Hey, Abraham: We’ve got news for you.
Remember when you tried to kill your son Isaac? Sure, it’s been a few thousand years. But the statute of limitations is not up.
This Sunday (Dec. 12) at 4 p.m., the Conservative Synagogue of Westport puts the founding patriarch of the Israelites on trial — for child endangerment and attempted murder.
Abraham: Attempted murderer or good guy?
The synagogue’s sanctuary will be transformed into a courtroom for this “exciting and most postponed trial.” It’s based on the book of Genesis 22, in which Abraham takes his son to a mountain and prepares to sacrifice him. Luckily, he’s stopped by an intervening angel.
The presiding judge is Steven Krawitz of Westport. Westonite Bruce Koffsky will serve as defense attorney. Jim Glasser of Weston is prosecutor.
Members of the community will make up the jury, with open deliberations to follow the trial. Some of the witnesses called to the stand will include Abraham’s wife Sarah, Isaac, and Abraham himself.
All that’s missing is Johnnie Cochran — sorry, he won’t be on the case. If he were there, he’d probably say: “You may be honored in 3 holy books, but they’ll put you away with killers and crooks.”
(“The Trial of Abraham” is free, and open to everyone. RSVP by calling 203-454-4673.)
A very clever way to engage in and interpret scripture.
Use the bi-polar defense… hearing voices, etc.
check out: Steven Brams (NYU), Biblical Games: Game theory and the Hebrew Bible (that’s the book; if you go to his NYU hosted website/patent protected site you will see that the ‘biblical’ conflicts are concluded rationally and described numerically. also, you can interact within the conflcits, etc.). it is so interesting. this trial being held at the synagogue is going to be fantastic. i wish i was in town that day.