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The Distinguished Scholar Series ArchiveAll lectures are free to the public. Fall 2008
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November 6, 2008 Violence, Peace and the Ethics of Judaism: Ancient Texts and Modern Dilemmas Prof. Robert Eisen, Director of Judaic Studies, George Washington University Sixth & I Street Synagogue 600 I Street, NW |
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November 13, 2008 Yehudah Amichai: Love’s Melancholy and the Poetry of History Dr. (and Rabbi) William Cutter, Director of the Kalsman Institute on Judaism And Health, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles Sixth & I Street Synagogue 600 I Street, NW |
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November 20, 2008 War and the Jewish Tradition Prof. Michael Walzer, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University Ohr Kodesh Congregation 8300 Meadowbrook Lane Chevy Chase, Maryland |
Spring 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Prof. Glenn Dynner, Department of Religion, Sarah Lawrence College
Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewry: The Rise and Evolution of Hasidism
How did Hasidism, an eighteenth century kabbalah-based movement founded on the ideas of R. Israel Ba’al Shem Tov (The Besht), spread so successfully throughout Eastern Europe? Hasidism used to be thought of as a social rebellion that emerged from within the Jewish masses. But new evidence reveals Hasidic leaders as masterful populists who cultivated elites and the common folk alike.
Dr. Dynner received his doctorate in the Department of Near East Studies at Brandeis University. His work has focused on studying and reporting on the Hasidic movement in Europe and around the world. His book Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewry was a finalist for the 2007 National Jewish Book award and won the Koret Foundation Jewish Publication Prize. He has also written a number of entries on Hasidism for the upcoming “Jews in Eastern Europe: The Yivo Encyclopedia,” as well as numerous articles and essays about the rise and influence of Hassidism for such publications as POLIN, A Journal of Polish Jewish Studies, and Jewish Social Studies.
For more information about Dr. Dynner, refer to:
http://pages.slc.edu/~gdynner/curriculum_vitae.pdf.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Prof. David Ruderman, Department of History, University of Pennsylvania
The Mystical Messiah: Shabbtai Zevi and the Crises of Rabbinic Authority
Shabbtai Zevi was perhaps the most notorious messianic figure in Jewish history. Announcing himself as the savior of the Jewish people in 1665-6, he sent shock waves through the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds with his unexpected conversion to Islam and his apparent repudiation of his Jewish faith.
Dr. Ruderman was educated at the City College of New York, the Teacher’s Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and Columbia University. He received his rabbinical degree from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and his Ph.D. in Jewish History from Hebrew University inJerusalem. Prior to coming to the University of Pennsylvania, he held the Frederick P. Rose Chair of Jewish History at Yale University (1983-94) and the Louis L. Kaplan Chair of Jewish Historical Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park (1974-83), where he was instrumental in establishing both institutions’ Judaic studies programs.
For more information about Dr. Ruderman, refer to:
http://www.history.upenn.edu/faculty/ruderman.shtml.
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Prof. Lindsay Kaplan, Associate Professor of English at Georgetown University
The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare's Jews and their Cultural Context
In reading or viewing Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice from our post-Holocaust perspective, the anti-Semitic elements of the play seem blatantly obvious to us. The fact that the play was performed fifty times between 1933 and 1939 in Nazi Germany would seem to settle the question of the play’s view of Jews, but the play is radically out of sync with the contemporary consensus of 15th and 16th century England, indicating that it may be questioning the negative views of Jews it articulates, rather than confirming them.
Dr. Kaplan received her B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and her Ph.D. from the University of Californiaat Berkeley. She has taught at Georgetown University since 1993.
Books Dr. Kaplan has written include: Feminist Readings of Early Modern Culture: Emerging Subject; The Culture Slander in Early Modern England; and The Merchant of Venice, edited volume.
For more information about Dr. Kaplan, refer to:
http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/kaplanl/.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Rabbi Michael Berenbaum, Professor of Jewish Studies at the American Jewish University
Has Modern Jewish Thought Recovered From the Shock of the Holocaust?
Dr. Berenbaum’s name is practically synonymous with Holocaust scholarship because of the voluminous amount of scholarly writing, filming and lecturing he has done about the topic. Dr. Berenbaum has also held a number of pivotal positions in organizations designed to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust and to teach its implications, such as serving asthe President and CEO of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation and the Project Director for the creation of the United States Holocaust Museum. He wrote the “guidebook” to the exhibit, The World Must Know.
Dr. Berenbaum is the author and editor of seventeen books, scores of scholarly articles and hundreds of journalistic pieces. He holds a doctorate degree from Florida State University. He has also studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Boston College and Hebrew University.
For more information about Dr. Berenbaum, refer to:
http://www.holocaustmmb.org/Special/MichaelBerenbaumBio.html.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Professor Naomi Gale, Schusterman Visiting Professor, Center for Israel Studies, AmericanUniversity
The Forgotten Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands
During the upheaval in the Middle East, more than one million Jews from Arab lands became refugees. Unfortunately, those Jews who were expelled were forgotten by the world. Many came to the newly established State of Israel and eventually became integrated into Israeli society. Of the 101 UN resolutions that dealt with refugees in the Middle East, not one mentioned the plight of these communities.
Dr. Gale was born in Baghdad, and she and her family were among the many Jews that left Iraq to go toIsrael, even though her family had lived in Iraq for hundreds of years. Dr. Gale received her doctorate degree in anthropology from the University of Sydney and a law degree from The Inter-Disciplinary Center, Herzliya. She has taught internationally, including courses on Israeli society, history, political behavior, ethnicity, and gender studies. Dr. Gale is the author of Violence against Women: A Normal or Deviant Behavior? and The Sephardim of Sydney: Coping with Political and Social Pressures.
Dr. Gale’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Center for Israel Studies at American University.