Blog, The Conversation
Jewish-Christian relations. CJS fellow Tony Kushner, ‘The Church of England is apologizing for medieval antisemitism – why now?’, The Conversation, 16 July 2021. Further information.
Hebrew manuscripts added to Manchester Digital Collections
Jewish Studies. Over a hundred Hebrew manuscripts have been added to the Manchester Digital Collections at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library. The internationally-renowned Hebrew collections are astonishingly diverse, covering all aspects of Jewish life as lived in Europe, North Africa and further afield. These manuscripts have been digitised and catalogued as part of an ongoing project led by Philip Alexander and Alex Samely. For the first time, expert catalogue descriptions by Research Associate Zsófia Buda, developed from previous work by Alex Samely and Stefania Silvestri, are available alongside ultra-high-quality images of the items themselves. Further information.
Sherman Community Lecture 2021
Jewish Studies. Prof George Brooke (University of Manchester) will give the next Sherman Community Lecture entitled "Questioning Qumran: Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls". Thurs 9 Dec 2021 8pm (online). Further information.
Church Times, interview
Jewish Studies. "When I started the ordination course three years ago, I knew there’d be problems... Sure enough, a week or so before my graduation, I was banned by the Chief Rabbi from teaching..." 'Interview: Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, rabbi,' Church Times, 12 Nov 2021. Further information.
Scriptural Encounters
Reading challenging sacred texts. Scriptural Encounters bring together different faiths to debate and discuss controversial topics. This is a new series on Gender Diversity. This session will be led by Prof. Susannah Cornwall of Exeter University as the presenter of Christian texts. 1200-13:30 on zoom. Thu 18 Nov 2021. Further information.
Memory Map of Jewish Manchester
Jewish Studies. The Memory Map of Jewish Manchester, produced by Dr Rachel Lichtenstein (Manchester Metropolitan University) is a new digital resource where you can explore former sites of Jewish memory in the Cheetham Hill, Strangeways and Hightown areas of Manchester. There are audio interviews, photographs, and information that consistently appear in people's recollections of these areas. Further information.
Online seminar, Oxford Three Faiths
Jewish Studies. CJS Hon. Research Fellow Michael Hilton will be contributing to an online webinar on the topic of 'Light in the Dark: A Three Faiths Celebration'. Oxford Three Faiths, 7.00-9.30pm, 29 November 2021. For registration, see further information.
Online seminar
Jewish humanitarianism. Jaclyn Granick (Cardiff University), 'International Jewish Humanitarianism in the Age of the Great War'. Seminar hosted by The Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute and the Centre for Jewish Studies. 25 Nov 2021, 4 - 6pm. This event will be available both online via Zoom and on Campus. Further information.
New publication
Holocaust studies. Jean-Marc Dreyfus, 'Filling the Silence: A Study in Corporate Holocaust History and the Nature of Corporate Memory' in The Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities. Further information.
Public event, The Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester
Jewish-Muslim relations. After briefly covering the wide diversity of languages spoken in Greater Manchester generally, Yaron Matras will focus on the languages of GM’s Muslims and Jews. His talk will be followed by short contributions from two Jewish speakers, including Alex Samely, and two Muslim speakers about their personal linguistic journey through life.The languages of Manchester’s Muslims and Jews Greater Manchester is a very diverse place, where many languages are spoken. That diversity extends to Greater Manchester’s Muslims and Jews, who have a very wide range of languages as either their first or second language. Zoom event, 19:00, Sun 14 Nov 2021. Further information.
Leverhulme Early Careers Opportunity - R&T
Call for proposals in Religions and Theology. The Religions and Theology department is pleased to be able to support applications from prospective applicants to the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship scheme 2022-23. Potential applicants are invited to submit a draft application to the R&T office by 1 November 2021. Further information.
