Public event, Bric-19

Prayer in the age of COVID. Dr Katja Stuerzenhofecker's ethnographic study of female-only Orthodox Jewish online prayer groups is part of the research study ‘Social Distance, Digital Congregation: British Ritual Innovation under COVID-19’. You are warmly invited to hear and discuss the results of this year-long research project into the ways in which the pandemic has shaped the ritual lives of religious communities of all kinds across the UK. Wed 29 September, 1-5pm BST, Manchester Metropolitan University city centre campus; also streamed online. The event is free and open to the public, but please register in advance. To sign up, see further infomration.

Blog entry, Council of Christians and Jews

Jewish Studies. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz writes on the subject of 'Rosh Hashanah: In the Presence of the King.' 3 Sept 2021. Further information.

Online seminar

Jewish Studies. Moshe Behar gave a presentation on 'Genealogy of the Two-State solution in Israel/Palestine' at the International Webinar on the Prospect of Two-State Solution in Palestine, the National Institute of Management, Quetta, Pakistan. 19 June 2021. Further information.

Philip Alexander student essay prize 2021

Undergraduate student prize in Jewish Studies. The joint winners for 2021 are Ellie Birket for a dissertation on 'Voices of the past: narrating Red Army rape in post-war Eastern Europe' (supervised by Ewa Ochman) and Philippa Dennis for a dissertation on 'Is consent implied in the biblical narration of the sexual encounters of Bathsheba, Tamar and Dinah?' (supervised by Alex Samely). This £100 prize is awarded annually to the student with 'the highest grade in a Jewish Studies-related module or dissertation' at the University of Manchester. It honours the Centre's first co-director Philip Alexander, FBA. Further information.

New publication

Jewish and Biblical Studies. Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe Post-Doctoral Fellow Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, 'Mishlei/Proverbs: Weaving the Web of Wisdom' in European Judaism 54:2 (2021), 45-53. Further information.

Call for information, Limmud

Research in Anglo-Jewish history. Dr Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, who is currently working on the history of Limmud, is still looking for Limmud programmes for the years 1984 (Portsmouth 1st year), 1988, and 1989 (both at Oxford). Any other Limmud documentation from the 1980s would also be very welcome! She is happy to receive originals or scans. If you have any of these, do please get in touch with her to arrange how to send/scan them: lindsey.taylor-guthartz@manchester.ac.uk

New publication

Dead Sea Scrolls. George Brooke, 'The Dead Sea Scrolls' (chap 3) in The Biblical World, 2nd edn, ed. Katharine Dell (Routledge: 2021). Further information.

Radio, Voice of Islam

Religion and Evolution. Daniel Langton was interviewed in relation to evolution and creationism during a panel discussion on 'Anthropogeny' (origins of humankind) on the radio station Voice of Islam. 20 July 2021. Listen again.

New Artists' Workshops

50 Jewish Objects artwork. Nicola Dale and Kremena Dimitrova, two artists commissioned by the Centre to produce a piece of art in response to one or more of the 50 Jewish Objects, have just made freely available two workshops to inspire you in creating your own art piece. You can download Nicola's instructions or follow them online: her words and hints will help you in getting new ideas for your art. And you can listen to Kremena in this video: she guides you through the steps to give life to a comic strip. You can see and enjoy the artwork of Nicola and Kremena, and of all the artists who colloborated with the 50 Jewish Objects project, here.

Modern Hebrew course

University level Hebrew tuition from Sept 2021. Modern Hebrew on three levels will be available at the University of Manchester from September 2021. The cost of auditing the courses is £600 and there will be no formal assessment. Apply for a place through the Language Centre. The courses will be taught in a mixed teaching environment for classroom-based students alongside distance-learning students (via a swivl robot and video-conferencing link). Audit fee bursaries are available to students at Universities belonging to the Northern Jewish Studies Partnership and other Universities. Further information.

Blog entry, 50 Jewish Objects

50 Jewish Objects Artwork. Juliet Goodden is the new artist commissioned by the Centre to respond with her art and creative practice to the 50 Jewish Objects project and to one or more items held at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library. With this first blogpost she leads us at the start of her journey of discovery of the collection. Further information.

Manchester's Response to Coronavirus

Jewish Studies. Among the projects listed by the Faculty of Humanities for their resource 'Contributing to the Fight Against Coronavirus', and the only one located in SALC, is Katja Stuerzenhofecker's work on 'How Jewish Orthodox women moved their religious practices online during COVID-19'. Further information.

