Faculty Happenings
December 4, 2024
Over the last few months, our faculty have been showcasing their scholarship during conferences, symposia, and panels throughout the country, as well as on campus at JTS.
In late November, the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion conference was held in San Diego, CA. JTS professors and graduate students participated in several panels at the annual meeting.
During a session responding to the publication of The Oxford Handbook of Hosea, Professor Amy Kalmanofsky presented on “Hosea 1–3 and the Marriage Metaphor.” Professor Yael Landman chaired a session on Biblical Law and contributed to a discussion on “Exodus 32 and Issues of Pedagogy.” Professor Yitz Landes participated in a session on “The Use of Rabbinic Literature for the Study of Early Christianity” and chaired another on “Jesus in the Jewish First Millennium,” which featured a paper by JTS doctoral candidate Loraine Enlow. Additionally, Dr. David Moster and doctoral candidate Benjamin Kamine presented papers at the conference.
During the Biblical Law session, chaired by Dr. Yitz Landes.
On November 18, international scholars, students, and laypeople, gathered at JTS for a symposium entitled, “JTS and the Jerusalem Talmud,” a daylong conference organized by JTS Professor Jonathan Milgram, Aviad Hacohen, and Menachem Katz.
The conference highlighted the intellectual legacies of Professors Louis Ginzberg and Saul Lieberman, both JTS professors and luminaries of the nascent study of the Jerusalem Talmud in the twentieth century, as well as the current state of Jerusalem Talmud study and the announcement of a new digital edition of the Jerusalem Talmud. A highlight of the program was a presentation by the President of Israel, his Excellency Isaac Herzog, who spoke of the importance of the Israel/diaspora collaboration around matters of intellectual and cultural relevance and his family’s relationship with Professor Lieberman. Chancellor Schwartz closed the day with personal memories of her relationship with Mrs. Adele Ginzberg, wife of Professor Ginzberg, and the long history of exceptional scholarship of rabbinic literature at JTS.
This event was co-sponsored by JTS and The Academic Center for Law and Science and The Talmud Yerushalmi Hadigitali (both in Israel).
Watch the symposium here.
JTS also hosted a joint seminar between the Bible Department and the Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures Department, organized by Professors Robbie Harris and Yitz Landes. The event, “The Bible in Baghdad: A Medieval Karaite Interprets Genesis,” invited Professor Miriam Goldstein of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to JTS to speak to attendees both in-person and via zoom. After the talk, Miriam provided an overview of the manuscripts of Toledot Yeshu, with input from Professor Gidi Bohak of Tel-Aviv University (who happened to be in the Library at the time.)
Professor Goldstein showing the manuscripts of Toledot Yeshu, along with Professor Gidi Bohak of Tel-Aviv University, who was working on other manuscripts of Toledot Yeshu.
Dr. Shira Billet, Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Ethics, spoke at Washington University in St. Louis, MO this fall on the topic “Teaching Jewish Philosophy and Politics in the Aftermath of October 7 and the Campus Protests” and also appeared on a panel called “Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue” at The Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.
Chancellor Emeritus Eisen released his new book, “Seeking the Hiding God,” earlier this fall. The book is an honest, insightful, and moving personal theological essay that invites readers to consider what they actually believe about ultimate matters of faith and doubt. Read more about the book in Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Chancellor Emeritus Eisen in conversation with Rabbi Annie Tucker, senior rabbi of Temple Israel of White Plains and JTS alum, at the book launch.
