50 Jewish Objects event

Jewish Voices: Songs from the collections. An evening event in the Historic Reading Room of the John Rylands Library with a talk by Stefania Silvestri and a performance by the Menorah Synagogue Choir directed by Ruti Worrall. 5.30pm 7 Nov 2019 at the John Rylands Library, Deansgate, Manchester. The event is free but places are limited, book here.

Paper, Middle East Studies Association

Middle East Studies. Moshe Behar is giving a paper "Is Binationalism a Form of Normalization?" at the Middle East Studies Association 53rd Annual Meeting, 14-17 Nov 2019, in New Orleans. Panel title is: “Revisiting the ‘Jewish Question’ and the ‘Arab Question’: Past Denials and Contemporary Engagements”. Further information.

Public lecture, University of Cambridge

Israel/Palestine studies. Moshe Behar is giving a public lecture on 'Post-Partition and the Predicament of Individual and Collective Rights in Israel/Palestine' on Thurs 7 November, 5.15pm, FAMES 8/9 at University of Cambridge. Further information.

Expert opinion, Israeli High Court

Zionism and the Arabic language. Moshe Behar submitted an expert opinion to the Israeli High Court about the linkages between Zionism and the Arabic language. December 2018. Further information. 

Hebrew Colloqium, Prague

Manchester as a European pioneer. Sophie Garside represented the University at the Nachmanides Forum at the Prague Centre for Jewish Studies, Charles University, 22-24 September 2019. The Forum was concerned with mainly modern Hebrew (but also biblical and post-biblical Hebrew) and was the first of its kind taking place under the auspices of the European Association for Jewish Studies. Hebrew instructors from 13 European countries took part in it; all in all there were 25 participants including PhD students. It was attended by Elisabeth Hollender, EAJS President, and, in the concluding session, by HE Daniel Meron, Ambassador of the State of Israel in the Czech Republic. Sophie Garside's panel focused on the pros and cons of distance learning based primarily on the Manchester experience of teaching Hebrew, which is uniquely advanced in Europe. As a pioneering model, it generated considerable interest and requests for consultancy.

Blog entry, 50 Jewish Objects

Judaica artefacts.  Stefania Silvestri has published the second and third blogposts by artist Helena Tomlin. Helena is creating an art piece and will deliver a workshop as part of the 50 Jewish Objects project. Further information.

Research Network Reading Seminar

Jewish Muslim Research Network. The next JMRN seminar is on 7 November 2019, 4-6pm. Aaron W. Hughes (Rochester University, USA), 'The Shīʿa are the Jews of Our Umma: Rethinking Alterity in Medieval Islam'. 2.217 University Place, University of Manchester. Further information. CANCELLED.

Melilah 2019

New volume (13) on the theme of 'Gender in Jewish Studies'. Announcing the online publication of the latest volume of the Centre's Open Access journal Melilah, the proceedings of the Sherman Conversations 2017. Edited by Katja Stuerzenhofecker and Renate Smithuis. Assistant editor: Lawrence Rabone. Contributors include Judith R. Baskin, Katja Stuerzenhofecker, Ruth Gilbert, Tamar S. Drukker, Melissa Raphael, Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, Lisa Fishbayn Joffe, Laliv Clenman, Naomi Graetz, Tali Artman Partock, Cecilia Haendler, Etka Liebowitz, Efraim Sicher, Einat Ramon. Further information.

Podcast, Bogdanow Lectures 2019

Holocaust Studies. The 2019 Bogdanow Lectures by Prof. Tony Kushner (University of Southampton) on 'Illegality: Jews and Other Humans' are now available to view online. The lectures are entitled: (1) The Concept of Illegality: Defining the ‘Other’, and (2) Illegality and the Migrant Experience: From Mandate Palestine to Lampedusa. Originally presented 23 and 24 Sept 2019. Further information.

Klezmer performance

Michael Kahan Kapelye concert. The University's klezmer band, in conjunction with the Manchester Liberal Jewish Community, will perform at the event 'Vessels of Song: Journeys into the worlds of Klezmer'. 7.00- 9.30pm, 1 Dec 2019, Cross Street Chapel, Manchester. Further information.

Blog entry, 50 Jewish Objects

Judaica artefacts.  As part of the 50 Jewish Objects project, in addition to 3 major artists' commissions, 10 artist will set up performances of song, dance and stage, deliver workshops, or create smaller-scale art, related to the items that Stefania Silvestri has selected from the John Rylands Library collections. Here is the first of a series of blogpost by the artist Helena Tomlin. Further information.

PhD completion

Izabella Goldstein on Songs of the Jewish Underworld. The Centre would like to congratulate Izabella Goldstein on the successful defence of her doctoral thesis 'Songs of the Jewish Underworld in Pre-World War Two Warsaw'. Her supervisors were Prof Caroline Bithell and Prof David Fanning, and the external examiner was Dr Ilana Webster-Kogen. See the list of current PhD students in the area of Jewish Studies at Manchester.

Centre for Biblical Studies, Ehrhardt Seminar

Biblical Studies. Mary Mills (Newman), ‘Memorialising Jeremiah’s Jerusalem: Walking the City with Walter Benjamin’. Ehrhardt Seminar series, 10 Oct, 2pm, Room 5.206, University Place. Further information. 

New post, Israel

CJS honorary research fellow. Congratulations to Prof. Avishalom Westreich, who has recently been appointed Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) of Jewish Law, Family Law, and Jurisprudence, at the College of Law and Business in Ramat Gan. Prof. Westreich is a long term member of our Agunah Research Unit.

Manchester Literature Festival

Jewish Literature. Sherry Ashworth will chair an event with the author Heather Morris, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, at the Manchester Literature Festival 2pm 20 Oct 2019 at Manchester Central Library. Further information.

Screen & talk

Jewish film festival. Sponsored by the Centre for Jewish Studies, the screening of 'Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles'. Sunday 17 November 2019 3.40pm, HOME. Early booking is highly recommended. This screening is part of the UK Jewish Film Festival taking place on 6-21 November 2019. Further information.

Research Network Reading Seminar

Jewish Muslim Research Network. The next JMRN seminar is on 14 October 2019, 2-4pm. Esra Özyürek (London School of Economics), 'Subcontracting Guilt: Holocaust Memory, Culture and Immigrant Integration in Germany'. G35, Humanities Bridgeford Street Building, University of Manchester. Further information. 

Scriptural Encounters

Reading challenging sacred texts. Scriptural Encounters bring together different faiths to debate and discuss controversial topics. The next meeting will on the theme of Holy Places. Come along and listen or take part in the discussion. 4:00-5:30pm, Thu 17 October 2019, in A115 Samuel Alexander building, University of Manchester.  Further information.