No problem has so stubbornly accompanied the investigation of Second Temple period Judaism and of early Christianity -- and the nature of the relationship between the two -- as that of "Hellenism". How deeply were both Judaism and Christianity in their formative stages influenced by the larger cultural and religious streams of the Greco-Roman age? To what extent did the phenomenon of "Hellenism" -- in its varied literary, social and political expression -- shape the defining characteristics of Jewish and Christian belief and practice in the period between Alexander and Constantine? What role did the medium of the Greek language and of Hellenistic cultural forms play in the translation of ideas and allegiances from Judaism to Christianity during the early centuries of the Common Era?

Our group will focus on precisely this problem and these questions, addressing the pendular tendency of modern scholarship to wholeheartedly affirm or passionately deny the hellenization of early Judaism and Christianity. The general orientation of recent research has been toward the Palestinian Jewish background of the early Church, with a clear proclivity for sources preserved in either Hebrew or Aramaic. In light of this trend, we will attempt to reassess the role of Greek-speaking, Hellenistic Judaism as a fertile context for Christian origins.

 

The group on molecular medicine focused on the role of the new developments in molecular biology and biochemistry in the revolution in medicine which is now taking place. These new developments, including the publication of the human genome, create new opportunities for the improvement of human health. The group's work will concentrate on the ramifications of these technological revolutions for new approaches to the treatment of various cancers and other diseases in which cellular communications fail. 

The group will focus primarily on the molecular mechanisms of cell signaling, that is, how cells communicate between themselves and how cells transmit information into the cell. The group will also explore ways to remedy the aberrations in these communication networks which occur in the course of disease. The knowledge of how cell communication works will allow the development of novel therapies.