PGR and Postdoc group, JHSE

Jewish Studies.  The Jewish Historical Society of England have set up a Jewish history and Jewish studies PGR/Postdoc group, offering a peer group with events including discussions with authors of new history books, reading groups and methodological workshops.  PGRs and Postdocs interested in joining the group should email Sophie Wilson (sophie.wilson@qmul.ac.uk).     

Klezmer, Manchester Culture Awards

Jewish and Irish Music.   ‘Amid the Mirk Over the Irk: When Irish Meets Klezmer’ is an imagined musical meeting of two of Manchester’s longest-established and prominent immigrant communities: the Irish and the Jewish.  The film of the overture (co-produced by Richard Fay) is a finalist in the ‘Made in Manchester’ category of the Manchester Culture Awards. The awards ceremony will take place on 24 November 2022.  Watch the film on YouTube.  Further information. 

Panel, British Library

Holocaust Libraries. Professor Dreyfus will participate in a panel conversation with experts from Lithuania and the Head of the Bodleian Library Oxford about the history of libraries, lives and narratives in European cityscapes of the Holocaust. The in-person event is hosted by the British Library on 11 October 2022. Further information

Biblical Hebrew Reading Group

Biblical and Jewish Studies.  Phillip Alexander will lead a reading group to provide students at BA, MA or PhD levels who have done some Hebrew with the opportunity to advance their knowledge.  The first meeting will be on Monday 3rd October at 11am on Zoom, with an initial focus on Ruth.

Podcast, The Poet of Whitechapel

Yiddish Poetry. Podcast presented by Rachel Lichtenstein now available on Mixcloud.  'A programme about the extraordinary life and work of the Yiddish poet Avram Nachum Stencl who went from an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community in southern Poland to the bohemian cafés of pre-war Berlin before finally escaping Nazi Germany to arrive in Whitechapel, the heart of the Jewish East End. He soon became London’s foremost Yiddish poet, founding the literary journal 'Loshn un Lebn' and the weekly 'Friends of Yiddish' meetings at Toynbee Hall with its lively mixture of poetry, politics, literature and song, all part of his mission to keep the Yiddish language alive.' Further information.

Committee, BIAJS

Helping to shape Jewish studies in the UK. Alex Samely, Co-Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies, was recently elected as a member of the committee of the British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies (BIAJS) His term will extend until 2027. He joins in this new role his Manchester/Lund colleague Dr Katharina Keim, who is the committee's representative for Post-Graduate and Early Career Research.

Online essay, WritersMosaic project

Jewish Multiculturalism. CJS honorary research fellow Dr Rachel Lichtenstein (MMU) has contributed towards the Royal Literary Fund's WritersMosaic project, in a special edition titled 'Jewish Multiculturalism'. Her essay and recording tell the story of activist Beatty Orwell, the oldest surviving witness to the Battle of Cable Street. To read and listen online, see further information.

Conference paper, CBL

Dead Sea Scrolls. Prof George Brooke will speak in Leuven at The Colloquium Biblivum Lovaniense on 'Performing Scripture in the Scrolls from Qumran and in the New Testament.'  3 August 2022.  Further information.

Funding, Screen & Talk Jewish Studies

Holocaust Studies. Congratulations to Cathy Gelbin and Katja Stuerzenhofecker who have been awarded £740 of funding by the Manchester Jean Monet Centre of Excellence towards the Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 event series Jews, Gay People and the Holocaust. This will comprise of a public film series, an expert panel discussion, and a Jewish community workshop. Further details will be published in due course.

Student Prize, BIAJS

Jewish studies. Congratulations to third-year student Andras Schweiczer (BA Theological Studies in Philosophy & Ethics) who has been awarded the British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies (BIAJS) Student Prize for a dissertation entitled 'Red, White, and Green: Three Aspects of the Debates on Zionism between 1897 and 1917' (supervisor: Alex Samely).

Screen & Talk, Film discussion

Film Studies. Cathy Gelbin and Katja Stuerzenhofecker co-organized the online streaming and panel discussion of The Brasch Family (Germany 2018) on 13 June 2022. A recording of the discussion with the film’s director and international experts is now available. Watch on YouTube.

Podcast, Sherman Lecture 2021

Jewish Studies. The 2021 Sherman Community Lecture by Prof George Brooke (University of Manchester) is now available to view online. The lecture entitled "Questioning Qumran: Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls" was on 9 Dec 2021. Further information.

Conference paper, British Sociological Association

Jewish Studies. Katja Stuerzenhofecker will give a paper entitled "Traditional prayers, returning voices: Orthodox Jewish women and girls' singing in a public ritual under COVID-19" at the SocRel annual conference for which the theme is disruption, crisis and continuity in religion. 4-6 July 2022. Further information.

