Program 2007-2008
Inaugural Lecture 2007-2008 MOSES MAIMONIDES: HALAKHIST, PHILOSOPHER, JEW
Prof. dr. Arthur Hyman (Yeshiva University - New York)
Wednesday October 17th 2007, 20.00h
Universiteit Antwerpen, Rodestraat 14 - R.004, 2000 Antwerpen
Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) was, by general agreement, one of the greatest Jewish scholars of all times.
In the Jewish world, Maimonides is known - first of all - as a great halakhist, an expert in Jewish law. In that role, he wrote his Commentary on the Mishnah, a commentary on a fundamental part of the Talmud. For most scholars, this would have been the accomplishment of a lifetime. For Maimonides this was only the beginning. For beyond the Commentary he composed the Mishneh Torah, his magisterial code of Jewish law. In this work he undertook what no one had undertaken before him - to compose a guide book for the practice of the totality of Jewish law - not only laws that were still applicable in his own day, but also laws that had not been practiced in hundreds of years, such as the agricultural laws practiced in ancient Palestine and the laws of the Temple of old.
But Maimonides was not satisfied with providing practical guidance for Jews; beyond that he wanted to articulate an intellectual and spiritual understanding of Jewish tradition. To that end he formulated, in the Commentary on the Mishnah, 13 principles of Jewish belief and he equally included a Book of Knowledge in his Mishneh Torah. This he did to make sure that every Jew, even the most unlearned, would have a spiritual conception of God and that each Jew would have a more spiritual understanding of his tradition. Beyond being concerned about the spiritual life of ordinary Jews, he addressed the needs of those Jews who, having studied philosophy, were concerned about possible conflicts between their religious beliefs and what they had learned in their philosophic studies. To these he showed in his Guide of the Perplexed, that Jewish religious beliefs, such a beliefs in God, revelation, and providence were compatible with philosophic teachings. Through Latin translations of the Guide, this work became part of the medieval Christian philosophy.
In addition to writing on halakhah and philosophy, Maimonides also composed medical treatises and during the second part of his life he practiced medicine rather than earn his livelihood as a rabbi.
Arthur Hyman, who holds the Ph.D. degree from Harvard University and the M.H.L. degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, is a Historian of Philosophy who has specialized in Medieval Jewish Philosophy. He serves as Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University in New York.
A member of several learned societies, he has served as president of the American Academy of Jewish Research and as president of the American Society for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. He is the recipient of the award for textual studies of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and holds honorary doctorates from the Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College. His publications include a textual edition of Averroes' Ma'mar be-Esem ha-Galgal and Eschatological Theories in Medieval Philosophy. He is also the co-editor of Philosophy in the Middle Ages: the Christian, Islamic and Jewish Traditions, the author of essays on Maimonides, and the editor of Maimonidean Studies.
Lecture program 1st semester 2007-2008
Thursday October 25th 2007
ANTAGONISME TUSSEN VLUCHTELINGEN: SALAMON DEMBITZER EN ALFRED DÖBLIN
Prof. dr. Joris Duytschaever - Universiteit Antwerpen
Thursday November 8th 2007
EMMANUEL LÉVINAS: PENSEUR JUIF DU 20ÈME SIÈCLE
Drs. Eli Schönfeld - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Thursday November 15th 2007
THE OLD WORLD IN THE NEW: REIMAGINING THE SHTETL IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN JEWISH FICTION
Dr. Ursula Zeller - Institute for Jewish Studies, University of Basel / James Joyce Foundation Zurich
Thursday November 22th 2007
LE PREMIER RECUEIL DE CONTES ET LÉGENDES YIDDISH (BÂLE 1602)
Prof. dr. Astrid Starck - University of Basel
Thursday November 29th 2007
THE FRAGILE POWER OF CONSENT: CONSENSUAL TRANSFER OF FAMILY PROPERTY IN 18TH CENTURY ASHKENAZIC JEWRY
Prof. dr. Birgit Klein - Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg
Thursday December 6th 2007
THERE ARE NO JEWS IN FRANCE
Prof. dr. Domna Stanton - The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Thursday December 13th 2007
THE JEWISH ARAB CONFLICT IN HEBREW CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Prof. dr. Yael Darr - Tel Aviv University
Thursday December 20th 2007
THE APOSTLE PAUL IN THE JEWISH IMAGINATION
Prof. dr. Daniel Langton - University of Manchester
Lecture program 1st semester 2007-2008 (PDF)
Lezingen 2de semester 2007-2008
Thursday Februari 14th 2008
THE JEWISH FOLK THEATER - PURIMSHPIL
Prof. dr. Jacob Weitzner - University of Warsaw
Thursday Februari 21st 2008
ANTWERP – NEW YORK. EUGEEN VAN MIEGHEM (1875-1930) EN DE EMIGRANTEN VAN DE RED STAR LINE
Erwin Joos - Eugeen Van Mieghem Museum
Thursday Februari 28th 2008
THE YIDDISH THEATER. AN INSTITUTION OF JEWISH CULTURE?
Prof. dr. Klaus Hödl - Universität Graz
Thursday March 6th 2008
MARTYRDOM IN MODERN JEWISH LITERATURE
Prof. dr. Vivian Liska - Universiteit Antwerpen / Instituut voor Joodse Studies
Thursday March 13th 2008
RABBINIC PERSPECTIVES ON THE JEWISH CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE
Rabbi David Meyer - Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis / Institut d’Etudes Théologiques Bruxelles
Thursday April 10th 2008
TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY. JEWISH MUSICIANS IN GERMANY AFTER 1945
Prof. dr. Anat Feinberg - Hochschule für Jüdische Studien, Universität Heidelberg
Thursday May 8th 2008
ISRAEL AT 60: IF YOU WILL IT, IS IT STILL A DREAM?
Dr. Emmanuele Ottolenghi - Transatlantic Institute Brussels
Thursday May 15th 2008
MY KISHINEV POGROM. AN AMERICAN STORY
Prof. dr. Nancy K. Miller - The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Thursday May 22th 2008
DE NEDERLANDS-JOODSE AUTEUR ETTY HILLESUM ALS KRONIEKSCHRIJFSTER VAN HAAR TIJD (1941-1943)
Prof. dr. Klaas Smelik - Universiteit Gent
Thursday June 26th 2008, Hof van Liere (Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerpen)
THE PEOPLE AND THE BOOK: THE INVENTION OF PRINT AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF JEWISH CULTURE
David Ruderman - Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania