CJS Sponsored Events, 2010
Yossi Chajes, "It's Good to See the King: The Nature & Function of Kabbalistic Divinity Maps," Thursday, February 4th, 7:30 PM at Hillel.
Associate Professor of Jewish history, University of Haifa. The Jewish mystical tradition has tended to present its gnosis in objective terms. The ecstasy of the mystic and the grace of God have taken a back-seat to the transmission of theosophical truths regarding the nature of the divine. As Kabbalah developed increasingly sophisticated imaginings of the workings of divinity, Jewish mystics turned increasingly to mapping out the complex systems, creating a kind of cosmological cartography. With the emergence of the Lurianic Kabbalah in the sixteenth century, such maps became all but essential tools for the mystic student and practitioner. In this lecture, we'll look at a number of examples of these manuscripts and explore their forms & functions. We'll also see how a Jewish mysticism that pictured God so graphically intersected with Christian concerns in the early modern period.
- See the postcard for this event
Meron Benvenisti, "Israel/Palestine : The Meaning of the Geo-Political 'Status Quo'". Thursday, February 11th, 7:00pm in Reitz Union room 282.
Meron Benvenisti was Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem from 1971 to 1978 and administered East Jerusalem and its largely Arab neighborhoods. In 1982 he received a Ph.D in Public Administration from Harvard University, and later was a Fellow the The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard. Between 1991 and 2009 he was writing a column for Haaretz that focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Benvenisti published more than ten books, the most recent is Son of the Cypresses: memories, reflections, and regrets from a political life. (University of California Press, 2007). He is known for his 'irreversibility' thesis, which argues that it is too late to separate the West Bank from Israel and therefore a bi-national state is a more likely solution than two states.
- See the poster for this series event
Meron Benvenisti: "Processes of Fragmentation and Integration in Israel/Palestine" (Faculty Seminar) Friday, February 12th, 12:00pm. More information TBA.
Sammy Smooha (Haifa University), "Is Israel Western?" Thursday, February 18th, 2010, 7:00pm at Hillel.
Sami Smooha is a Professor of Sociology and the Dean of the Social Sciences at Haifa University. He was born in Baghdad in 1941 and immigrated to Israel in 1951. He is a specialist of comparative ethnic relations and has published widely on internal divides in Israeli Society and on Israel in comparative perspective. Since the late 1980's Smooha has developed the theoretical model of Ethnic Democracy, for analyzing the status of the Arab citizens of Israel. This model has been widely used by experts of ethnic conflicts world wide. Since 1976 Smooha has been managing a series of public opinions among Arab and Jews, which
has provided a unique longitudinal perspective on the development of identities and mutual attitudes. In 2008 he received the Israel Prize for Sociology.
- See the poster for this series event
Sammy Smooha (Haifa University), "Israel's Ethnic Democracy in a Comparative Perspective" (Faculty Seminar), Friday, February 19th, 12:00pm. More information TBA
Posen Seminar Febuary 24th at 7:00pm. This event is not open to the general public.
Samuel Weber, "Guilt, Debt and the Turn Toward the Future: Walter Benjamin and Hermann Levin Goldschmidt (A Foray into Economic Theology)" Thursday, February 25, 2-4pm. CLICK for more information.
- Conversions (English) PDF 14.7 MB
- Conversions (French) PDF 27.7 MB
- Benjamin's Abilities PDF 20.4 MB
"Convergences and Conversions: The Merchant of Venice into the 21st Century" a conference.
Monday evening, March 1 in the Ustler Hall Atrium:
7:30: Scenes from The Merchant of Venice, directed by Sidney Homan (English)
Tuesday, March 2 in Ustler Hall Atrium:
10:00-12:00: Introduction by Mary Beth Mader, (University of Memphis), to Sarah Kofman's essay, "Conversions. The Merchant of Venice Under the Sign of Saturn, followed by public discussion and the Posen Seminar in Secular Judaism.
1:30-3:00 Paper presentations:
R. Allen Shoaf, (English), Maureen Turim, (English, Film and Media Studies), Judith W. Page, (English, Center for Women?s Studies)
3:30-5:30 Roundtable discussion of Janet Adelman's Blood Relations: Christian and Jew in The Merchant of Venice (2008)
- Judith Page (English, Center for Women's Studies), page7@ufl.edu, and Dragan Kujundzic (Center for Jewish Studies), dragan@ufl.edu, conference directors
- The event is sponsored by the Center for Jewish Studies, Center for Cultural Judaism and the Posen Seminar in Secular Judaism
"Arab Labor: Screening and Discussion with Sayed Kashua" Thursday March 4, 7:30 PM at Reitz Union Rm 282.
Sayed Kashua, an Arab citizen of Israel, is an author and a satiric columnist who writes mainly in Hebrew. In his writing, Kashua compellingly addresses the complicated dilemmas of identity faced by Israeli Arabs. He won the Prime Minister Prize for a Hebrew Author in 2005, and his two books Dancing Arabs and Let it Be Morning became best sellers in Israel and have been translated into several languages.
A highly-regarded sitcom written by Kashua, Arab Labor ridicules the mutual stereotypes of Arabs and Jews through a satirical presentation of the life of an Arab family in Israel. The series won several prizes in Israel but faced harsh criticism by the Arab-language press some of whose reviewers were unhappy with image of Arabs within it.
- See the poster for this series event
A faculty seminar with Robert Alter on translating the Hebrew Bible, followed by a public lecture, Sunday, March 14, 2010. More information TBA.
Posen Seminar April 14th at 7:00pm. This event is not open to the general public.
Yair Dalal Concert, Thursday, April 15, 2010 — Atrium at Ustler Hall (tentative) from 4pm until 10pm.
Yair Dalal is an internationally renowned Israeli composer, violinist, oud player and singer. His music is inspired by his Iraqi-Jewish descent, and combines his diverse musical education including classical Arab music, classical European music, as well as Indian music and Jazz. Over the last decade he has put 11 albums, covering wide and varied musical traditions. He has also been active in attempts to enhance understanding and communication between Arabs and Jews. In 1994 Dalal performed at the Nobel Peace Prize gala concert in Oslo. He has won several Israeli awards acknowledging his music and was also nominated in 2000 for a Grammy as part of Jordi Savall's ensemble and by BBC world music rewards 2003 as best musician from the Middle East. Dalal will be accompanied by the leading percussionist Erez Mounk
All events are Free and open to the public.
With appreciation...These programs are made possible by our sponsors, Schram Memorial Endowment, Melton Jewish Studies Endowment, Gerson Lecture Series, Breier Visiting Fellowship, Kahn Visiting Scholar Fund, Gerson Visiting Professor Fund, Futernick Professorship Fund, and Jewish Council of North Central Florida.