Screen and Talk

Jewish Studies. The Centre for Jewish Studies and the Department of Drama at Manchester University are pleased to announce that the next Screen & Talk event will be the streaming of ‘The Brasch Family’. Annekatrin Hendel’s documentary depicts three generations of the Braschs, a Jewish family whose first generation returned from exile from National Socialism to settle in East Germany. Whereas the first generation were ardent supporters of the German Democratic Republic, their three sons Thomas, Peter and Klaus – all of them artists – developed into critics of the system. Through interviews with surviving relatives, loved ones and friends, the film paints a social, political and cultural history of the GDR through the canvas of a family saga. The film will be available on the UKJF streaming platform from 9-13 June 2022. It is followed by an online live discussion panel on 13 June, 18.00 BST (British Summer Time). Register for the panel discussion in advance here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Further information.

Public Lecture, Oxford University

Jewish Studies. Philip Alexander will give a lecture to celebrate the launch of the book The Mishnaic Moment: Jewish Law among Jews and Christians in Early Modern Europe (2022). Exeter College, Oxford. 23 June 2022. Further information.

Launch of Rylands Jewish Manuscripts online catalogue and digital exhibition

Rylands Jewish Manuscripts online catalogue and digital exhibition. Join us at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library to celebrate the launch of the online catalogue and digital exhibition of the Library’s manuscripts in Hebrew script, signifying the culmination of a project which began in 1992. The John Rylands Research Institute and Library conserves one of the world’s treasured collections of Hebrew and Jewish manuscripts, archives and printed books. This rich and diverse collection draws a picture of Jewish life and its many aspects. Featuring Hebrew script in many languages – Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Spanish, Judeo-Provencal, Judeo-German, and Judeo-Turkish, the texts spring from all over the Jewish world – Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, India, and even China. They range from magnificent illuminated Passover Haggadot to the only known manuscript copy of a 17th-18th century Purim play from southern France, composed in the local vernacular. 27 Jun 2022, 14:00 BST at The John Rylands Research Institute and Library. Free event, booking required through Eventbrite.

Podcast, Screen & Talk discussion

Jewish Studies. Cathy Gelbin and Katja Stuerzenhofecker co-organized the online streaming and panel discussion of The Commissar (Soviet Union 1967) on 7 April 2022 under the auspices of the Centre for Jewish Studies. A recording of the discussion with international experts is now available. Watch on YouTube.

Doctoral and ECR training workshop

For UK-based Jewish Studies research postgraduates. The Centre for Jewish Studies at Manchester University is pleased to announce the sixth doctoral and early career research training event of the Northern UK and Dublin Jewish Studies Partnership. Advanced PhD students and post-doctoral researchers from Partnership institutions and other UK Universities can apply to participate in a range of online sessions taking place on 13-14 June 2022. Applications from outside the UK will be considered. The event will include sessions on interviewing for lectureships from an interviewer’s point of view, academics working in university/research administration, the role of research question/methodology in publications and funding applications, as well as current trends in the academic treatment of the Jewish Muslim Encounter and Filmic Representations of Jews in Post-1990s Europe. There will also be an event engaging with PGR/ECR researchers in Ukraine. Participants will be able to meet experienced staff for informal, one-to-one advice on any aspect of their research, career planning or publication priorities. For programme and further information, see http://www.manchesterjewishstudies.org/n-uk-js-partnership/.

Register for this free event by submitting the online form https://forms.office.com/r/6ecGGvH0C7 by 20 May 2022.

New post: Language Tutor in Modern Hebrew (part time)

Language Experience for All Programme (LEAP). "You must possess near-native command of both Hebrew and English; demonstrate excellent language-teaching skills; and have an educational background appropriate to the delivery of the specified duties. Experience of teaching and assessing advanced Hebrew language skills at tertiary level, in person and online, are essential. Experience teaching in UK higher education and a track record in curriculum development are highly desirable..." Deadline: 13 May 2022. Further information.

Conference paper report, EABS

Biblical Studies. PhD student Sherry Ashworth was amongst those contributing to the EABS' Graduate Symposium in Prague, with a paper entitled 'It's complicated: The relationship between Esther and Mordecai in the Book of Esther, mediated by Charles Dickens' novel, Bleak House' (30 March 2022). She reports: "At the very end of March I presented a paper at the European Association of Biblical Studies’ Graduate Symposium. The Symposium is intended for PhD candidates who might not have presented before (like me!) and is a very supportive, while scholarly rigorous, event. It was fascinating to meet other biblical scholars from all over Europe, and as ever, I was impressed at how excellent everyone’s English is, and was keenly aware that many students were presenting in a second language. I was struck by the diversity of methodologies, given that the Bible is such a small text – it’s a bit like the Tardis in there! The conference organisers took us for a tour of Jewish Prague, led by the Jewish Museum director. This is an emotionally gruelling experience, as the devastation caused by the Holocaust is very immediate and tends to drown out the other aspects of Jewish history, such as the ancient cemetery with the grave of the Maharal of Prague, AKA Rabbi Loew, the inventor of the legend of the Golem. The tour ended with a visit to the beautiful Spanish Synagogue, which is used by the progressive Jewish community of Prague, and so plays host to bat mitzvahs, thus looking toward an egalitarian Jewish future in the city."