and Grow Torah. She holds a JD from Cardozo School of Law, and is a graduate of the Bruriah Scholars advanced Talmud program at Midreshet Lindenbaum. She is also an avid tennis fan and – moved by the spirit of adventure – loves hiking and exploring the world with her husband Aaron and children Dalya, Shachar, Amitai and Aiden.