How Do You Want to Be Remembered?

Lesley Simpson PhD

Wednesday, 15 December 2021, at 7.30 p.m.

VIRTUAL MEETING: Join from Home

“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations.” This text from Deuteronomy is on the home page of JGSToronto. The quotation is from Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 7. What does it mean to “remember the days of old”? And what does it mean to “consider the years of many generations”? Within Jewish civilizations, we have a tool for such familial remembrance called an ethical will. Lesley Simpson’s research explores these ethical wills as modes of non-material familial legacy and Jewish memory. She will be providing an introduction to these extraordinary letters, what they are, and why people write them. In addition she can answer questions for any JGS members who may want to write their own ethical wills for their children or grandchildren.

Lesley Simpson is a former Canadian journalist who worked as a staff reporter for Canadian daily newspapers and CBC radio. She recently defended her PhD thesis on Jewish ethical wills. While doing her research, she created customized writing workshops for people who wanted to write their own ethical wills. She is working on a non-academic book tentatively titled My Grandfather’s Scissors. In her other writing life, Simpson writes Jewish children’s books (lesleysimpson.ca).

To register, please go to jgstoronto.ca/register

You will then receive an immediate acknowledgement plus the link to access the event on 15 December.

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