Jewish Learning

 

DIRECTOR:

Isadore Twersky (Harvard University)

ORGANIZER:

Isaiah Gafni (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

 

The 8th Summer School will address the broad range of contexts, systems and impulses that contributed to the dissemination of Jewish knowledge over the generations. Alongside the formal structures for Jewish education, the sessions will also analyze the various channels through which Jewish learning was pursued, and the changing roles of orality and literacy in the shaping of Jewish culture and, by extension, Jewish society as well. Comparative studies on the history of education and the classical tradition of scholarship and learning in the west will attempt to place the school's deliberations in a broader perspective. We will also explore the history of books and readers.

Among the questions to be raised: What constituted the Jewish 'curriculum' in different periods and in different cultural and social contexts? How was knowledge disseminated? What were the social factors and considerations of gender that generated interest in particular spheres of culture? How did interaction between Jews and non-Jews determine the contents and formats for Jewish intellectual activity? What was the impact of technological innovation (e.g. the printing press) as well as changing political realities (e.g. emancipation;  Zionism) on the nature and content of Jewish learning? Each session will consist of a lecture as well as close readings and discussions of relevant texts, conducted in a seminar format. Participants will be supplied in advance with bibliographical materials for each of the sessions. 

 

SPEAKERS:

Jan Assmann, University of Heidelberg
Israel Bartal, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Albert Baumgarten, Bar-Ilan University
Tamar El-Or, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
T. Elor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Immanuel Etkes, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel Gafni, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Anthony Grafton, Princeton University
Abraham Grossman, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Marc Hirschmann, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Moshe Idel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Elhanan Reiner, Tel Aviv University
David Ruderman, University of Pennsylvania
Shaul Stampfer, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem