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“If, according to biblical prophecy, the nations of the world will ascend to Jerusalem to learn the word of God, then an apocalyptic event of small proportions occurred during the week leading up to Christmas…” Read the article on the Jerusalem Post website here (for subscribers) or read a pdf here.
The Herzl Institute invites you to attend a Colloquium of our Templeton Fellows that will take place on December 28-30, 2015 at the Mt. Zion Hotel in Jerusalem.
Advance registration required. For a detailed schedule, visit the Bible-Philos website.
Templeton Fellows at the Herzl Institute:
Joshua Amaru (Yeshivat Eretz Hazvi), “Halachic Virtue and Wisdom”
James Arcadi (University of Bristol), “Belonging to the Lord: Consecration, Divine Presence, and the Metaphysics of Holiness in the Hebrew Scriptures”
Craig Bartholomew (Redeemer University College), “The God Who Acts in History”
James Diamond (University of Waterloo), “Constructing a Jewish Philosophical Theology: A Prolegomenon”
Melis Erdur (Tel-Aviv University), “Torah From (but not in) Heaven”
Lenn Goodman (Vanderbilt University), “The Holy One of Israel”
Yoram Hazony (Herzl Institute), “What does ‘Torah from Heaven’ Mean?”
Berel Dov Lerner (Western Galilee College), “Could Moses’ Hands Make War? Divine and Human Agency in the Hebrew Scriptures”
Alan Mittleman (Jewish Theological Seminary), “Holiness and Violence in Judaism”
Alex Sztuden (Independent Scholar), “Beyond the Euthyphro Dilemma: God’s Will, Nature and the Moral Law”
Shmuel Trigano (Nanterre University), “The Angel’s Descent”
Shira Weiss (Yeshiva University), “Reevaluating Theological Concepts in the Bible”
Jacob Wright (Emory University), “The Knowledge of God as a Central Teaching of Hebrew Scriptures”
Yoram Hazony and leading Catholic theologian George Weigel will participate in a public discussion on the subject of “Modernity, Religion and Morality” in Jerusalem on November 12. George Weigel is the author of The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America and Politics without God as well as numerous other books. The discussion will be moderated by Daniel Johnson, editor of Standpoint magazine.
November 12, 2015, 7:30 pm
Dan Panorama Hotel, Jerusalem
Free entrance open to graduates of Tikva Programs
Discussion will be in English
More information
The Israeli government has appointed Herzl Institute VP for Academic Affairs Ofir Haivry to head a new commission to hold hearings and make recommendations on non-Jewish communities seeking affiliation with the Jewish people. These communities include descendants of Jews, “lost tribes” and non-Jewish groups with strong religious and cultural affinities with Jews. Read the article on the commission in the Jerusalem Post.
Herzl Institute President Yoram Hazony addressed an audience of 5,000 at the annual conference of Christians United for Israel in Washington in July. His speech describes efforts to delegitimize not only Israel but the Hebrew Bible, and proposes a joint Christian and Jewish effort for the Bible, Israel and Jerusalem. Watch the speech here.
In September, the Herzl Institute launched twelve new projects in Jewish philosophical theology with the support of the John Templeton Foundation. Fellows include Lenn Goodman, Alan Mittleman, Shmuel Trigano, and Jacob Wright. Fellows will write books and essays on the philosophy of the Hebrew Bible, Talmud and Midrash. For names of Herzl Institute Templeton Fellows and project descriptions go here.
The Herzl Institute has selected 18 rabbis, rabbinic students, and advanced women tora scholars for a special intensive course in Western philosophy and theology as it relates to Judaism. The course, the first of its kind, will be taught by Herzl Institute staff and will meet weekly throughout the year.
Cambridge University Press will publish Herzl Institute President Yoram Hazony’s God and Politics in Esther on December 31, 2015. The book is an expanded and thoroughly revised version of The Dawn, with three new chapters responding to Michael Walzer and Jon Levenson on the theology of the Hebrew Bible. You can sign up for updates on the book here.
In addition, Herzl Institute Senior Fellow Joshua Weinstein’s forthcoming book on human nature and the character of political regimes in Plato’s classic dialogueThe Republic, entitled Plato’s Three-Fold City and Soul, has been accepted for publication with Cambridge University Press. Publication is projected for fall 2016.
The Herzl Institute will hold two public conferences in Philosophy of the Bible, Talmud and Midrash in December with the support of the John Templeton Foundation. The Conferences will be open to the public and will include an advanced seminar for graduate students and post-docs:
Conference on “The Question of God’s Perfection,” December 20-23, 2015.
For more information, see conference website here.
Colloquium in “Jewish Philosophical Theology,” December 28-30, 2015.
More information to follow soon.
Aryeh Tepper’s research on the problematic power of music in the Bible appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of Interpretation, A Journal of Political Philosophy. This research was conducted at the Herzl Institute with the support of the John Templeton Foundation. Dr. Tepper currently teaches at Ben Gurion University and Achva College and is the editor of The Sephardi Report for the American Sephardi Foundation.
