Seminar in Jewish Studies - Yom Limmud - 'MAIMONIDES'
Exploring Jewish philosophy, ethics and law in the work of Maimonides - one of Judaism's most prolific and influential thinkers
Exploring Jewish philosophy, ethics and law in the work of Maimonides - one of Judaism's most prolific and influential thinkers
Sunday (week 5), 13 Feb, 2-5pm (UK time)
Programme:
1pm Buffet lunch
2pm Rabbi Dr. Aaron Adler, Harvard University
'Ashkenazic Versions of Prayers and Blessings in Maimonides' Codes’
Aaron Adler is a former student of, and special assistant to, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt"l. In addition to being a graduate of Yeshiva University in New York (B.A./M.A), with rabbinic ordination from Y.U.'s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, Rabbi Adler holds a Ph.D in Talmud from Bar Ilan University.
2.15pm Professor James A. Diamond, University of Waterloo
'The inexhaustible metaphor of light: Crescas vs. Maimonides'
Prof. Diamond holds the Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Chair in Jewish Studies, University of Waterloo.
2.30pm Professor Paul B. Fenton, Université Paris-Sorbonne
'Why did Maimonides write his Guide for the Perplexed in Arabic and how was it translated into Hebrew?'
Paul B. Fenton is Professor of Hebrew and Co-Director of the Department of Arabic and Hebrew Studies at the Université Paris-Sorbonne. After Rabbinical studies, he majored in Semitics at Strasbourg University and St. Joseph University in Beirut, going on to complete his PhD in Medieval Jewish philosophy and Judaeo-Arabic literature under Georges Vajda (Sorbonne, 1976). From 1978-1983, he was Research Assistant at the University of Cambridge, prior to his appointment as Assistant Professor of Hebrew at Lyons University (1983-1991) and then Full Professor of Hebrew at Strasbourg University (1992-1997).
3pm Dr. Israel Sandman, University College London
2.15pm Professor James A. Diamond, University of Waterloo
'The inexhaustible metaphor of light: Crescas vs. Maimonides'
Prof. Diamond holds the Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Chair in Jewish Studies, University of Waterloo.
2.30pm Professor Paul B. Fenton, Université Paris-Sorbonne
'Why did Maimonides write his Guide for the Perplexed in Arabic and how was it translated into Hebrew?'
Paul B. Fenton is Professor of Hebrew and Co-Director of the Department of Arabic and Hebrew Studies at the Université Paris-Sorbonne. After Rabbinical studies, he majored in Semitics at Strasbourg University and St. Joseph University in Beirut, going on to complete his PhD in Medieval Jewish philosophy and Judaeo-Arabic literature under Georges Vajda (Sorbonne, 1976). From 1978-1983, he was Research Assistant at the University of Cambridge, prior to his appointment as Assistant Professor of Hebrew at Lyons University (1983-1991) and then Full Professor of Hebrew at Strasbourg University (1992-1997).
3pm Dr. Israel Sandman, University College London
'Suprarationalism in the Lubavitcher Rebbe's Reading of Maimonides'
Israel Sandman is a Fellow at the Hebrew & Jewish Studies Department at University College London and an expert on medieval Jewish philosophy and manuscripts.
3.15pm Rabbi Eli Brackman, Oxford University Chabad Society
‘The commentary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe on Maimonides and Rashi: a common approach’
3.30pm Dr. Ros Abramsky, Oxford
'Testing Times'
Ros Abramsky is an Oxford researcher who studied Crystallography at Birkbeck, where she taught Science Communication, as well as at Imperial College. She completed her PhD in Information Science from Loughborough University.
3.45pm Dr Naftali Loewenthal, UCL
'Comparing Maimonidean and Habad Approaches to Contemplation of the Divine'
Many have noted that the Habad systems of contemplation, developed from the late 18th till 20th centuries, owe a clear debt to Maimonides. This paper seeks to examine the question in more detail.
Naftali Loewenthal is a Lecturer (Teaching) at the Dept of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, UCL. He is author of Communicating the Infinite: the Emergence of the Habad School (Chicago, 1990) and his most recent book is Hasidism beyond Modernity, Studies in Habad Thought and History (Littmann Library).
4pm Mason Mandell, Somerville College, Oxford
'Maimonides in Leo Strauss' Thought'
Mason Mandell graduated from Georgetown University and is currently writing his thesis at Somerville College, Oxford University, on Leo Strauss.
4.15pm Dr. Ann Giletti, University of Oxford
'Understanding Creation: Maimonides's Answer to a Faith-Reason Problem and Medieval Christian Use of His Solution'
Ann Giletti is a researcher of medieval studies in the Theology Faculty at the University of Oxford. She did her doctorate at The Warburg Institute in London. Her research concerns: faith-reason issues in medieval philosophy; university censorship of philosophical ideas; and solutions proposed by medieval Christian philosophers and theologians. Her current project, Boundaries of Science, examines medieval transgressive philosophical ideas in the context of heresy.
4.30pm Dr. Elad Uzan, Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford
'W ars and sovereignty in the Bible'
Elad completed his Ph.D. on the law and ethics of war at Tel Aviv University, and is currently a Marie Curie Fellow, at Corpus Christi College, and the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford
4.45pm Michael Kay, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford
'Maimonides and the holiday of Purim'
The seminar will take place in person at:
4.30pm Dr. Elad Uzan, Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford
'W ars and sovereignty in the Bible'
Elad completed his Ph.D. on the law and ethics of war at Tel Aviv University, and is currently a Marie Curie Fellow, at Corpus Christi College, and the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford
4.45pm Michael Kay, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford
'Maimonides and the holiday of Purim'
The seminar will take place in person at:
The Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
Join the seminar also via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 830 4580 0389
Passcode: 132700
Participants are welcome to attend all or any part of the programme.
RSVP for buffet lunch and/or handouts: info@oxfordchabad.
All are welcome!
Join the seminar also via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 830 4580 0389
Passcode: 132700
Participants are welcome to attend all or any part of the programme.
RSVP for buffet lunch and/or handouts: info@oxfordchabad.
All are welcome!