Entries from September 1, 2020 - September 30, 2020
Research Network Reading Group
Jewish Muslim Research Network. The next session of the JMRN reading group is on 30 September 2020, 4-5pm. Facilitated by Sarah Johnson. Readings: Chapters 2 & 5 of Yoav Di-Capua’s No Exit: Arab Existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Decolonization (2018) and Aline Schlaepfer’s “Between Cultural and National Nahḍa: Jewish Intellectuals in Baghdad and the Nation-Building Process in Iraq (1921-1932)” (2011). Further information.
Ehrhardt Seminar
Religions & Theology Research Seminar
International Summer School, University of Leuven
Biblical and Jewish Studies. Philip Alexander contributed to a summer school on Biblical Hebrew Poetry, focusing on the 'Song of Songs and Its Reception in Judaism'. 7-11 September 2020. Further information.
Panel discussion, Oxford Three Faiths
Jewish Studies. CJS Hon. Research Fellow Michael Hilton will be contributing to an online panel on the topic of 'Our Journeys to the Holy Land'. Oxford Three Faiths, 7.30-8.45pm, 5 October 2020. For registration, see further information.
Public lectures, Sion Centre
Jewish Studies. CJS Hon. Research Fellow Michael Hilton will be podcasting on 'Why are the Jewish High Holydays so popular?' and 'The Jewish Festivals of Sukkot and Simchat Torah'. Sion Centre for Dialogue and Encounter, 2.00-3.30pm, 14 and 22 Sept 2020. For registration, see further information.
Public lectures, Liberal Jewish Synagogue
Jewish Studies. CJS Hon. Research Fellow Michael Hilton gave podcasts on preparation for the High Holy Days with talks on 'Faith versus good deeds' and 'The Scapegoat in Judaism and Christianity'. 8 and 15 Sept 2020. Further information.
Blog entry, 50 Jewish Objects
50 Jewish Objects Artwork. As part of the activities of the 50 Jewish Objects project, creative pieces are commissioned for contemporary artists in response to selected artefacts from the John Rylands Library and the research produced by Dr Stefania Silvestri. The third blogpost by artist Leo Mercer has now been published. Leo is creating poems inspired by the 50 Jewish Objects. Further information.
Postgraduate Forum in Jewish Studies
Online conference. Dr Katharina Keim is organising the first Nordic Postgraduate Forum in Jewish Studies. It will take place over two half-days on 22-23 September 2020. Papers will be presented by six current doctoral students from around the Nordic region working on projects that relate to the study of ancient and medieval Jewish history. Each paper will be presented in brief followed by comments from a respondent and general discussion. The programme also features a masterclass in reading Talmudic texts by Prof Philip Alexander (FBA, Emeritus Manchester) entitled, ‘“If they are not prophets, they are sons of prophets”: Tosefta Pesahim 4:13-14 and its reception in the Yerushalmi and the Bavli.’ The event will take place via zoom, and all are welcome. Further information.
Biblical Hebrew Reading Group
Reading Biblical Hebrew. Philip Alexander will be giving a course on Biblical Hebrew, that is, a reading group focusing on the Book of Esther. The class will meet via Zoom once a week in semesters one and two. The primary aim of the (non-credit) course will be to provide students at BA, MA or PhD levels who have done some Hebrew with the opportunity to advance their knowledge by closely reading a biblical book. Further information.
Electronic Resources
Jewish archives. The Jewish and Hebrew Collections at the John Rylands Library and Manchester University Library have now been listed as part of the Hidden Treasures project. Archives featured on the Hidden Treasures website are part of a national network of state, local and communal archives. Further information.
New publication
Biblical Studies. Alex Samely, 'How Coherence Works: Reading, Re-Reading and Inner-Biblical Exegesis' in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 9:2 (2020), 130-182. Further information.