Workshop on Jewish Thought, November 17, 2008
11:30-1:00 – Session 1: The Future of Jewish Theology
Michael Fishbane, University of Chicago, “The Task of Jewish Theology”
Moshe Halbertal, Hebrew University and NYU Law School, "Jewish Theology Today"
Meir Soloveichik, Princeton University, “Chosenness: The Third Rail of Theology”
Discussion
2:45-4:15 – Session 2: The Bible in American Democracy
Simi Chavel, Princeton University, "Heiros Demos and a Biblical Separation of Church and State”
Hillel Fradkin, Hudson Institute, “Is America Biblical? Does This Matter?”
Bernard Levinson, University of Minnesota, “The First Constitution: Rethinking the Origins of Rule of Law and Separation of Powers in Light of Deuteronomy”
Alan Mittleman, Jewish Theological Seminary, “Covenantal Thought in Early America”
Discussion
4:30-6:00 – Session 3: Zionism in Jewish Thought
Allan Arkush, SUNY Binghamton, “Cultural Zionism Today”
Asher Biemann, University of Virginia, “Zionism as a World View”
Eran Kaplan, Princeton University, “New Old Land: Was Ahad ha-Am More Jewish than Herzl?”
David Novak, University of Toronto, “Is Zionism Obligatory for All Jews?”
Discussion
Limited to Faculty and Students
Workshop on Jewish Thought, May 4 and 5, 2008
Sunday, May 4
Ben Pollack, “Testing the Limits: Salomon Maimon on the Secrets of Being Human”
Respondent: Jonathan Schofer, Harvard University
Eliza Slavet, University of Southern California San Diego, “Secret Inclinations: Reconsidering Racial Fever”
Respondent: Eric Lawee, York University,
Jerome Copulsky, Goucher College, “Spinoza and the Political Theology of Moses Hess"
Respondent: Carol Bakhos, University of California Los Angeles
Monday, May 5
Jonathan Schofer, Harvard University, “Vulnerability in Rabbinic Thought and Contemporary Ethics"
Respondent: Julie Cooper, University of Chicago
Eric Lawee, York University, “ The Sins of the Fauna in Midrash, Rashi, and Their Medieval Interlocutors”
Respondent: Jerome Copulsky, Goucher College
Julie Cooper, University of Chicago, “Spinoza on Modesty, Humility, and Self-Esteem"
Respondent: Eliza Slavet, University of Southern California San Diego
Carol Bakhos, University of California Los Angeles, “Apocalyptic Imagery and the Emergence of Islam in Jewish Thought”
Respondent: Ben Pollack