Leverhulme Early Careers Opportunity - JRRI
Call for proposals in Jewish and Hebrew Studies. The John Rylands Research Institute will support applications to the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship scheme 2022-23. Projects must demonstrate a strong connection to the University of Manchester Library’s Special Collections, which include extensive Judaica and Hebraica holdings and many other collections relevant to Jewish and Hebrew Studies. Potential applicants are invited to submit a draft application to the JRRI office by 15 November 2021. Further information.
Blog entry, 50 Jewish Objects
50 Jewish Objects Artwork. Juliet Goodden is the new artist commissioned by the Centre to respond with her art and creative practice to the 50 Jewish Objects project and to one or more items held at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library. In her third and final blogpost she leads us through her journey of discovery of the collection. Further information.
Scriptural Encounters
Reading challenging sacred texts. Scriptural Encounters bring together different faiths to debate and discuss controversial topics. This is a new series on Gender Diversity. This session will be led by Rabbi Ariel Abel as the presenter of Jewish texts. 1200-13:30 hybrid event, on campus (University Place 4.214) and on zoom. Thu 28 Oct 2021. Further information.
Public lectures, Judaism and Islam a Shared History
Jewish Studies. CJS Hon. Research Fellow Michael Hilton announces a new course 'Judaism and Islam: A shared history' that he is leading with Dr Harith Ramli of Edge Hill University. The first lecture 'The story of Joseph in the Bible and the Quran: the most beautiful of stories', 12th October 2021, 8.10 – 9.30 pm, hybrid (on Zoom and in-person). Further information.
Screen & Talk
Jewish Studies. The Centre for Jewish Studies at Manchester University is pleased to announce that the next Screen & Talk event will be the streaming of ‘The Black Book’ (2019) by Guillaume Ribot. Drafted while the Second World War was still raging, the Black Book contained numerous testimonies of the atrocities committed by the Nazis against Jews in the Soviet Union. Featuring a wealth of archival footage and told through the voices of the Jewish-Soviet intellectuals who gathered the testimonies, this important documentary sheds new light on the operations of two abhorrent totalitarian regimes, driven by blind hatred and prejudice. 10 – 14 Nov 2021, online as part of the UK Jewish Film Festival 2021. Further information.
Moses Gaster Seminars
Jewish Studies. This academic year (2021-22) the John Rylands Research Institute will complete the online cataloguing of the codices in Hebrew script in the Rylands Library Manchester. Most of these manuscripts once belonged to Moses Gaster, who, with modest resources, assembled one of the most remarkable collections of Hebrew manuscripts of the 20th century. To mark the occasion the John Rylands Research Institute and the Manchester University Centre for Jewish Studies are hosting a series of seminars in autumn 2021 and spring 2022 which will explore aspects of the Rylands Gaster collection, and related collections. The first seminar will be Dr Zsofia Buda “The Rylands Gaster Codices and the problems of cataloguing them” and Dr Maria Cioata,“Moses Gaster: The Man and His Collections”. 2 - 3.30pm 19 Oct 2021, online. Further information.
Blog entry, 50 Jewish Objects
50 Jewish Objects Artwork. Juliet Goodden is the new artist commissioned by the Centre to respond with her art and creative practice to the 50 Jewish Objects project and to one or more items held at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library. In her second blogpost she leads us through her journey of discovery of the collection. Further information.
Research project, BRIC-19
Prayer in the age of COVID. The BRIC-19 project report British Ritual Innovation under COVID-19 is now available to download at (www.tinyurl.com/bric19). It includes Dr Katja Stuerzenhofecker’s case study of two online prayer groups by Orthodox Jewish women and girls that are attracting a global following. The project report aims to share best practice of digital solutions across religious communities that are useful for the duration of the pandemic and beyond.
A Buried Synagogue on Campus
Joint R&T and Archaeology on-campus tour. 'Walk & Talk: A Buried Synagogue on Campus’ with John Piprani (Archaeology) and Tereza Ward (R&T). Organised as part of Welcome Week on Fri 24 Sept 2021. Further information.