JEWISH LEARNING

TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021 AT 6:00 PM ET

The Qu'ran and The Jews

Dr. Reuven Firestone, Regenstein Professor in Medieval Judaism and Islam,
HUC/Los Angeles

Today, it often seems as if relations between Muslims and Jews are dominated by fear, resentment, and ignorance. Some Muslims believe that Jews are taught to abhor anyone not Jewish. Some Jews claim that Muslims are hostile to Jews because the Qur’an teaches Jew hatred and is inherently antisemitic. Delve into a thorough investigation of how the Qur'an actually portrays Jews through text study and discussion.

TUESDAY, APRIL 13 AT 1:00 PM ET

Silk and Ink: Hebrew Printing and Commercial Networks In Early Modern Bologna
Part of the Judaism & Culture Series

Rabbi Joseph A. Skloot, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish Intellectual History, HUC/New York

Jews were early adopters of the technology of printing. Encounter the identities of some of these innovators – a small group of Jewish silk weavers in the city of Bologna, including Italian Jews, Ashkenazim, and Sephardi exiles, who produced an eclectic mix of nine books over four years, from 1536 to 1540. While these works have merited some attention from bibliographers, the printers themselves, and their place in the Jewish communal and commercial life of Bologna, are a new realm of scholarly and historical analysis. Presented by the Klau Library.

THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021 AT 1:00 PM ET

If Flame Falls on Cedars, Women Leaders Will Put Out the Fire: The Biblical Deborah Reimagined

Wendy Zierler, Ph.D., Sigmund Falk Professor of Feminist Studies and Modern Jewish Literature, HUC/New York

The Biblical Deborah has been adduced as a feminist model for women's leadership as far back as the earliest agitations for women's ordination at the end of the 19th century. But well before then, in Trieste, Italy, the first modern Hebrew woman poet, Rachel Luzatto Morpurgo (1790-1871) placed herself in the shoes of the biblical Deborah as well as those of the erudite rabbis of the Talmud, subtly suggesting that women poets, pastors, and leaders might be able to do the job better than their erstwhile male counterparts. Discover the story of the biblical Deborah through the unique lens of Morpurgo's 1859 poem "Look: This is New," and learn how modern Hebrew women's poetry can serve as a vital source of new interpretation for our classical sources.

TUESDAY, APRIL 27 AT 6:00 PM ET

The World of The Cairo Genizah: The Jews Of Medieval Islam
Part of the Judaism & History Series

Jennifer Grayson, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Assistant Professor of Jewish History, HUC/Cincinnati, and Xavier University

For centuries, Jews in medieval Cairo deposited their used writings in their genizah, a storage chamber for sacred books that are no longer useable. Egypt’s dry climate ensured that over 200,000 manuscripts did not disintegrate. During the 19th century, the Cairo Genizah came to the attention of western scholars, and its discovery has revolutionized our understanding of medieval Jewish history. Explore how this treasure trove of documents can help to shed light on the everyday lives of the Jews of the medieval Islamic world.