Lectures
Execution of the Head of the Jews in Egypt: New Evidence from the Cairo Genizah
A lecture given at the Leeds International Medieval congress 2024
Lecturer: Dr. Amir Ashur, Center for the Study of the Jews of Spain & Islamic Lands
Date: 4 July, 2024 | Place: University of Leeds, England
Abstract: The historian al-Maqrizi reports that in the year 1139 the wazir Ridwan had persecuted the Christians and the Jews, and executed the ‘Head of the Jews and his colleagues’. The caliph al-Hafiz, whose authority had been challenged by Ridwan, arrested him on November 28th 1139. Only a few genizah documents attest to this event. In this talk we will examine those documents and find out together who this Head of the Jews was and how this catastrophic event left a consequential mark on the Jewish community of the age.
Guest lecture in the Department of Israeli Studies
Date: 29 December, 2020 | Place: Zoom (a link will be sent to registered guests)
Prof. Gregor Schwarb, of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, will lecture about Placing and Crossing Interreligious Boundaries: The 11th-century Qaraite-Samaritan Discussion about the Identification of the Qibla and the Location of the Temple.
The lecture will be held as part of the Department’s seminar on Jews in the Mediterranean Basin during the Middle Ages, hosted by Prof. Efraim Lev. For registration please contact Mr. Alon Ben-Yehuda: alon.ben-yehuda@mail.huji.ac.il.
More details here (in Hebrew)
Between North and South: Sociolinguistic Distinctions
Lecturer: Prof. Yahudit Henshke
Date: October 2017 | Place: Bar-Ilan University | Language: Hebrew
The lecture was delivered on October 30, 2017 as part of the “From Tunis to Djerba” conference of the Dahan Center.
Early Genizah Fragments of Saadya Gaon’s Translation of the Pentateuch
Lecturer: Prof. Tamar Zewi
Date: May 2017 | Place: University of Haifa | Language: English
The lecture was delivered on May 17, 2017 under the auspices of “From Fustat to Haifa” An International Research Workshop of the Israel Science Foundation.
Conferences
Future conferences
Past conferences
The Annual Award Ceremony of the Joseph & Racheline Barda Chair for the Study and Research of Jewish Heritage in Egypt, 2022
Date and time: 7 December, 2022, 4.30pm | Place: Observatory, Rabin Building, University of Haifa
Mr. Ofer Gabai, Tel Aviv University, had won the award for his research titled: “Yaqub Sanu’s Theater as an Instrument for Social Criticism 1870-1872”, supervised by Dr. Mira Ztoreff. Two guest lectures discussed the lives of Jewish-Egyptian artists Souad Zaki and Faiza Rushdi.
Program (Hebrew)
The Humanities and Social Sciences Fund Conference titled the Society of Judeo-Arabic Studies:
JUDEO-ARABIC STUDIES AFTER THE ERA OF JOSHUA BLAU AND NORMAN GOLB
The 20th Conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies
Date: 14-17 August, 2022 | Place: Yad Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, and University of Haifa
The Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies (SJAS) is a scholarly organization dedicated to the study of the history and culture of Arabic-speaking Jews in the Middle Ages. Founded in Chicago in 1984, the organization currently has over 100 members worldwide. Its headquarters is in Yad Ben Zvi (Ben Zvi Institute) in Jerusalem. The organization has held 14 biennial conferences so far and published seven volumes of conference proceedings.
The conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies was funded by the Humanities and Social Sciences Fund, and was held under the auspices of the Joseph & Racheline Barda Chair for the Study and Research of Jewish Heritage in Egypt, the Center for the Study of Jews of Spain and Islamic Lands: Past and Present, and the Center for interdisciplinary Research of the Cairo Genizah at the University of Haifa.
Program (Hebrew)
Unveiling “The Alexandria Collection” and the Annual Award Ceremony of the Joseph & Racheline Barda Chair for the Study and Research of Jewish Heritage in Egypt, 2021
Date and time: 11 November, 2021, 4pm | Place: Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library, University of Haifa
Ms. Lilach Turgeman, a Ph.D student at the University of Bar-Ilan, won the award for her research titled “Rabbi Nathan Amram”, supervised by Prof. Aharon Gaimani of the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry. The Award Ceremony was held on 11 November 2021, as part of the “Unveiling the Alexandria Collection” event of the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library, University of Haifa.
Online invitation (Hebrew) | Zoom Recording
The Jewish Tongues: Language Contact
Date: 26-28 July, 2021 | Place: Online Zoom Conference
For many centuries Jews have lived among different peoples around the world and have turned into a multi-lingual nation. The fascinating encounter between Hebrew and the local languages generated Jewish tongues – languages that incorporated mutual influences of the local language and Hebrew. The conference will focus on Jewish Arabic, that developed among the Jews who lived in Islamic countries, and on what it can teach us about their ways of life.
The conference is organized by Prof. Yehudit Henshke, Head of the “Mother Tongue” project and Head of the Department of Hebrew Language, and Prof. Lily Kahn of University College London. Program (in Hebrew) and Registration Link
The Annual Award Ceremony of the Joseph & Racheline Barda Chair for the Study and Research of Jewish Heritage in Egypt, 2020
Date: 4 November, 2020 | Place: Online Zoom Conference
The award recipient was Sharona Zilbershtein, a PhD student at the University of Haifa, for her research titled: Pictured Narratives of Egyptian Jews Immigration between 1945-1970: Albums and Private Collections as Historic Sources”, supervised by Prof. Uri. Kupferscmidt.
Program (Hebrew) | Zoom Recording