14 – 15 October 2026
University of Antwerp, City Campus
On the occasion of its twenty-fifth anniversary, the Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp will convene a special gathering to mark a moment of continuity and renewal. As the Institute celebrates a quarter-century of scholarship, community, and innovation, it also marks a change in leadership, as its founding director, Vivian Liska, passes the mantle to her successor, Theodor Dunkelgrün.
To honor this milestone, the Institute will bring together distinguished senior scholars from across the fields of Jewish studies, each paired with a junior scholar in their discipline. In short statements and conversations, these intergenerational pairs will explore transmission in all its registers: continuity, disruption, and new beginnings; indebtedness and the anxiety of influence; mentorship and discipleship — and discuss together ways in which knowledge, method, and creativity are passed on, reinterpreted, and transformed across generations.
Through these dialogues, participants will reflect on the evolution of their fields, the challenges and opportunities of the present, and the horizons of Jewish scholarship yet to come in a changing world, embodying the mission of the Institute itself: to foster rigorous inquiry, sustain dialogue between past and future, and cultivate the next generation of voices in Jewish Studies.
Program
Wednesday, 14 October
- 12:00 · RECEPTION & WELCOME Vivian Liska
- 12:30 GERMAN-JEWISH THOUGHT
Benjamin Pollock — Dana Rubinstein
MODERATOR: Dennis Baert - 13:15 TALMUD & JEWISH PHILOSOPHY
Moshe Halbertal — Omer Michaelis
MODERATOR: Willem Styfhals - 14:00 Coffee
- 14:30 HOLOCAUST & ANTISEMITISM
Alvin H. Rosenfeld — Flora Cassen
MODERATOR: Veerle Vanden Daelen - 15:15 GERMAN-JEWISH LITERATURE
Mark H. Gelber — Andree Michaelis-König
MODERATOR: Thomas Ernst - 16:00 Coffee
- 16:30 YIDDISH
Itzchok Niborski — Ethel Niborski
MODERATOR: Paul Gybels - 17:15 BIBLE & LITERATURE
Ilana Pardes — Yosefa Raz
MODERATOR: Kathleen Gyssels - 18:00 ART HISTORY
Richard I. Cohen — Mirjam Rajner
MODERATOR: Timothy De Paepe - 19:30 · Festive Dinner (participants only)
with greetings from founding figures of the Institute
Thursday, 15 October
- 09:30 MODERN JEWISH PHILOSOPHY
Leora Batnitzky — Eli Schonfeld
MODERATOR: Arthur Cools - 10:15 MODERN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY
Steven Aschheim — Itamar Ben Ami
MODERATOR: Bart Wallet - 11:00 Coffee
- 11:30 JEWISH–CHRISTIAN RELATIONS
Israel Yuval — Karma Ben-Johanan
MODERATOR: René Dausner - 12:15 · Lunch
- 13:15 KABBALAH
Moshe Idel — Ruth Kara-Ivanov
MODERATOR: Aaron Kachuk - 14:00 EARLY MODERN HISTORY
David Ruderman — Tamara Morsel-Eisenberg
MODERATOR: Jessica Roitman - 14:45 THE FUTURE OF JEWISH STUDIES
Vivian Liska — Theodor Dunkelgrün
followed by words from colleagues and friends
MODERATOR: Jan Morrens - 15:30 Coffee
- 16:00 – 17:00 · Concert: Lebensmelodien: Nur Ben Shalom · Reception