Podcast, Muslim Jewish Forum

Jewish Studies. Alexander Samely took part in the Muslim Jewish Forum event 'Migration Stories: Manchester Muslims and Jews tell their own and their parents' migration stories' (23 May 2021). Alex grew up near Frankfurt am Main in Germany, and although he encountered very little antisemitism, he often wondered about the parts that older people in his town had played in WW2. Arriving in the UK 38 years ago, he feels he was able to develop a "more balanced relationship" with his Jewish identity and said "living here has done me the world of good." He has found people in the UK to be welcoming, tolerant and self-deprecating which made him feel relaxed. He is currently Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Manchester. Watch again (YouTube).

Screen & Talk

Jewish Studies. The Centre for Jewish Studies at Manchester University is pleased to announce that the next Screen & Talk event will be the streaming of ‘Wall’ (2017) by Moran Ifergan, Winner of Best Israeli Film Award at the 2017 Docaviv festival. Ifergan explores the spirituality surrounding Israel’s sacred Western Wall, her own journey from her ultra-Orthodox upbringing to a secular life, and the disintegration of her marriage. This film streaming is accompanied by a free recorded discussion (41mins) with Robyn Ashworth-Steen, Principal Rabbi of Manchester Reform Synagogue, and Cathy Gelbin, Professor of Film and German Studies at the University of Manchester. The discussion is chaired by Judy Ironside MBE, Founder and President of UK Jewish Film. 2 – 12 July, online at UK Jewish Film. Further information.

Author's Foundation grant

50 Jewish Objects Poems. Rabbi Dr. Atar Hadari was awarded a £3000 Author's Foundation grant to complete 'Gethsemane', the book of poetic monologues drawn from the New Testament which grew out of his 50 Jewish Objects audio-drama artistic commission on a fragment of the gospel of John in the John Rylands Library, 'Gethsemane Suite'.

Call for papers

Holocaust Studies. Jean-Marc Dreyfus is on the scientific committee for the conference 'The spoliation of musical instruments in Europe 1933-1945'. 7, 8 and 9 April 2022 - Philharmonie de Paris. This conference can be seen as part of the ongoing studies of despoiled cultural property (by way of seizures, looting, forced sales, etc.). A great deal of work has been carried out in various institutions, including museums, on despoiled works of art, and more recently on despoiled books. The Philharmonie de Paris and more particularly the Musée de la Musique and its Conservation & Research team, wish to play their part in research on looting in the musical field: provenance research, market and circulation of musical instruments, stakeholders and their networks, etc. Call for papers (English). Call for papers (French).

Teaching presentation, Jerusalem

Holocaust Studies. Ion Popa will give an online presentation at the Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust Research entitled "Destruction, Survival, Dissidence: Jewish Life in Romania in the context of the Holocaust." The presentation is organised as part of a partnership between Yad Vashem and Haifa University and aimed at MA students. Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, 20 July 2021.

New publication

History of Atheism. Daniel Langton, "Atheism" in Encyclopedia of Jewish-Christian Relations Online, edited by Martin Thurner, Peter Schäfer, Christoph Markschies, Amy-Jill Levine, Rainer Kampling and Walter Homolka. (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2021). Author-submitted manuscript and online.

Research project, BRIC-19

Prayer in the age of COVID. Dr Katja Stuerzenhofecker's investigation of Jewish Orthodox female-only online prayer groups has brought to light important insights into the religious and quotidian motivations and needs of women and girls. Some of the findings are specific to current conditions under the pandemic, but many concern perennial issues that will live on in the after-times such as accessibility, participation and leadership. Research participants who attend the prayer groups are invited to learn more about the findings and give their feedback on 11 July. This is part of the research project 'Social Distance, Digital Congregation: British Ritual Innovation under Covid-19'. Further information.

Rabbinic ordination, in press

Gender and Judaism. Congratulations to Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe Post-Doctoral Fellow Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, based in the Centre for Jewish Studies, who received Orthodox rabbinic ordination on 15 June 2021 from Maharat, New York, as part of their ninth cohort of women rabbis, and only the second woman from the UK. See the Jewish Chronicle article (14 June), the Jewish Chronicle (17 June), Times of Israel (17 June), Times of Israel (22 June), the Jewish Chronicle (24 June).